Working in collaboration with the German Aerospace Center (DLR), NASA's aeronautical innovators supplied several key instruments for the DLR's Emissions and Climate Impacts of Alternative Aviation Fuels (ECLIF) experiments. NASA instruments are placed about 100 feet behind a parked DLR Airbus 320. These instruments then measure the exhaust from the jet as it burns eight different types of standard and alternative fuels that contain varying amounts of aromatic compounds and sulfur impurities.
Emissions covering about nine hours of ground-based jet engine operation will be sampled, and data recorded and analyzed. It is hoped that the research will lead to more environmentally friendly aircraft designs and worldwide flight operations. ECLIF data will help confirm and supplement information gathered during NASA's own research on alternative fuels. So far, the research indicates the alternative fuels result in a 50 percent reduction in soot emissions when burning blended fuel as opposed to traditional, petroleum-based jet fuel alone.
