Why Does Aviation Fuel Spoil Over Time?

AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers around the concept of plot holes in movies, specifically referencing "Battlefield Earth" and its implausibility regarding aviation fuel. The main question raised is about why aviation fuel spoils over time, particularly focusing on kerosene. It is noted that while kerosene is a hydrocarbon, it can still degrade, potentially due to oxidation or contamination. The conversation suggests that gasoline decays faster than kerosene because it contains additives that enhance combustion, which may not be present in aviation fuel. A link is provided to further explain the degradation of gasoline, implying that similar processes could affect kerosene, albeit at a slower rate.
SkepticJ
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Number of weeks back I was reading in Wikipedia on plot holes in movies, one of the mentioned plot holes is in an awful movie I'm going to do my best to avoid: Battlefield Earth. But I digress. The plot hole, among others, is aviation fuel spoils after a few years, so it would be impossible to fuel aircraft on some stored for 1,000.

My question is why does it spoil? Is it the kerosene that goes bad, or something else? If the kerosene, why does it go bad? Just a hydrocarbon, unless it's bombarded by UV light, I don't see why it should ever go bad. Nothing really eats it, yet, except perhaps some kind of GM bacterium.
 
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Here is a link that explains what happens to Gasoline I would think the same process happens to kerosene just at a slower rate.

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/060825.html
 
Hmmm, that makes sense. Plus car gas would decay faster than kerosene since oxidizers are mixed into gas to make it burn better. Not sure if kerosene-based aviation fuel has this done as well--I've found no mention of it.
 

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