Biofuel for Aircrafts

Researchers at the DLR Institute of Combustion Technology in Stuttgart are developing new fuels for the aviation industry. By 2030, for instance, oil-based kerosene could be replaced by fuels produced entirely from biomass. At the same time, the liquids are to be so tailored to combustion in aircraft engines, that they reliably supply more performance at lower levels of emissions and soot.

On the path towards the optimal, as climate neutral as possible designer kerosene, the team of approximately 20 researchers around Institute Director Professor Dr. Manfred Aigner uses test stands such as a high pressure burner or a so-called shock tube. The experiments are accompanied by computer models to coherently simulate the entire reaction sequence during a combustion process. “We can influence up to 50 different parameters such as, for example, ignitability, in order to obtain a fuel that is better than the kerosene licensed these days”, says Aigner. The basis for synthetic fuels is the “Fischer-Tropsch synthesis” invented already in the 1920s in Germany. With this method, natural gas (GtL: gas to liquid) initially can be converted into synthesis gas by adding oxygen and water vapour and in a next step into liquid carbon hydrides. Instead of natural gas, one can also use coal (CtL: coal to liquid) or biomass (BtL: biomass to liquid) as a substitute for oil. The work of the Stuttgart researchers is followed internationally with great interest. Currently, they are working on a plan for alternative fuels together with partners in the EU project ALFA-BIRD. In addition, there are numerous cooperations with, amongst others, Shell, Rolls-Royce and the technology centre Qatar Science & Technology Park.