A group of engineering faculty and researchers at LSU are working to develop more sustainable aviation fuels, funded by a $1.14 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.
Led by Shyam Menon, a mechanical engineering professor, the project is crafting a prescreening strategy to identify how different materials like sugarcane bagasse or forestry residues could be used in aviation fuels.
The funding will cover the cost of purchasing specialized laser equipment for the project in addition to other research costs.
According to LSU’s announcement, there is intense interest from the government and industry in reducing aviation emissions, but fuels are the only viable short-term solution to making those reductions and lowering the amount of carbon plans put into the atmosphere.
Menon says the project will, over the course of three years, produce a formula that can be used to identify whether a given fuel sample has the correct properties for use in airplane engines. Read more about the project from LSU.
