Progress in fundamental combustion characteristics, surrogate formulation, and kinetic modeling of sustainable aviation fuels

Abstract

The adoption of sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) is essential for achieving the carbon reduction targets. To enable numerical simulations involving SAFs, the development of its chemical kinetic mechanism is an indispensable task. During this process, measuring the fundamental properties of SAFs, formulating surrogate mixtures, and selecting appropriate kinetic mechanisms for surrogate components are crucial steps. This paper presents a comprehensive review of combustion kinetics research related to SAFs. It summarizes and compares the properties of various types of SAFs and their combustion characteristics, including ignition delay times, laminar flame speeds and species mole fractions. Additionally, the influence of fuel component structures on combustion behavior is analyzed. The paper also reviews studies on surrogate formulation strategies for SAFs and evaluates the associated methodologies. Based on these strategies, suitable surrogate components and their corresponding kinetic mechanisms are recommended. It is hoped that this work will contribute to a deeper understanding of SAF kinetic modeling for researchers and provide valuable guidance for future studies in this field.