2013
Volume 13, Number 4, pp. 114–118
Jet engine oil consumption as a surrogate for measuring chemical contamination in aircraft cabin air
Jeremy J. Ramsden
The University of Buckingham, MK18 1EG, UK
A considerable number of measurements of aircraft cabin air contamination with more or less toxic substances has been carried out to date, but there are significant differences between the reported results. This may reflect a possible reality of differences between different aircraft types at different stages in their engine maintenance cycles; unfortunately most of the reports do not give sufficient detail in this regard. On the other hand the measurements are intrinsically difficult and the lack of agreement may reflect systematic errors due to inappropriate methodologies. In the absence of any comprehensive comparative review, no definite conclusion regarding the discrepancies can be drawn. In this paper, an independent estimate of the contamination is made based on the assumption that it originates from the bleed air and using engine oil consumption as the primary parameter. An estimate is also made of the aerial concentration of contaminants in a typical fume event, which has not yet been reliably measured directly.