Fuel Effects on Operability of Aircraft Gas Turbine Combustors

Alternative jet fuel has been an active area of research and development since the 1973 oil embargo. Research goals have included establishing energy security, lowering fuel costs, and reducing emissions with a focus on developing cost-effective methodologies for processing and sustaining jet fuel production from shale, tar sands, coal, biomass, end use waste, and CO2. Physical and chemical properties, such as the viscosity, vapor pressure, boiling range, freeze point and hydrogen content, have been measured for many potential alternative jet fuels. Combustion characteristics, such as lean blow-out and ignition, have also been investigated in gas turbine engines and fundamental combustion devices. The compilation of this research has resulted in a large technical base for understanding the combustion of alternative jet fuels that have a wide range of physical and chemical properties and operating in different combustion devices. This book demonstrates that there is still much to be learned about the combustion of alternative jet fuels. It summarizes the results obtained in the first five years of the National Jet Fuel Combustion Program (NJFCP). The NJFCP community is represented by more than 40 organizations including federal agencies, national and international universities and research organizations, and industrial engine and fuel producers. The core funding for the program is provided by the FAA, NASA, DLA, AFOSR, NAVAIR, ARL and AFRL. Even through the program reflects "National" in its title it has evolved and morphed into an international program with participation and contributions from teams representing Canada, the UK, and Germany with each providing their own financial resources. The European Union developed its own program called JETSCREEN with objectives that complement those of the NJFCP, with some JETSCREEN activities reported here.