Assessment of hydrogen and kerosene combustion performance and emissions in an aircraft engine at different altitudes based on real engine data
AEROSPACE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, cilt.178, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 178
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.ast.2026.113221
- Dergi Adı: AEROSPACE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Compendex, INSPEC, zbMATH, Academic Search Ultimate (EBSCO), Engineering Source (EBSCO)
- Eskişehir Osmangazi Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
The shift towards sustainable aviation fuels has heightened interest in alternative propulsion technologies. Hydrogen, being a carbon-free fuel, offers a promising avenue for reducing aviation emissions; however, its combustion properties differ markedly from traditional kerosene-based fuels. This study employs computational fluid dynamics to numerically examine the combustion performance and emissions of a commercial aircraft engine operating with kerosene and hydrogen across six flight levels (FL300-FL390). Key parameters analyzed include temperature distribution, species concentrations, turbulence kinetic energy, and pollutant emissions. Findings reveal that hydrogen combustion achieves higher peak temperatures and broader high-temperature regions than kerosene across the investigated cruise conditions. These combustor-level results indicate stronger local heat release and oxidation intensity under the simulated cases, but they are not interpreted here as direct evidence of superior whole-engine thermal efficiency. Hydrogen also produces a clearer thermal-NOx penalty at the lower flight levels, while eliminating carbon-containing exhaust species from the combustor products.