An aircraft propulsion system 2 has a gas turbine engine 10 supplied with fuel contained in a fuel tank 53, a flight profile adjuster (fig.6,212), and a fuel composition determination module 210. A method of operating the aircraft involves proposing or initiating a change to the aircrafts flight profile based on a determined fuel characteristic. The change to the flight profile may change the intended altitude or route. The fuel characteristic may be one or more of: percentage of sustainable aviation fuel, percentage of nitrogen-containing species, and/or presence of tracer species or trace element in the fuel; aromatic or multi-aromatic hydrocarbon content, hydrogen to carbon ratio, hydrocarbon distribution, thermal stability and/or level of coking of the fuel; naphthalene, sulphur, cycloparaffin and/or oxygen content of the fuel; level of non-volatile particulate matter emissions on combustion; an indication that the fuel is a fossil fuel, density, viscosity, calorific value and or heat capacity. Preferably, a fuel characteristic of any fuel already present in the fuel tank prior to refuelling, and of a fuel added to the tank on refuelling is determined, and a fuel characteristic of the resultant fuel mix in the tank after refuelling calculated.
Flight profile
2023-01-04
Patent
Electronic Resource
English
Engineering Index Backfile | 1965
|S.S.T. flight-profile optimation
Tema Archive | 1974
|Online Contents | 1994