Butyl butyrate, Jet A-1 and their blends: Combustion performance in the swirl stabilized burner at different inlet air temperature. (January 2023) - Kumar, Manish
Abstract: The limited sources of fossil fuels and pollutant emissions are the major challenges for the aviation industry. To meet the energy demand of the aviation industry, researchers have taken an interest in exploring new aviation fuels and biofuels may be potential candidates for alternative aviation fuels due to their favorable properties for combustion. The physical properties of butyl butyrate meet the criteria for other possible aviation fuels to some extent. Therefore, in the present study, the combustion characteristics of butyl butyrate, Jet A-1, and their blends (BB/Jet A-1 with 10%, 30%, and 50% volumetric loading of butyl butyrate) are investigated experimentally in a swirl-stabilized combustion test rig at non-preheated and pre-heated swirling air (373 and 473 K). For a comparative assessment, the theoretical power output is kept constant for all the fuel cases by suitably adjusting the fuel flow rates based on the lower heating value of the fuels. The temperatures at the combustor exit (representative of turbine inlet temperature) for two individual fuels and their blends appear to be comparable which indicates the similar thermal output at these operating conditions. The post-combustion emissions show that Jet A-1 produced higher NOx compared to that of butyl butyrate and the blends. The NOx emission increases with an increase in the swirling air temperature and this trend is consistent for all the fuels tested. Irrespective of preheating, pure butyl butyrate and blends exhibit significantly lower CO emissions compared to Jet A-1. Pre-heating seems to influence all the fuels similarly; however, pure butyl butyrate and its blends with Jet A-1 (particularly 50% case) outperform in terms of overall performance. Highlights: Combustion characteristics of Jet A-1, butyl butyrate, and their blends are studied in lab-scale swirl-stabilized combustor. Adjusted fuel flow rates influence the flame lengths, but the temperatures at the combustor exit are approximately the same for all the tested fuels. Butyl butyrate and Jet A-1 blends show better emission characteristics (in terms of soot formation, CO and NOx concentration) relative to Jet A-1.