Biofuel blending reduces particle emissions from aircraft engines at cruise conditions

Autor(en)

Richard H. Moore, Kenneth L. Thornhill, Bernadett Weinzierl, Daniel Sauer, Eugenio D'Ascoli, Jin Kim, Michael Lichtenstern, Monika Scheibe, Brian Beaton, Andreas J. Beyersdorf, John Barrick, Dan Bulzan, Chelsea A. Corr, Ewan Crosbie, Tina Jurkat, Robert Martin, Dean Riddick, Michael Shook, Gregory Slover, Christiane Voigt, Robert White, Edward Winstead, Richard Yasky, Luke D. Ziemba, Anthony G.A. Brown, Hans Schlager, Bruce E. Anderson

Abstrakt

Aviation-related aerosol emissions contribute to the formation of contrail cirrus clouds that can alter upper tropospheric radiation and water budgets, and therefore climate. The magnitude of air-traffic-related aerosol-cloud interactions and the ways in which these interactions might change in the future remain uncertain. Modelling studies of the present and future effects of aviation on climate require detailed information about the number of aerosol particles emitted per kilogram of fuel burned and the microphysical properties of those aerosols that are relevant for cloud formation. However, previous observational data at cruise altitudes are sparse for engines burning conventional fuels, and no data have previously been reported for biofuel use in-flight. Here we report observations from research aircraft that sampled the exhaust of engines onboard a NASA DC-8 aircraft as they burned conventional Jet A fuel and a 50:50 (by volume) blend of Jet A fuel and a biofuel derived from Camelina oil. We show that, compared to using conventional fuels, biofuel blending reduces particle number and mass emissions immediately behind the aircraft by 50 to 70 per cent. Our observations quantify the impact of biofuel blending on aerosol emissions at cruise conditions and provide key microphysical parameters, which will be useful to assess the potential of biofuel use in aviation as a viable strategy to mitigate climate change.

Organisation(en)

Aerosolphysik und Umweltphysik

Externe Organisation(en)

National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA), Science Systems and Applications, Inc., Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, California State University, San Bernardino, Bennington College, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, National Research Council Canada (NRC-CNRC)

Journal

Nature

Band

543

Seiten

411-415

Anzahl der Seiten

5

ISSN

0028-0836

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1038/nature21420

Publikationsdatum

03-2017

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ÖFOS 2012

103039 Aerosolphysik, 103037 Umweltphysik

Schlagwörter

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 13 – Maßnahmen zum Klimaschutz

Link zum Portal

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/bd35874f-2ad0-4cf7-a5a7-bf69de008e33