US researchers create formula for net-zero aviation fuel

Scientists at Worcester Polytechnic Institute have made a potential breakthrough in green aviation: a formula for a new sustainable fuel for planes that will significantly reduce long-haul flight emissions.

An interdisciplinary team led by Jagan Jayachandran, Assistant Professor of aerospace engineering, and Adam Powell, Associate Professor of mechanical and materials engineering, used advanced computational modelling and analysis to reach their findings, which were recently published in the Fuel journal.

“As aviation continues to grow, so will the industry’s emissions,” said Powell. “We need to think out of the box and look at sustainable materials that will contribute to a long-term solution toward reducing the transportation sector’s carbon footprint.”

Potential sustainability impact

Jayachandran and Powell’s fuel formula uses the abundant mineral magnesium. A slurry of magnesium hydride (a magnesium and hydrogen compound) mixed with a hydrocarbon biofuel would burn to produce CO2, water vapour and magnesium oxide (MgO) nanoparticles, potentially leading to net negative emissions.

The magnesium hydride fuel would also solve another problem: it would give planes sufficient range for long-haul flights. This is thanks to the slurry’s chemical properties – a smaller volume of it is required for combustion than with a typical aviation fuel.

“We found this fuel would have up to 8% more range than other jet fuels used today, and at least two to three times the range of liquid hydrogen or ammonia, which other researchers have proposed as sustainable fuels,” said Jayachandran.

Jayachandran and Powell have plans to continue their research by conducting physical experiments with samples of the fuel, and hope to receive federal funding.

“We hope our work, which opens up a new category of sustainable aviation fuel, will spark the imagination of other researchers,” said Powell. “The sky’s the limit.”