Characterization of synthetic Gas-to-Liquid jet fuel blends and properties correlation with hydrocarbon structure

The main objective of this project is to investigate the properties of typical Gas-to-Liquid (GTL) derived synthetic jet fuels and look for their potential to replace existing crude-oil jet fuels (e.g. jet A, jet A-1, jet B... etc.). This project represents a unique international collaboration between academia and world-leading industry sectors. The quantification of the influence of various hydrocarbon groups (mainly normal-, iso- and cyclo- alkanes) on certain physical properties of synthetic GTL products is of high importance for the design of superior fuels. The properties of interest in this study include but are not limited to: density, heat content, flash point and freezing point which are critical parameters in the certification of fuel for the aviation industry. The method we developed to identify an ideal region, in which all the properties for aviation standards are met, involves the ternary mapping of these aforementioned hydrocarbon groups alongside their physical properties. Initially, twenty three blends have been formulated, giving a broad spread across the ternary map, and the data generated from these blends further optimizes the ideal region. Furthermore, the data was used to evaluate the effect of each hydrocarbon group on the physical properties and to develop appropriate correlations.The density results showed trends similar to those reported in literature, for example increasing the n-paraffin content has an inverse effect on the density, whilst the opposite trend holds true for cycloalkanes. Additionally, the experimental results correlate favorably with those theoretically predicted in variety of compositions.