Title: Investigation of fatty acid methyl esters in jet fuel

Authors: Gozdem Kilaz; Shailendra Bist; Denver W. Lopp; David L. Stanley; Bernard Y. Tao

Addresses: Niswonger Aviation Technology Building, 1401 Aviation Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2015, USA ' Niswonger Aviation Technology Building, 1401 Aviation Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2015, USA ' Niswonger Aviation Technology Building, 1401 Aviation Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2015, USA ' Niswonger Aviation Technology Building, 1401 Aviation Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2015, USA ' Niswonger Aviation Technology Building, 1401 Aviation Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2015, USA

Abstract: Sustainable aviation fuels research has considerable momentum in efforts lead by government, academia and industry. Environmentally sound domestic fuels allow significant benefits, while also creating some challenges due to their novelty. One of these challenges is the cross contamination of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) in biodiesel with jet fuels. It was suspected that sharing the same supply chain caused FAME to contaminate jet fuels which led to aircraft malfunction. Consequently, in 2010, aero engine original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) mandated an immediate allowable limit of 5 ppm FAME in jet fuels. Civil Aviation Authority later increased the limit to 30 ppm (2012). This study finds that the presence of FAME in Jet-A at a much higher concentration of 2 vol% does not have an adverse impact on the ASTM D1655 specifications (2013). Therefore, it is recommended that the current limit of 30 ppm be revised.

Keywords: fatty acid methyl esters; FAME limit; fuel contamination; biodiesel; sustainable jet fuels; fuel pipelines; biofuels; jet engines; sustainable aviation; aircraft malfunction; aero engines; aircraft engines.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSA.2014.062872

International Journal of Sustainable Aviation, 2014 Vol.1 No.1, pp.103 - 118

Received: 26 Aug 2013
Accepted: 09 Dec 2013
Published online: 19 Jul 2014 *

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