High-Performance Jet Fuel

The market adaptation of sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) could be facilitated by quantifying the benefit and adding value to SAFs. We partnered with Sandia National Labs and Georgia Tech to identify and quantify the energetic properties of novel molecules, maximizing the performance with drop-in constraints, and propagating these high-performance benefits to consumer performance benefits.

Here in the HEAT Lab, we have primarily focused on the optimization of high-performance fuels (HPFs). This work is highlighted in the publications listed below. Highlights of the work show that the removal of aromatics and supplementation of novel cycloalkanes provide the greatest potential benefit to HPFs.

1. Feldhausen JJ, Bell DC, Kosir ST, Heyne JS, Scown C, Rapp V, Comesana A, "The Co-Optimization of Sustainable Aviation Fuel: Cost, Emissions, and Performance", AIAA SciTech Forum, 2021, https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2021-2029.

2. Kosir S, Stachler R, Heyne J, Hauck F, "High-performance jet fuel optimization and uncertainty analysis", Fuel, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2020.118718.

3. Holladay J, Abdullah Z, Heyne J, "Sustainable Aviation Fuel: Review of Technical Pathways", U.S. Department of Energy, 2020.

4. Kosir ST, Behnke L, Heyne S, Stachler RD, Flora G, Zabarnick S, George A, Landera A, Bambha R, Denney R, Gupta M, "Improvement in Jet Aircraft Operation with the Use of High-Performance Drop-in Fuels", AIAA SciTech Forum, 2019, https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2019-0993.