During the JETSCREEN project 31 fuels were used in a matrix of 34 experiments to study in detail the fuel impact on a wide set of fundamental and performance properties. With this broad dataset, JETSCREEN has developed or improved upon a rich set of modelling tools capable of predicting these properties from fuel composition information alone. The developed tools can be used to support the design of fuel-optimized aircraft and jet engines as well as for the rapid screening and assessment of new candidate fuels.
A key JETSCREEN enabler is the ability to predict a wide range of fuel performance based on low cost, and volume, fundamental analytical testing that in the past would have not been possible without high tier testing to assess performance, with all the cost, time, and efforts that this would entail. A two-tired process to prescreen candidate fuels before they enter ASTM D4054 fuel evaluation was developed jointly with the US National Jet Fuel Combustion program (NJFCP). The resultant fuel prescreening methodology provides essential feedback about the suitability and improvement potential of candidate fuels to innovative fuel producers. During the project, JETSCREEN provided its prescreening services to five innovative fuels producers in two iteration loops. It was shown that by providing this early stage feedback, even fuels that initially did not conform to aviation fuel requirements could be massively improved and become aviation fuel worthy candidate fuels within few months. In consequence, JETSCREEN tools are lowering cost of SAF candidate fuel evaluation and de-risk/optimise the product prior to entry into the approval process.
In JETSCREEN as in other programs it was shown that fuels without aromatics can reduce nonvolatile particle emissions by up to 80%. If the fuel specification were changed to permit such fuels, this would have an immediate impact on improving air quality at airports and significantly reduce aviation’s non-CO2 climate impact. While the feasibility of using zero aromatic fuels can be justified from a combustion emissions perspective, a deeper understanding of the consequence of removing aromatic and sulfur from the fuel on all aircraft systems, components and materials has to be obtained to ensure aviation’s high safety standards are preserved. In JETSCREEN zero or reduced aromatic/sulfur fuels were systematically studied in a wide range of experiments. Results were used to improve the understanding of the impact of such fuels on existing aircraft and to enable the design of future SAF-optimized aircrafts.
To support the above-mentioned activities, JETSCREEN has created the “JETSCREEN fuel assessment and screening platform” comprising an open source schema for the storage of fuel property data, a concept and implementation of a distributed multi-partner fuel property database, and an integration environment for distributed fuel property models. These tools promote the holistic design of a fuel and fuel system together that enables the smart use of SAF in fuel-optimized aircraft.
JETSCREEN’s value to the aviation industry has already been recognized by its peers. The JETSCREEN/NJFCP prescreening method has been listed by ASTM D02.J02 chair as one of the major factors facilitating the development of new sustainable aviation fuels and is now defined as the new entry point into the fuel evaluation process for fuel producers approaching ASTM.
