Chapter 15 - Biojet fuels production from algae: conversion technologies, characteristics, performance, and process simulation

Abstract

Biojet fuels have great potential for decreasing the reliance on fossil-based jet fuels and to decrease CO2 emissions. The International Air Transport Association reported that using sustainable sources like biomass to produce biojet fuels is a promising strategy to develop and industrialize an alternative aviation fuel to allow sustainable growth in the aviation sector. Biojet fuels chemical compositions have a significant impact on their performance characteristics. The main performance characteristics of biojet fuel are thermal oxidation stability, the biobased jet fuels compatibility with the current system of aviation, low-temperature fluidity, combustion characteristics, fuel metering, and fuel volatility. These characteristics have been evaluated by the American Society for Testing and Materials standards. The conversion technologies of biobased feedstock can be classified as alcohol to jet, sugar to jet, oil to jet, and gas to jet. Hydrogenated esters and fatty acids, hydrogenated esters, and catalytic hydrothermolysis are the common pathways for biojet fuel production. The impact of biojet fuels delivered from different feedstocks, including algae, on jet engine performance was the focus of researchers using numerical modeling and virtual simulation. Researchers found that the thermodynamic behavior, fuel consumption level of the aircraft, and emissions characteristics are improved using biojet fuel compared with the conventional jet-A fuel. The mean focus of the current chapter is to summarize the most available studies of the algae-based biojet fuels conversion technologies, characteristics, performance, and process simulation.