US Air Force tests alternative fuel

[WorldTraveler]

And to think some people have honestly considered parking perfectly good MD80s.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-fuel...dlines-business

Air Force to Try Out a New Kind of Jet Fuel
A synthetic alternative could help cut costs for both the Pentagon and the nation's airlines.
By Peter Pae
Times Staff Writer

September 15, 2006

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE — If you think your fuel bill has skyrocketed, pity the people who operate the eight-engine B-52 bomber.

The lumbering aircraft, built in the 1950s when jet fuel cost a quarter a gallon, guzzles 47,000 gallons in a single mission. Today, that's $100,000 a fill-up.

Tally in the gas hogs in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere — fighter jets, bombers and cargo planes — and you can understand why the American taxpayer got a $5-billion fuel bill last year for the Air Force alone.

On Tuesday, the Air Force will begin test flights here that could represent a major step in the Pentagon's plan to find less costly sources of fuel. A B-52 will take off with two of its engines burning a new blend that may eventually replace the oil-based kerosene formula that has powered jet engines since they were invented.

The test flight, which will be observed by top military officials and airline executives, will mark the first time a U.S. aircraft will attempt to fly using fuel not refined from oil.

The Pentagon's initiative is drawing significant interest from U.S. airlines that have been hammered by steep oil prices. Jet fuel jumped from an average of 75 cents a gallon in 2001 to $2.01 last year, when U.S. airlines spent more than $33 billion on fuel, according to the Air Transport Assn., an industry organization.

click the link above for more of the article

 

[BoeingBoy]

Aviation Week had an interesting article on this.....

First, they're not going to test synthetic - they're testing a blend of synthetic and traditional military jet fuel (JP8 to be precise). So the dream of totally replacing crude oil based jet fuel is still quite a ways off.

The DoD is hoping, if all goes well, to be supplied with 200 million gallons of synthetic in 2008. Sounds like a lot, but that's less than 5,000 barrels. The latest EIA data show that last week nearly 1,600,000 barrels of jet fuel were delivered - that's over 80 Million barrels per year. So 5,000 barrels is a start, but it's only a drop in the bucket.

So by the time synthetic jet fuel is making a meaningful difference, those MD80's will be getting as long in the tooth as NW's DC9's are now. Plus, the big benefit isn't cost compared with $60-$70 crude, it's insuring less dependence on fickle foreign oil supplies (plus some environmental side-effects) - something the DoD is keenly interested in.

Jim

 

[WorldTraveler]

agree but I couldn't post the whole article or I'd get nabbed by the copyright police.

The benefit for airlines would be actually being able to predict their costs ... how's that for a novel concept?

 

[LACSEUL]

<_<

Aviation Week had an interesting article on this.....

First, they're not going to test synthetic - they're testing a blend of synthetic and traditional military jet fuel (JP8 to be precise). So the dream of totally replacing crude oil based jet fuel is still quite a ways off.

The DoD is hoping, if all goes well, to be supplied with 200 million gallons of synthetic in 2008. Sounds like a lot, but that's less than 5,000 barrels. The latest EIA data show that last week nearly 1,600,000 barrels of jet fuel were delivered - that's over 80 Million barrels per year. So 5,000 barrels is a start, but it's only a drop in the bucket.

So by the time synthetic jet fuel is making a meaningful difference, those MD80's will be getting as long in the tooth as NW's DC9's are now. Plus, the big benefit isn't cost compared with $60-$70 crude, it's insuring less dependence on fickle foreign oil supplies (plus some environmental side-effects) - something the DoD is keenly interested in.

Jim

 

[WorldTraveler]

being able to predict costs is just as important with the last or next generation of aircraft.

 

[BoeingBoy]

being able to predict costs is just as important with the last or next generation of aircraft.

If predicting cost is the goal, hedging is probably more effective. While WN has been lucky with their hedged price the last couple of years, the big benefit they've enjoyed since the mid-90's is knowing the future cost of a significant portion of their fuel.

Nobody is talking about anything other than at most a 50/50 blend of synthetic and "normal" jet fuel yet, and even that is quite a ways off. So airlines that aren't significantly hedged will face fuel price fluctuations for the foreseeable future.

Jim

 

[BoeingBoy]

Apparently, the test went well....

Jim

News Breaks
Americas
The first flight test
Aviation Week & Space Technology
09/25/2006, page 22

The first flight test of a B-52 fueled with a blend of synthetic kerosene and JP-8 appeared to work successfully Sept. 19 at the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB, Calif. Air Force Undersecretary Ronald Sega, who was on board the flight, says the two TF33 engines in the test pod performed the same as the other six powerplants, which were fueled totally with JP-8. The flight was cut short when the left wingtip landing gear failed to retract properly. At least two other B-52 flight tests are planned. If all test points are covered and the synthetic proves out, another flight will be scheduled using synthetic kerosene in all eight engines. The Air Force has taken the lead in investigating alternatives to petroleum-based fuels.

 

[jimntx]

Oh, joy. Just what we need...an excuse to hang on the the MD-80s! As someone who flies those a/c all the time, you guys really know how to cheer me down.

When things look blackest, you're always there with the voice of doom.

 

[eolesen]

Biodiesel seems to be working just fine for over the road trucks, and if I recall, diesel and kerosene aren't that far off from each other in the fractioning tree.

 

[BoeingBoy]

And so far is working fine in the DoD tests using the B-52 using a 50/50 blend in all engines.

Article on test flight using only synthetic blend

Jim