Aviation is a highly polluting industry. Companies and governments are looking towards sustainable aviation fuels to limit or prevent any emissions that may lead to pollution and global warming. However, sustainable aviation fuels will only be implemented if they are comparable to fossil fuel-based jet fuel.

The alternative sustainable aviation fuels analyzed in this project will be hydrogen (gaseous and liquid), ethanol fuel from sugarcane, corn or other feedstocks, palm oil jet fuel, algae jet fuel, used cooking oil fuel, and e-kerosene. All these fuels are proven to fly aircraft and burn substantially cleaner, limiting the plane's emissions.

In this personal fluid mechanics project, the different properties of alternative sustainable aviation fuels were researched and analyzed in an aircraft's fuel system. The costs, efficiency, carbon dioxide emissions, pump work, and pressure drop in the system are analyzed and compared to determine which fuel and pump combination is the best option for the aviation industry. This comparison determines which combination will optimize the heat exchanger in the aircraft and which alternative fuel will be a viable, economically profitable, and ideal alternative to current petroleum-based fuel.

The friction factor in the system, minimum pump work required, pressure drop, Reynolds number, velocity in the fuel lines, minor and significant losses, and flow rates were calculated and compared in the report. These computed values determined that gaseous hydrogen with a vane-fuel-type pump would be the aviation industry's most cost-effective, environmentally friendly, and efficient alternative.

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Click here to view the Presentation.

Click here to review the Calculations.