US airforce successfully tests synthetic (bio)fuel in B52 aircraft
We have been tracking developments in aviation biofuels for quite a while (earlier post and references there). The creation of renewable fuels for large aircraft that fly at high altitudes is the last frontier, with many challenges remaining. But today, the US airforce announced that it has come a step closer to making renewable aviation fuels a reality: a B-52 Stratofortress took off on december the 15th on a flight-test mission using a blend of synthetic fuel and JP-8 (kerosene) in all eight turbine engines. This is the first time a B-52 has flown using a synfuel blend as the only fuel on board.
Synthetic fuels are obtained from gasifying a renewable (biomass) or non-renewable (coal, natural gas) primary energy source to obtain a carbon and hydrogen rich gas. This gas is then liquefied by Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, a process which results in clean 'synthetic fuels' (click diagram). If such synfuels are based on fossil fuels ('coal-to-liquids' or 'gas-to-liquids') without the carbon that gets released during the gasification being captured and sequestered, then they contribute substantially to climate change. If the synfuels on the contrary are based on renewable biomass ('biomass-to-liquids'), they offer a very clean kind of carbon-neutral fuel.
The gas-to-liquids process as it has been developed by Syntroleum, a Fischer-Tropsch technology leader whose fuel was used in a previous airforce test, is indifferent to the type of syngas used. This means syngas derived from biomass remains a very promising resource for the production of ultra-clean synfuels.
Syntroleum’s synthetic jet fuel has shown superior performance characteristics compared to traditional aviation fuels. Prior testing by the military on the company’s FT fuels have shown a reduction in particulate matter and soot emissions of greater than 90% depending upon the turbine engine type compared to aviation fuels produced by refining crude oil. The reduced particulate matter and soot emissions significantly improve engine efficiency, performance and overall air quality.
Commenting on yesterday's test, Secretary of the Air Force Michael W. Wynne, said:
biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: gas-to-liquids :: coal-to-liquids :: biomass-to-liquids :: Fischer-Tropsch :: synfuels :: synthetic fuels :: aviation ::
"The B-52 test flights at Edwards Air Force Base are the initial steps in the Air Force process to test and certify a synthetic blend of fuel for its aviation fleet. We are confident that the success of this flight will bring us one step closer to allowing a domestic source of synthetic fuel to accomplish the Air Force mission in the future."
The flight further demonstrates the Air Force's commitment to using alternate fuels and is the next step in the testing and certification process before the fuel can go into widespread use, officials said. According to William Anderson, assistant secretary of the Air Force for installations, environment and logistics, the Air Force has reinvigorated its energy strategy which is underpinned by supply-side availability and semand-side conservation. "The Air Force is moving forward in its commitment to certify alternative sources of fuel for both its aircraft and ground vehicles fleet," said Mr. Anderson.
Maj. Gen. Curtis Bedke, Air Force Flight Test commander, is flying the aircraft to assess how well the aircraft performs using the synthetic blend of fuel. The next test phase for the B-52 will be cold-weather testing to determine how well the synfuel-blend performs in extreme weather conditions.
Earlier, the Argentinian airforce successfully tested a 'bio-jetfuel' consisting of 80% kerosene and 20% of a special type of biodiesel, in a C-130 Hercules cargo carrier (earlier post).
The news is important because it means biomass can now be used in all transport sectors, including aviation, which can not be serviced by any other renewable energy source. This major advantage will no doubt promote the global biomass industry.
Article continues
Synthetic fuels are obtained from gasifying a renewable (biomass) or non-renewable (coal, natural gas) primary energy source to obtain a carbon and hydrogen rich gas. This gas is then liquefied by Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, a process which results in clean 'synthetic fuels' (click diagram). If such synfuels are based on fossil fuels ('coal-to-liquids' or 'gas-to-liquids') without the carbon that gets released during the gasification being captured and sequestered, then they contribute substantially to climate change. If the synfuels on the contrary are based on renewable biomass ('biomass-to-liquids'), they offer a very clean kind of carbon-neutral fuel.
The gas-to-liquids process as it has been developed by Syntroleum, a Fischer-Tropsch technology leader whose fuel was used in a previous airforce test, is indifferent to the type of syngas used. This means syngas derived from biomass remains a very promising resource for the production of ultra-clean synfuels.
Syntroleum’s synthetic jet fuel has shown superior performance characteristics compared to traditional aviation fuels. Prior testing by the military on the company’s FT fuels have shown a reduction in particulate matter and soot emissions of greater than 90% depending upon the turbine engine type compared to aviation fuels produced by refining crude oil. The reduced particulate matter and soot emissions significantly improve engine efficiency, performance and overall air quality.
Commenting on yesterday's test, Secretary of the Air Force Michael W. Wynne, said:
biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: gas-to-liquids :: coal-to-liquids :: biomass-to-liquids :: Fischer-Tropsch :: synfuels :: synthetic fuels :: aviation ::
"The B-52 test flights at Edwards Air Force Base are the initial steps in the Air Force process to test and certify a synthetic blend of fuel for its aviation fleet. We are confident that the success of this flight will bring us one step closer to allowing a domestic source of synthetic fuel to accomplish the Air Force mission in the future."
The flight further demonstrates the Air Force's commitment to using alternate fuels and is the next step in the testing and certification process before the fuel can go into widespread use, officials said. According to William Anderson, assistant secretary of the Air Force for installations, environment and logistics, the Air Force has reinvigorated its energy strategy which is underpinned by supply-side availability and semand-side conservation. "The Air Force is moving forward in its commitment to certify alternative sources of fuel for both its aircraft and ground vehicles fleet," said Mr. Anderson.
Maj. Gen. Curtis Bedke, Air Force Flight Test commander, is flying the aircraft to assess how well the aircraft performs using the synthetic blend of fuel. The next test phase for the B-52 will be cold-weather testing to determine how well the synfuel-blend performs in extreme weather conditions.
Earlier, the Argentinian airforce successfully tested a 'bio-jetfuel' consisting of 80% kerosene and 20% of a special type of biodiesel, in a C-130 Hercules cargo carrier (earlier post).
The news is important because it means biomass can now be used in all transport sectors, including aviation, which can not be serviced by any other renewable energy source. This major advantage will no doubt promote the global biomass industry.
Article continues
Saturday, December 16, 2006
China Clean Energy Inc. to expand biodiesel capacity and to rely on palm residues from Malaysia, Indonesia
The new factory site is approximately 50 miles from Fuzhou, the Capital City of Fujian Province, and 15 miles from China Clean Energy's existing facility at the Longtian Industrial Park of Fuqing. The new Industrial Park is equipped with a deep-sea harbor capable of 300,000 ton cargo ships, a container port, and railroad to be connected to the PRC's national railroad network by 2008.
Interesting feedstock imports
This infrastructure is aimed at importing the factory's feedstocks. However, there is uncertainty over which kind of feedstocks this will be. China Clean Energy's press release states the following: the company "has signed long-term agreements with major processors from Indonesia and Malaysia to supply palm oil leavings (waste) as raw materials for the new facility."
But what does this company refer to when it talks about palm oil 'leavings'? And how can they be used as a (first generation) biodiesel feedstock (for an overview of the energy content of oil palm's different waste-streams, see this previous post)? Palm oil producers have one major goal: to achieve as high an oil extraction rate as possible. When fresh fruit bunches are brought to the oil press, both the mesocarp and the kernel are pressed, resulting in different products (besides crude palm oil - CPO - and palm kernel oil - PKO): empty fruitbunches, CPO press cake, and PKO press cake (picture).
Current extraction rates in Malaysia average 20%. This means that the expeller cakes still contain a fraction of oil (the palm fruit mesocarp contains between 50 and 65% of oil, whereas the palm kernel contains a slightly lower amount).
So we assume that the Chinese biodiesel producer will be importing the dry and bulky CPO and PKO press cakes and extract the low amounts of oil they still contain in a thermochemical process. The problem is that, if such a secondary extraction process were to be any efficient, then why don't Indonesia and Malaysia themselves rely on it? After all, both countries are at the forefront of building a biofuels industry based on palm oil and its residues. Moreover, palm press cakes have several other uses and markets, such as that of livestock fodder.
We have contacted the company for more info, because its use of press cakes would be a first, and an interesting new development in the creation of markets for oil palm processing residues:
biodiesel :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: oil palm :: waste :: residues :: press cake :: Indonesia :: Malaysia :: China ::
China Clean Energy expects to break ground on the new biodiesel facility within the next six to nine months, pending completion of the new Industrial Park's infrastructure construction. Work on the China Clean Energy's facility will be divided into two phases of construction. The first phase will require approximately a $9 million investment (including $2.5 million for land usage rights) and will increase the Company's biodiesel production capacity by approximately 50,000 tons per year. The second phase will require an additional $6 million investment and will increase biodiesel production capacity approximately by an additional 50,000 tons per year. The Company expects the first and second phases of construction to be completed by the first half of 2008 and end of 2008, respectively.
"We are very pleased to announce our plans to construct a new biodiesel facility in the new Fuqing Jiangyin Industrial Park. This area is strategically located close to our existing location and established markets, and will have a multi-modal transportation infrastructure," commented Mr. Tai-ming Ou, China Clean Energy's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Our new facility will allow us to meet the rapidly increasing demand for environmentally-friendly energy sources in China."
The fast pace of economic growth in recent years has turned China into the second largest oil consumer in the world, based on statistics compiled by the International Energy Agency. In order to support the growth of the economy, reduce reliance on imported oil and increase the use of environment friendly energy, the Chinese government, in its 11th Five Year Plan, increased its commitment to promote renewable energy sources, such as biodiesel. Biodiesel can be used in virtually any existing diesel engine without modification and, in the opinion of Company management, it provides a number of advantages over fossil diesel, including the reduction in
carbon emissions with a similar energy value, and the increase in handling safety due to higher flash point (the point fuel ignites) and biodegradability (spills cause little or no harm to the environment). In addition, China generates a significant amount of low cost waste vegetable oil and recycled cooking oil that can be used in the production of biodiesel. The Company believes it can leverage the high availability of low cost feedstock in China for the production of biodiesel to establish a cost advantage that may, in the future, create export opportunities.
Article continues
posted by Biopact team at 6:44 PM 0 comments links to this post