Qatar Airways, Qatar Petroleum (QP), and Shell celebrated on 9 January the first commercial introduction of a new aviation jet fuel, the first to be approved globally in over two decades. The innovative GTL Jet Fuel blended with Synthetic Parafinic Kerosene from the world’s largest Gas to Liquids plant - Pearl GTL in Qatar - is now flowing into aeroplane tanks at Doha International Airport. An Airbus A340-600, flight QR001 made history by being the first to fly outbound from Doha International Airport, en route to London Heathrow using GTL Jet Fuel.
GTL Jet Fuel is a blend of up to 50% GTL Synthetic Parafinic Kerosene (SPK) meeting the stringent requirements of ASTM-D-7566 and conventional crude oil-derived standard jet fuel (Jet A-1).
As an alternative to conventional crude oil-derived jet fuel, GTL Jet Fuel can help diversify the aviation fuel supply chain and offers a number of attractive benefits for airlines and airports. The synthetic blend component - GTL kerosene contains virtually zero Sulphur and has been shown to produce lower particulate emissions (very fine soot particles) than conventional crude oil-derived jet fuel. In addition, the GTL kerosene has a higher energy density than conventional oil-based kerosene, which has the potential to reduce the engine maintenance requirements and the required fuel payload.
This means that once blended with conventional jet fuel to create GTL Jet Fuel, it can be attractive to airlines and airport authorities keen to improve local air quality at busy airports by reducing local emissions.
Source: Qatar News Agency (QNA)
* Photo above: VIPs gathering around Qatar Airways’ aircraft, which was supplied with GTL Jet Fuel