Particle emissions from turbofan engines, which are commonly used in civil aviation, include the formation of non-volatile particles (mainly soot) during combustion processes and the nucleation and growth of volatile particles (mainly sulfate and organics) during plume expansion. We conducted field measurements of aerosols near a runway at Narita International Airport (NRT) in cooperation with National Institute for Environmental Studies. Our measurements have provided new insights into the characteristics of sub-10 nm particle emissions from in-use aircraft and the significance of jet engine lubrication oil as a source of aircraft exhaust ultrafine particles (UFPs) at 10–30 nm1, 2.
We performed laboratory experiments to investigate the formation processes of UFPs from jet engine lubrication oil (Fig. 1) 3. We showed that the evaporation of jet engine lubrication oil droplets at 250°C and subsequent nucleation by rapid cooling could form UFPs having volatility similar to that of the particles observed at NRT and composed of nearly intact forms of jet engine lubrication oil.
Fig. 1. Experimental apparatus for generating aerosol particles from jet engine lubrication oil.
References
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Fushimi, A., Saitoh, K., Fujitani, Y., and Takegawa, N., Identification of jet lubrication oil as a major component of aircraft exhaust nanoparticles, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 6389–6399, 2019. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-6389-2019
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Takegawa, N., Murashima, Y., Fushimi, A., Misawa, K., Fujitani, Y., Saitoh, K., and Sakurai, H., Characteristics of sub-10 nm particle emissions from in-use commercial aircraft observed at Narita International Airport, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 1085–1104, 2021. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1085-2021
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Toyota, S., Nagasaki, A., Fushimi, A., and Takegawa, N., Laboratory evaluation of the volatility and composition of ultrafine particles generated from jet engine lubrication oil, Aerosol Sci. Technol., 58, 874–888, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1080/02786826.2024.2351994