ABSTRACT
Dissolved copper in fuels is generally rendered chemically benign by complexing with soluble chelating agents. However, this still leaves the copper in the fuel. By attaching suitable chelants to a solid support, copper can be selectively removed from the fuel by passing through a column packed with this material. We are evaluating a candidate system in which diethylenetriamine (DETA) is densely immobilized onto silica gel (DETA-Si). Previous studies have shown that this system will remove copper to below detection levels from jet fuel passed through columns at up to 30 mL/min. In this study, we show that the efficiency of DETA-Si to extract copper is not diminished in the presence of metal deactivating additives. Moreover, MDA does not extract copper from DETA-Si in lab-scale flow tests. The impact of filtration through silica gel and DETA-Si on thermal stability is also addressed.