Neofuels

Transportation, heat and power supply all rely on one component: Fuel. This emphasises the importance of liquid chemical energy sources and their cross-sectoral application possibilities very impressively. The DLR project NeoFuels works in a similar way: here, research on fuels from areas as diverse as space, aviation, energy and transport is summarised. It is concerned with both climate-neutral mobility and energy supply.

One key finding from the project is that all available technology options are needed to achieve the climate protection targets. While some areas of mobility, such as road transport, can be electrified, in other areas with high power and energy requirements - such as aviation, shipping and space transport - there is no alternative to liquid energy sources in the medium or long term. This means that complementary strategies must be chosen. For this reason, both sustainable fuels of biogenic origin and synthetically produced fuels are being analysed in the project and integrated into current strategies. This approach is also reflected in Germany's national hydrogen strategy. There, hydrogen downstream products, i.e. synthetic fuels (including eFuels), are an integral part of the energy transition.

The NeoFuels project aims to further reduce the central gap between demonstration and commercial implementation in aviation, space, transport and energy by working across programmes within the DLR. A key objective is to fully map both Biofuels and Synfuels in practical and methodological terms, from the source through to production and utilisation including the environmental impact. To this end, the expertise built up by the various partners will be used synergistically and interlinked in order to investigate all sub-processes holistically and co-optimise them where possible. DLR is virtually predestined for such a holistic approach due to its wide-ranging research.

Liquid synthetic fuel in the laboratory
To analyse fuel samples using differential thermal analysis, they must be filled into special sample containers.
Image: 1/3, Credit:
Liquid synthetic fuel in amber glass vial
Sustainable aviation fuels must fulfil strict requirements. Prescreening shows manufacturers whether their newly developed fuel fulfils the requirements and what properties it will have even before it is approved. Even the smallest quantities are sufficient for this.
Image: 2/3, Credit:
Measurement flight in the exhaust jet of an aircraft flying ahead
The Falcon measurement aircraft was used to measure the exhaust emissions of the DLR aircraft ATRA, which was fuelled with SAF for the flight test campaign.
Image: 3/3, Credit:

DLR/NASA/Florian Friz 

Contact

Dr. Markus Köhler

Head of Department Chemical Kinetics and Analytics Department
German Aerospace Center (DLR)
Institute of Combustion Technology
Pfaffenwaldring 38-40, 70569 Stuttgart