FRYING FUEL: BioJet 1 flew for 37 minutes with only pure cooking oil in its engines.
Image: COURTESY OF RUDI WIEDEMANN
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Biodiesel may not become the airplane fuel of the future but it did prove effective enough to recently power a 1968 L-29 Czechoslovakian jet—dubbed BioJet 1—up to 17,000 feet (5,180 meters) over 37 minutes. A three minute, 15-second test the day before was the world's first flight entirely fueled by cooking oil.
"She flew and she flew just fine," says physicist Rudi Wiedemann, president and CEO of Biodiesel Solutions, Inc., whose company provided the fuel for the historic October flight: fresh canola oil refined into biodiesel. "We wanted to show that it was doable by just going out and doing it."
Specifically, Doug Rodante, president of Green Flight International (a company in Florida that promotes alternative aviation fuels), and chief test pilot Carol Sugars, a senior pilot with the United Parcel Service (UPS), conducted extensive fuel tests on the ground, beginning with a 20 percent blend of biodiesel and normal jet fuel (kerosene known as Jet A) and progressing to 100 percent biodiesel (B100) as their confidence increased.
Revolutions per minute in the engine on B100 were at 98 percent, Rodante notes. "We didn't get full power, but we got an acceptable amount" he says. "It was a nonissue in climb performance and time to altitude."
The L-29 jet (acquired from the Ukrainian military) is one of the few planes capable of burning biodiesel at present, thanks to a built-in fuel warming system. Biodiesel can gel at cooler temperatures, such as those experienced on a winter's day or at high altitude. "Jet fuel and biofuel mix is something that is easily done. I don't believe 100 percent biofuel is the answer," Rodante says. "We can implement a 20 percent mix with no modifications in other aircraft."
Such a blend would offer significant environmental benefit—most notably reduced emissions of carbon dioxide, the most common greenhouse gas. "As little as 20 percent biodiesel in petroleum diesel fuel will reduce carbon emissions by 50 percent," Wiedemann says. Airplanes emit roughly 12 percent of the man-made greenhouse gas emissions from transportation, but they are among the fastest growing sources and, potentially, the most damaging because of their release higher in the atmosphere. And the U.S. Air Force has been evaluating alternative fuels, including biofuels from animal fats, going so far as to certify the B-52 bomber to burn such synthetic fuels.
The Green Flight team is currently evaluating the exact emissions of the biodiesel burning as well as how it affected the various seals and rings in the L-29's jet engines. Until the latter testing is wrapped up and Biojet 1's safety is confirmed, the Federal Aviation Administration has grounded the plane. But Rodante says the evaluations could be completed within the next few weeks, after which he plans to fly the experimental jet from Reno, Nev., to Orlando, Fla.—the first transcontinental biodiesel flight, in eight stops. And, eventually, he hopes to fly a similarly fuelled plane around the world. "Aviation emissions are something that needs to be addressed," he says. "We're not moving fast enough."
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8 Comments
Add CommentCan it use used cooking oil?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCO2 eduction , OK
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBut what about nitrous oxide emision?
Has it not any impact on climate changes?
or is it so simple, that co2 is the only cause to the green house effect?
It sounds too easy, in my ears.
To answer your questions:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this(1) Yes, it can use used cooking oil. In fact, generic restaurant fryer grease was used for all the hours of ground testing but unused canola oil was used for the flight because of its ability to endure lower temperatures (obviated by the fuel heater but just in case...)
(2) Of course, CO2 is not the only emission. The nitrogen and oxygen combinations that help form smog and particulate matter are also there, largely from uncombusted fuel. But the good news is that biodiesel burns better in this respect than Jet A, at least in testing so far. The cross-country flight, when it goes off, is designed to monitor exactly this.
What is Biofuel created from?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBiofuel generally is created from some form of plant matter. So you have ethanol which is brewed from sugarcane or corn. Or biodiesel which is chemically transformed fatty acids from the the oil in, for example, soy beans. And there are many other examples, including dimethylfurfuran (DMF):
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this[url http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=turning-whole-plants-into-fuel-in-four-simple-steps]Turning Whole Plants into Fuel in Four Simple Steps[/url]
There is written, that 20 % biodiesel in petroleum diesel will reduce carbon dioxid by 50 %. Why not by 20 %? What makes the difference?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI think that the claims made in such articles, especially on a scientific web site, should be given a bit more scrutiny. The claimed 50% reduction in carbon emissions needs at least a paragraph on how that is worked out. Some studies show that the production of some bio-fuels do not reduce carbon emissions overall, when the full lifecycle emissions are taken into account, including the fossil fuels used in growing and processing the input crop. The 50% figure presumably does not include such inputs. If it does not, then it is a completely misleading figure as it could encourage take up in bio-fuels whilst having no discernible impact on carbon emissions, which would waste time in actually reducing those emissions.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNote: these are researcher figures that have yet to be validated. Nevertheless, biodiesel comes from soy in general, which has a slightly different profile than the ethanol from corn that is truly problematic from an energy and emissions perspective. What I can tell you is that I am working on a broader biofuels article that will explore this more deeply. Stay tuned.
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