Feasibility of a nuclear gauge for fuel quantity measurement aboard aircraft

Capacitance fuel gauges have served as the basis for fuel quantity indicating systems in aircraft for several decades. However, there have been persistent reports by the airlines that these gauges often give faulty indications due to microbial growth and other contaminants in the fuel tanks. This report describes the results of a feasibility study of using gamma ray attenuation as the basis for measuring fuel quantity in the tanks. Studies with a weak Am-241 59.5-keV radiation source indicate that it is possible to continuously monitor the fuel quantity in the tanks to an accuracy of better than 1 percent. These measurements also indicate that there are easily measurable differences in the physical properties and resultant attenuation characteristics of JP-4, JP-5, and Jet A fuels. The experimental results, along with a suggested source-detector geometrical configuration are described.