As the aviation industry works towards a goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, the use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is viewed as one of the key enablers. GE Aerospace noted that, since 2016, it has tested 10 different engines produced by it and its joint ventures on 100 percent SAF.
The most recent test came last month when one of the four Engine Alliance GP7200 powerplants on an Emirates A380 ran on pure SAF during a demonstration flight from Dubai, while conventional jet fuel was used in the other three engines. Last year, the engine manufacturer validated the use of 100 percent SAF on its Passport engine, which powers Bombardier’s flagship Global 7500, and the HondaJet's GE Honda Aero Engines HF120.
Other platforms tested in the company’s expansive program include the GE90 in the first commercial airliner flight—using unblended SAF in both engines on the Boeing 777 ecoDemonstrator in 2018—and one of the LEAP-1B engines on a United Airlines Boeing 737-8 in 2021 as the first passenger experimental flight. Further, it has run the F414, GE9X, LEAP-1A, GEnx, and CFM56—representing a mix of propulsion systems used for domestic and international commercial air travel, military aviation, and business and general aviation—on 100 percent SAF either at the component, engine, or aircraft level. The tests evaluated a wide variety of factors, such as engine performance and the impact of 100 percent SAF on contrails and emissions.
Currently, SAF is approved for use in blends of up to 50 percent with jet-A due to the need for the aromatic components present in petroleum-based fuel. These aromatics assist in the proper function of fuel system and engine seals in legacy aircraft. GE is part of an international task force developing standardized industry specifications supporting the adoption of 100 percent SAF.
"These tests demonstrate that we are leading and prepared to support our customers to operate on sustainable aviation fFuel,” said Mohamed Ali, v-p of engineering for GE Aerospace. “We're proud of doing the hard work to better understand the impact of different emissions on the environment and using science to guide the technology we are developing to invent the future of flight."