Test & measurement


TESTING TO KEEP THE SKIES CLEAN


The aviation industry is responsible for 3.5 per cent of annual global warming, calculated using radiative forcing. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, non- renewable feedstocks and volatile operational costs are all issues associated with traditional aviation fuels. Here, Paul Vanden Branden, director at SciMed, the UK’s largest distributor of lab equipment, discusses the key test methods used to demonstrate sustainable aviation fuels’ (SAFs) suitability to mitigate the environmental impact of air travel.


T


raditional aircraft turbine fuel (ATF) is derived from crude oil and is mostly comprised of kerosenes, C9- 16 hydrocarbon chains. It also has up to 25 per cent aromatic compounds, such as alkylbenzenes and naphthalenes. Although essential for ATF compatibility with engine combustion systems and maintaining fuel energy density, increasing aromatic content causes a proportional increase in particulate matter (PM) emissions. Due to the environmental problems caused by ATF, SAFs are held up by political and industrial leaders as a route towards sustainable global aviation. SAFs are still


carbon-based fuels and produce CO2 upon combustion, but they are sourced from renewable carbon sources, such as biomass, used cooking oil and even algae. Each feedstock is at a different stage of development, but, regardless of starting material, investment in scaling up SAF manufacturing is crucial. Although the volume produced internationally in 2022 tripled from the previous year, 300 million tons up from 100 million, serious action is required to meet EU quotas for SAF to make up 70 per cent of overall aviation fuels at EU airports by 2050. That number is currently 0.05 per cent. Increasing production is only half the battle. SAFs are “drop-in” fuels, meaning they are interchangeable with petroleum fuels in transport, blending and combustion. To ensure


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September 2023 Instrumentation Monthly


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