An interdisciplinary research team at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) has developed a potential breakthrough in green aviation: a zero-fuel airplane recipe that will eliminate carbon dioxide (CO)._2). The study, which uses sophisticated computational modeling and analysis, was recently published in a journal. Fuel.

The work, led by Jagan Jayachandran, associate professor of aerospace engineering, and Adam Powell, associate professor of mechanical and materials engineering, helps address the pressing problem of climate change. According to the International Council for Clean Transport (ICCT), aviation accounts for around 2.5% of all global greenhouse gas emissions, and this figure is only expected to increase.

“As aviation grows, so will industry emissions,” says Powell. “We have to think outside the box and look at sustainable materials that will contribute to the long-term solution to reducing the transport sector’s carbon footprint.”

Through modeling and computational analysis, Jayachandran and Powell developed a formula for fuel that consists of magnesium, a mineral found throughout the world and the most abundant mineral in the world’s oceans. A slurry of magnesium hydride, a chemical compound composed of magnesium and hydrogen, was mixed with hydrocarbon fuel and burned to produce CO.₂water vapor and magnesium oxide (MgO) nanoparticles.

Magnesium hydride fuel will also give airplanes the range they need for long-haul flights like Boston to Tokyo, which is a problem for other environmentally friendly aviation fuels. This wider range is achieved in part due to the chemical properties of the slurry – it requires a smaller volume for combustion than typical jet fuel.

“We found that this fuel has an 8% longer range than other available jet fuels and would be more than two to three times the range of liquid hydrogen or ammonia that other researchers have suggested as environmentally friendly fuels,” said Jayachandran.

The Department of Energy defines sustainable jet fuel as “a biofuel used in an aircraft engine with properties similar to conventional jet fuel but with lower carbon emissions.” This biofuel is made from sources such as corn kernels, algae, forestry and agricultural waste. The use of biofuel as a hydrocarbon in this magnesium hydride slurry could potentially result in net negative emissions.

Noting the promise of research to reduce emissions and other climate threats, Powell said, “We hope our work, which opens a new category of clean jet fuel, will fire the imaginations of other researchers. The sky is the limit.”