UREP-14 Cycle

Project Description

The abundance of natural gas in Qatar and the rising price of crude oil incentivize the use of gas-derived synthetic jet fuel for commercial aviation. The conversion of natural gas to ultra-clean fuels and value-added chemicals is carried out through a catalytic conversion process known as Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS), which is usually referred to as the heart of the gas-to-liquid (GTL) technology. Shell in collaboration with Qatar Petroleum built the world largest GTL Plant, the Pearl GTL plant in Ras Laffan, that produces up to one million tons of Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene (SPK) annually from Qatari natural gas. SPK is a cleaner-burning alternative to conventional oil-derived jet fuel, due to its lower particulate and sulfur emissions. These environmental advantages are critical in the search for alternative aviation fuels as they are significantly enhancing air quality around airports. Conventional jet fuels contain aromatics that are essential in the fuel system- their presence seals O-rings that prevent leaks. SPK fuels lacks aromatics, which is environmentally good as aromatics are responsible of producing hydrocarbons and particulate emissions upon fuel combustion, however they are needed to boost certain physical and chemical properties as well as to improve the O-ring sealing capabilities.

The aim of our project is to study the effects of different types of aromatic compounds on the physical properties of SPK fuel as per the aviation industry standard requirement for these properties (American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) D1655 and D7566). Our project consists of the experimental testing campaign that utilizes advanced analytical equipment located at the Fuel Characterization Lab at Texas A&M Qatar. This campaign will be followed by statistical analysis to identify correlations between SPK composition and properties for both linear and non-linear correlations. Several visualization models (both 2-Dimentaional and 3-Dimensional models) will be used to identify optimized fuel composition as per aviation industry standards. The expected duration of our project is from July 2013 to May 2014. This project is an extension to a series of studies conducted by our research group that started with the identification of the optimum paraffinic building blocks for SPK. Our research will be another step towards exploring the potentials of SPK to play a major role as aviation fuel.