Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs)

To achieve the 2050 Net Zero target, aerospace will need to transition from fossil fuels to sustainable power sources—driving a cleaner, greener future for flight.

Fossil fuel power sources in aerospace operations must be replaced by sustainable sources to achieve the 2050 Net Zero target. Various sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs), derived from a variety of sources using various conversion processes, are being considered for use within future gas turbine aerospace propulsion systems to minimise climate footprint.

The NCCAT supports SAFs research through a combination of our world-class combustion testing facilities and fuel analysis capability. Our research is helping to develop understanding of the environmental impact of different fuels and prepare the aerospace industry for the upscale of SAFs. 

The combustion performance of SAFs is influenced by their chemical and physical properties. The NCCAT houses a range of instrumentation capable of fuel characterisation of the various important fuel properties such as: 

  • Density (ASTM D4052)
  • Viscosity (ASTM D7042)
  • Cloud point
  • Freeze point (ASTM D2386)
  • Distillation (ASTM D86)
  • Hydrogen content (ASTM D7171-05)
  • Net heat of combustion (ASTM D4809) 

Density and viscosity can be measured across a broad temperature range and the instrumentation facilitates rapid fuel property measurement alongside combustion testing. 

High quality rig testing has been developed to experimentally assess different SAFs and their impact on emissions and combustion system operability. Reacting flow performance can be studied over a range of tightly controlled operational conditions using various combustion test facilities including: 

  • intermediate pressure facilities to assess gaseous and particulate emissions performance together with other operability characteristics such as flame stability and weak extinction ambient
  • atmospheric and sub-atmospheric test facilities for assessing various operability characteristics including ground ignition and relight at high-altitude conditions 

A methodology has been developed to achieve back-to-back testing of fuel types, allowing high quality experimental data to be obtained. Experimental measurements are combined with combustion modelling, to establish fundamental links between fuel properties and combustion performance.