Method of preliminary evaluation of biocomponents influence on the process of biofuels combustion in aviation turbine engines

The aim of this article is presentation of the new method of preliminary evaluation of biocomponents influence on the process of biofuels combustion in aviation turbine engines. This method is based on the tests of evaluated biofuels on engine stand MiniJetRig equipped with small turbine engine. The idea of this new method is to compare the combustion process of evaluated biofuel with the combustion of reference fuels. The reference fuel used in presented research was mineral Jet A1. Two compositions of pure hydrocarbons were blended with Jet A1 fuel and tested using MiniJetRig. The main criterion of combustion process assessment was CO concentration in exhaust gases. As the final criterion of evaluated biofuel the ΔCO = [COWx – COJet] was adopted, where COWx – the concentration of CO in exhaust gases emitted during combustion of evaluated fuel and COJet – the concentration of CO in exhaust gases emitted during combustion of Jet A1 fuel. This method was preliminary verified using HEFA biofuel previously accepted for aviation application. The obtained results qualify this biofuel as similar to Jet A1 ones – the DCO was within limits –30 – +20. The presented method needs further research, using much more evaluated fuels, to confirm their usefulness for laboratory pre-selection of new biofuels.