Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Characterization of emissions from a turbojet engine running on sustainable aviation fuels, blends and conventional jet A1

Moldanová, Jana ; Hallquist, Åsa M. ; Priestley, Michael ; Danèl, Kristoffer ; Fallenius, Bengt ; Abdalal, Omar ; Potter, Annika and Strandberg, Bo LU (2025) In Atmospheric Environment: X 26.
Abstract

Aviation contributes to air pollution and significantly impacts climate change. Sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) offer a potential solution to reduce CO2 emissions with the possible co-benefit of reducing emissions of particles. This study evaluates emissions of a turbojet engine using conventional Jet A1 fuel, Biojet fuel (alcohol-to-jet synthetic kerosene with aromatics, ATJ-SKA), hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), and their blends. Emissions of particulate matter, gaseous pollutants (NOx, CO, total hydrocarbons, THC), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and aldehydes were measured across different engine loads (Taxi, Cruise and Take-Off). The results show that SAFs, particularly neat... (More)

Aviation contributes to air pollution and significantly impacts climate change. Sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) offer a potential solution to reduce CO2 emissions with the possible co-benefit of reducing emissions of particles. This study evaluates emissions of a turbojet engine using conventional Jet A1 fuel, Biojet fuel (alcohol-to-jet synthetic kerosene with aromatics, ATJ-SKA), hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), and their blends. Emissions of particulate matter, gaseous pollutants (NOx, CO, total hydrocarbons, THC), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and aldehydes were measured across different engine loads (Taxi, Cruise and Take-Off). The results show that SAFs, particularly neat Biojet and HVO, significantly reduced particle emissions, by 20 – >99 % compared to Jet A1, especially in the Take-Off mode in case of the Biojet fuel. This reduction is likely connected to the differences in the chemical composition of the fuels including higher content of hydrogen and lower content of aromatics and naphthalenes. Emissions of VOCs, PAHs and aldehydes were reduced by 40–50 % in the Taxi mode, which has the highest emission factors and is also responsible for majority of emissions during the LTO cycle, while an increase was observed for the Take-Off mode. Biojet use exhibited improved engine performance at the Take-Off, but fuel blends showed mixed effects on efficiency. This study shows that SAFs present a promising route to reducing aviation's environmental footprint, with co-benefit of reduced impact on air pollution and non-CO2 climate forcing from reduced particle emissions. Further research is required especially on impact of fuel blends on engine performance and emission characterization.

(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
LTO emissions, PAHs, Particles, Sustainable aviation fuels, Turbojet engine emissions, VOCs
in
Atmospheric Environment: X
volume
26
article number
100321
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:105001374535
DOI
10.1016/j.aeaoa.2025.100321
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2025 The Authors
id
a0af82fd-bf23-4375-b04e-ad49864c0c90
date added to LUP
2025-08-22 13:44:56
date last changed
2025-08-22 13:45:10
@article{a0af82fd-bf23-4375-b04e-ad49864c0c90,
  abstract     = {{<p>Aviation contributes to air pollution and significantly impacts climate change. Sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) offer a potential solution to reduce CO<sub>2</sub> emissions with the possible co-benefit of reducing emissions of particles. This study evaluates emissions of a turbojet engine using conventional Jet A1 fuel, Biojet fuel (alcohol-to-jet synthetic kerosene with aromatics, ATJ-SKA), hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), and their blends. Emissions of particulate matter, gaseous pollutants (NOx, CO, total hydrocarbons, THC), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and aldehydes were measured across different engine loads (Taxi, Cruise and Take-Off). The results show that SAFs, particularly neat Biojet and HVO, significantly reduced particle emissions, by 20 – &gt;99 % compared to Jet A1, especially in the Take-Off mode in case of the Biojet fuel. This reduction is likely connected to the differences in the chemical composition of the fuels including higher content of hydrogen and lower content of aromatics and naphthalenes. Emissions of VOCs, PAHs and aldehydes were reduced by 40–50 % in the Taxi mode, which has the highest emission factors and is also responsible for majority of emissions during the LTO cycle, while an increase was observed for the Take-Off mode. Biojet use exhibited improved engine performance at the Take-Off, but fuel blends showed mixed effects on efficiency. This study shows that SAFs present a promising route to reducing aviation's environmental footprint, with co-benefit of reduced impact on air pollution and non-CO<sub>2</sub> climate forcing from reduced particle emissions. Further research is required especially on impact of fuel blends on engine performance and emission characterization.</p>}},
  author       = {{Moldanová, Jana and Hallquist, Åsa M. and Priestley, Michael and Danèl, Kristoffer and Fallenius, Bengt and Abdalal, Omar and Potter, Annika and Strandberg, Bo}},
  keywords     = {{LTO emissions; PAHs; Particles; Sustainable aviation fuels; Turbojet engine emissions; VOCs}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Atmospheric Environment: X}},
  title        = {{Characterization of emissions from a turbojet engine running on sustainable aviation fuels, blends and conventional jet A1}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aeaoa.2025.100321}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.aeaoa.2025.100321}},
  volume       = {{26}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}