Experimental and Modeling Studies of the Oxidation of Surrogate Bio-Aviation Fuels

Jet fuels currently in use in the aviation industry are exclusively kerosene-based. However, potential problems regarding security of supply, climate change, and increasing cost are becoming more significant, exacerbated by the rapidly growing demand from the aviation sector. Biofuels are considered one of the most suitable alternatives to petrochemical-based fuels in the aviation industry in the short to medium term, since blends of biofuel and kerosene provide a good balance of properties currently required from an aviation fuel. Experimental studies at a variety of stoichiometries using a flat flame burner with kerosene and kerosene/biofuel blends have been performed with product analysis by gas sampling and laser-induced fluorescence detection of OH, CO, and CO2. These studies have been complemented by modeling using the PREMIX module of Chemkin to provide insights into and to validate combined models describing the oxidation chemistry of surrogate fuels depicting kerosene, fatty acid methyl ester biofuels, and Fischer-Tropsch derived fuels. Sensitivity analysis has identified important reactions within these schemes, which, where appropriate, have been investigated by molecular modeling techniques available within Gaussian 03.