Modifying Airbus A220S Fuel Tank by Electrical Heating Unit for Use of Neat Biodiesel as Aviation Fuel Without Freezing Problem

Abstract

In this study, an active thermal management system was developed to optimize the integration of Waste Cooking Oil (WCO) biodiesel into the Airbus A220 platform to reduce the carbon footprint in the aviation sector. Biodiesel’s Cold Filter Plugging Point (CFPP), which is disadvantageous compared to Jet A-1 and is set at -5 °C, poses a risk of fuel flow interruption during high-altitude operations (-56.5 °C outside air temperature). To counter such a probability, the 9.8 cubic meters (15,000 lb) fuel tank in the center of the aircraft was modeled in a 3D environment, consisting of a structure made of Aluminum 6061, along with copper heating elements spaced 90 mm vertically. The thermal performance of the developed system was evaluated using high-resolution 3D steady-state thermal analyses in ANSYS Mechanical. In the numerical analyses, a constant surface heat flux of 500 W/m² was applied in the regions where the heating cables are in contact with the tank surface. Under International Standard Atmosphere (ISA) conditions, the analysis results at the cruising altitude of 41,000 ft indicate that the system can safely sustain the fuel temperature above the critical CFPP of -5 °C. In addition, a worst-case scenario representing the possible failure of the heating system was defined to evaluate the operational limits of the fuel tank. Contour plots indicate that the fuel tank temperature is within safe operational limits. The study results show that active fuel tank heating systems enable WCO biodiesel to be used as a sustainable alternative fuel in modern regional jets.