The smoke point of several fuel mixtures was measured using a smoke meter defined by American Society for Testing Material D1322. The threshold soot index (TSI) was calculated to compare the sooting tendency of fuels. Two aviation biofuels produced by hydroprocessing of coconut oil, four jet range normal paraffins (n-paraffins), iso-octane, and propylbenzene were used to investigate the effects of chain length of n-paraffins, iso-paraffins, and aromatics on the sooting tendency. The results show that the effect of propylbenzene on the smoke point of the mixtures is dominant compared to that of the chain length of n-paraffins and the fraction of iso-paraffins. The differences in the sooting tendency among these n-paraffins are insignificant. In addition, blending aviation biofuels with Jet A1 leads to a decrease in the sooting tendency. Aromatics in Jet A1 play an important role on the sooting tendency of the mixtures of aviation biofuels and Jet A1.

Biofuels as alternative fuels in today’s world are becoming increasingly important for the reduction of greenhouse gases. Here, we present and evaluate the potential of a new alternative fuel based on the conversion of medium-chain fatty acids to biojet (MBJ), which was produced from coconut oil using hydrotreated processes. MBJ is produced by using both deoxygenation and isomerization processes. Several blends of this type of biojet fuel with Jet A-1 were run in a gas-turbine engine (Rover 1S/60, ROTAX LTD., London, England) for the purpose of investigating engine performance and emissions. Performance results showed almost the same results as those of Jet A-1 fuel for these fuels in terms of thermal efficiency, brake-specific fuel consumption, turbine-inlet temperature, and exhaust-gas temperature. The results of exhaust-gas emissions also showed no significant effects on carbon monoxide, unburned hydrocarbon, and nitrogen oxides, while a decrease in smoke opacity was found when blending MBJ with Jet A-1. MBJ performed well in both performance and emissions tests when run in this engine. Thus, MBJ brings hope for the development of aviation biofuels in tropical regions that have an abundance of bioresources, but are limited in technology and investment capital.

There has been an increased interest as regards the use of biofuels in aviation gas turbine engines due to global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions along with fluctuating jet fuel prices. This work researches the use of soap-derived biokerosene (SBK) in aircraft engines. SBK is a promising biofuel option for emerging tropical countries as its production requires a relatively simple technology, and its feedstock sources are abundant in these countries. Blends of Jet A-1 with up to 20 vol.% SBK were tested on a 1S/60 Rover gas turbine engine over a range of brake powers to measure engine performance and emissions. The results were then compared to those of pure Jet A-1. It shows that the engine running on SBK/Jet A-1 blends and pure Jet A-1 have almost similar engine performance parameters including engine efficiency, specific fuel consumption (SFC), turbine inlet temperature (TIT), and exhaust gas temperature (EGT). On the other hand, increasing the volume fraction of SBK in the fuel blends with Jet A-1 leads to a slight increase in carbon monoxide (CO) and HC emissions, while insignificant differences in the nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions were found. From this study, some valuable recommendations could be found to improve the feasibility of SBK for use as an alternative aviation fuel.

Wake transitions of flow past two tandem semi-circular cylinders near a moving wall were numerically investigated using the lattice Boltzmann method at the Reynolds number of 150 with various gap ratios (G/D, where G and D are the spacing between the cylinder and wall and the cylinder diameter, respectively) and spacing ratios (L/D, where L is the distance between the cylinder centers). The analysis aims to clarify the effects of L/D and G/D on wake structures, hydrodynamic forces, Strouhal number, and spectral energy of the flow exerted on both cylinders. This study reveals five distinct flow regimes in the L/D-G/D space, such as overshoot, continuous reattachment, pair-wise, quasi-coshedding, and coshedding. These regimes are identified using plots of vorticity contour, time history of drag and lift coefficients (CD and CL), power spectral density, and proper orthogonal decomposition of the vorticity fluctuation into deterministic spatial structures. Furthermore, the flow regime maps and diagrams of time-averaged pressure coefficients on the surface of the cylinders are given to analyze the influence of the moving wall. A significant change in CD and CL is observed for both cylinders, depending on the L/D and G/D ratios. The time-averaged drag coefficient of the downstream cylinder is remarkably lower than that of the upstream cylinder. A significant increase in the time-averaged lift coefficient of the upstream cylinder is observed when the G/D is small due to near-moving wall effects. The root-mean-squared value of the lift and drag coefficients of the downstream cylinder is lower than that of the upstream cylinder as a result of the proximity effect. Meanwhile, the Strouhal number for both cylinders remains mostly the same.

Currently, along with ground used biofuel such as biodiesel, bioethanol has been utilizing widely over the world, alternative fuel for aviation purpose is increasing the consideration of researchers and governments as well as aviation industries. Several key priorities have been targeted for development aviation biofuel and three most important objectives have been identified which are decreasing fossil fuel reserves so that avoiding fluctuation of petroleum costs and reducing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. This paper presents a short review of researching activities in the field of aviation alternative fuel. Fatty Acid Esters (biodiesel or FAE), Fischer-Tropsch Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene (FT-SPK) and Bio-derived Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene (Bio-SPK) are the typical fuels. Research on physicochemical properties, ground engine test and flight demonstration were done by many authors as the investigation of using these biofuels for aviation. Research and development the biofuel for aviation promises a prospect and interesting work, however it also issues many challenges due to strict requirements of aviation fuel.