Missouri S&T researchers have received a $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to further study the effects of sustainable aviation fuels on the environment. S&T received a similar grant of over $2 million in 2022 to begin the research.

Dr. Philip Whitefield, professor emeritus of chemistry at Missouri S&T, and Dr. Klaus Woelk, associate professor of chemistry at S&T, received the funding through the FAA’s Aviation Sustainability Center (ASCENT), which is part of the FAA Air Transportation Center of Excellence for Alterative Jet Fuels and Environment.

The S&T team will measure emissions from aircraft engines that burn sustainable aviation fuels to study their potential effect on the environment. They will also help quantify the effect fuel composition has on particulate emissions to estimate the positive environmental impact of adopting sustainable fuels.