Biofuel blending reduces particle emissions from aircraft engines at cruise conditions
Biofuel blending reduces particle emissions from aircraft engines at cruise conditions
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DOI：
10.1038/nature21420
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发表时间：
2017-03-16
期刊：
影响因子：
64.8
通讯作者：
Anderson, Bruce E.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Moore, Richard H.;Thornhill, Kenneth L.;Anderson, Bruce E.
与航空相关的气溶胶排放有助于尾迹卷云的形成，而尾迹卷云可以改变对流层上层的辐射和水收支，从而改变气候(1)。与空中交通相关的气溶胶-云相互作用的强度以及这些相互作用在未来可能发生变化的方式仍然不确定(1)。目前和未来航空对气候影响的模拟研究需要关于每千克燃料燃烧所排放的气溶胶颗粒数量以及这些气溶胶与云的形成有关的微物理特性的详细信息(2)。然而，先前在巡航高度上的观测数据很少用于燃烧传统燃料的发动机，而且在飞行中也没有关于生物燃料使用的数据报道。在这里，我们报告了来自研究飞机的观察结果，这些研究飞机对NASA DC-8飞机上的发动机废气进行了采样，当它们燃烧传统的Jet a燃料和50:50（体积）的Jet a燃料和从亚麻荠油中提取的生物燃料的混合物时。我们表明，与使用传统燃料相比，生物燃料混合可将飞机后的颗粒数量和质量排放减少50%至70%。我们的观察量化了生物燃料混合对巡航条件下气溶胶排放的影响，并提供了关键的微物理参数，这将有助于评估生物燃料在航空中使用的潜力，作为缓解气候变化的可行策略。
Aviation-related aerosol emissions contribute to the formation of contrail cirrus clouds that can alter upper tropospheric radiation and water budgets, and therefore climate(1). The magnitude of air-traffic-related aerosol-cloud interactions and the ways in which these interactions might change in the future remain uncertain(1). 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(2). However, previous observational data at cruise altitudes are sparse for engines burning conventional fuels2,3, 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.