Influence of high oxygenated biofuels on micro-gas turbine engine for reduced emission

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the effect of additives in Jet-A fuel blends, especially on performance, combustion and emission characteristics.

Design/methodology/approach

Jet-A fuel was formed by using Kay’s and Gruenberg–Nissan mixing rules by adding additive glycerol with TiO₂. While measuring the combustion performance, the amount of oxygen content present in fuel and atomization are the key factors to consider. As such, the Jet-A fuel was created by adding additives at different proportion. A small gas turbine engine was used for conducting tests. All tests were carried out at different load conditions for all the fuel blends such as neat Jet-A fuel, G10T (glycerol 10% with 50 ppm TiO₂ and Jet-A 90%), G20T (glycerol 10% with 50 ppm TiO₂ and Jet-A 90%) and G30T (glycerol 10% with 50 ppm TiO₂ and Jet-A 90%).

Findings

From tests, the G20T and G10T produced better results than other blends. The thermal efficiency of the blends of G20T and G10T are 22% and 14% higher than neat Jet-A fuel. Further, the improved static thrust with less fuel consumption was noticed in G20T fuel blend.

Originality/value

The G20T blends showed better performance because of the increased oxygenated compounds in the fuel blends. Moreover, the emission rate of environmentally harmful gases such as NOx, CO and HC was lower than the neat Jet-A fuel. From the results, it is clear that the rate of exergy destruction is more in the combustion chamber than the other components of fuel.

Citation

Devi, B., S., V., Vimal, R. and T.R., P. (2021), "Influence of high oxygenated biofuels on micro-gas turbine engine for reduced emission", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 93 No. 3, pp. 508-513. https://doi.org/10.1108/AEAT-07-2020-0150