Comparative thermodynamic, environmental and sustainability performance assessments of an aero turboprop engine utilizing jet fuel and biofuel

The main objective of this study is to investigate the thermodynamic, environmental and sustainability performances of turboprop engines used on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for jet fuel and biofuel usages. Energy efficiency of TPE is accounted as 18.304% for jet fuel and 18.309% for biofuel. Exergy efficiency reduces from 17.05% to 16.99% by biofuel usage. Ecological objective function of TPE is computed as -4388.55 kW for jet fuel and -4413.77 kW for biofuel. Ecological objective function index is -3.863 for jet fuel and -3.885 for biofuel. Environmental effect factor of TPE is 4.863 for jet fuel and 4.885 for biofuel, during the ecological effect factor of TPE is 5.863 for jet fuel and 5.885 for biofuel. Exergetic sustainability index of TPE is assessed as 0.206 for jet fuel and 0.205 for biofuel while sustainable efficiency factor of TPE is estimated as 1.206 for jet fuel and 1.205 for biofuel. Environmental impact is obtained as 9059.798 mPts/h for jet fuel and 86.654 mPts/h for biofuel when the environmental impact index is computed as 7.976 mPts/kWh for jet fuel and 0.076 mPts/kWh for biofuel. Environmental damage cost of the engine is calculated to be 192.673 euro/h for jet fuel and 1.843 euro/h for biofuel when the environmental damage cost index of the engine is determined to be 0.170 euro/kWh for jet fuel and 0.002 euro/kWh for biofuel. As a result, the energy and exergy-based performance metrics have gone wrong by biofuel usage while the emission-based environmental impact analyses have improved by biofuel usage.

Automated summary

The study aims to investigate thermodynamic, environmental, and sustainability performances of turboprop engines on UAVs using jet fuel and biofuel. While the energy and exergy-based performance metrics were negatively impacted by biofuel usage, emission-based environmental impact analyses were improved.