On Monday, May 12, 2025, the Air Force Institute of Technology (ITWL) announced that the next meeting of the project team working under the AVT NATO Support Program was held on April 21–22, 2025, in Lecce, Italy.
Photo: ITWL
The main goal of the 3-year project SP-AVT-011: Exploring the Potential of Hydrogen as a Sustainable Jet Fuel is to assess the potential benefits of hydrogen co-combustion for applications in aircraft turbines. The project tasks are being carried out through the collaboration of two research teams: the Air Force Institute of Technology (ITWL), specifically Division Z-55, and research teams from the University of Salento.
The project meeting was attended by representatives from ITWL, including the head of Division Z-55, Lt. Col. Dr. Eng. Tomasz Białecki, and Assistant Professor Dr. Eng. Bartosz Gawron. The Italian side was represented by Prof. Ing. Maria Grazia De Giorgi, the team leader.
During the meeting, the progress of the project was reviewed. The results of 2024 activities were summarized — in particular, the outcomes of combustion modeling of conventional jet fuel on the GTM140 microturbine. Additionally, ongoing activities for 2025 were discussed, including research and modeling of combustion processes involving jet fuel blends with a synthetic component — Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) — on the GTM140 microturbine.
The visit contributed to strengthening the existing collaboration, which has been formalized through the current agreement and the ongoing SP-AVT-011 project.