Aircraft performance of a novel SAF: Lower costs, lower environmental impact, and higher aircraft performance

Abstract

Investing in Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) is crucial for reducing the aviation industry’s carbon footprint and mitigating climate change. As global air travel demand increases, SAF offers a viable solution to significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions and enhance energy security, ensuring a more sustainable future for aviation. Additionally, converting biomass, particularly waste materials, into SAF adds value by turning potential environmental liabilities into valuable energy resources, promoting a circular economy and reducing overall waste. This study evaluates the aircraft performance of a novel sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) derived from multiple feedstocks in a hybrid biorefinery. SAF performance is compared to two conventional jet fuels, specifically a blend of 30% kerosene and 70% gasoline and JET-A1. The results demonstrated that the optimal SAF outperformed conventional fuels in terms of both thrust and range. Specifically, SAF exhibited a 17% increase in thrust and a 10% increase in range compared to conventional Jet A1 fuel. This novel fuel did not only mitigate CO₂ emissions and achieve a cost reduction of 0.13 to 8.08%, but also exhibited superior aircraft performance. In addition, this fuel also meets the criteria of a “drop-in fuel” as it does not necessitate significant alterations to the currently existing CFM56-7B turbofan engine. This is due to its similar key thermodynamic indicators, such as heat capacities and combustion temperature, which are comparable to those of conventional jet fuels. In addition, this paper identifies the sensitivity of the CFM56–7B turbofan engine fuelled by the novel fuel.