A delegation of the Georgia Southern University Sustainable Aviation Fuels Research Laboratory, led by Allen E. Paulson, Distinguished Chair of Renewable Energy and Mechanical Engineering professor Valentin Soloiu, Ph.D., presented two research papers on jet fuel combustion and emissions at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Conference in San Antonio, Texas.
But for senior Zachary Davis and doctoral candidate James Willis, the presentation meant more than having their work acknowledged by their industry peers and colleagues. It was a reminder of how they both fell in love with engineering.
Davis recounts summers of long, hard work as a 13 year old in the hot Statesboro sun,
trying to get a little more life out of an old tractor engine. He would spend hours making all the pieces fit together with hopes of hearing the aged motor roar one last time.
And Willis, now a doctoral candidate in the mechanical engineering program, remembers being four years old and following his grandfather around his shrimp boat. At the time, his small hands could get into the tiny spaces around the boat. A wrench would soon fit those hands perfectly, and with time, his interest in finding out how things worked grew.
Those shared childhood passions are what took the team to San Antonio.
The research was part of a larger federal project with the Department of Defense and the National Science Foundation focusing on sustainable diesel fuel. The two papers they presented were titled:
- Investigation of the Performance and Properties Characterization of Hydro-processed Esters & Fatty Acids (HEFA), FT Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene (S8), F-24, and Jet-A
- Investigation of Performance and Emissions of Premixed Combustion of Hydro-processed Esters and Fatty Acids (HEFA) in a CRDI Research Engine with Methanol PFI
“The key focus nowadays is to make engines cleaner,” explained Willis. “We argued that one of the best ways to do that is an alternative fuel made from renewable organic material.”
The group discovered that oil undergoing a chemical reaction known as the Fischer-Tropsch process would produce a clean alternative to jet fuel.
“The next step would be applying those findings to our jet engine in the laboratory,” said co-author Zachary Davis, undergraduate senior and researcher in the aerospace laboratory. “We’d see how it affects the combustion and emissions. And not just that, but also the mechanical vibrations that are generated from combustion instabilities.”
Soloiu, while proud of his students’ research and initiative, isn’t surprised by their success.
“This is what the mechanical engineering department is best at,” explained Soloiu. “We’re not just training the next generation of engineers to participate in projects. We’re getting them ready to lead the next wave of scientific and technical innovation. And they’re doing a terrific job.”