Session: Poster Session

Paper Number: 162907

Past and Present of Fuel Handling Systems in Aviation and the Impact of Ammonia in Its Future. 

The commercial aviation industry has been making incredible advancements in the transportation industry, changing how people move and the things to which they have access, from health to leisure. From airframe to avionics, a lot has been updated, but the fuel that propels the plane forward. Kerosene, its usage, and its benefits and consequences have been widely discussed, especially its adverse effects on the environment. For years, tests and studies have been executed to provide fuel alternatives that create less of a carbon footprint while being cost-effective. Ammonia has become one of the principal runner-ups as a possible substitute and the future in commercial aviation and more. One of the most significant issues in the implementation of ammonia as fuel is the thermodynamic limitations that create the present architecture of the plane, the location and structure of parts, systems, and devices, and the known process of cracking the ammonia. To effectively make ammonia the primary fuel used in airplanes, the chemical and physical properties of the compound need to be taken into consideration for the changes required to the fuel handling system of current aircraft, from storage to distribution of fuel, mechanical and hydraulic systems all the way to avionics systems.

Presenting Author: Arianna De La Paz University of Central Florida

Presenting Author Biography: Born in August 1999 in the Dominican Republic, Arianna always had a fascination with the sky, day or night, and she also knew from a young age she wanted to dedicate her time and energy to being creative and serving others, so when Aero/Space sciences came into her life, she understood her calling.
After graduating High School in 2017, she went on to pursue her higher education in Mechanical Engineering that same year at INTEC (Technological Institute of Santo Domingo), where she graduated in 2021. She started working as a Mechanical Engineer that same year at an aviation company in Miami until 2024 when she began her next professional step as a graduate student in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Central Florida (UCF).

Authors:

Arianna De La Paz University of Central Florida
Jayanta Kapat University of Central Florida