Soybean Oil May Soon Fuel Jet Planes
(Maybe we should all be looking at commodity futures? -Terrence)
By Environmental News Network
www.enn.com
7-17-1
Chemical engineer Robert Dunn inspects chilled fuels that have been winterized. The clear fuel on the right will ignite more effectively than the cloudy one. Cleaner jet fuel is on the way. Soy bean oil has been successfully used to power cars, buses and boats, and now researchers at the federal government's Agricultural Research Service have found a way to blend the bean based oil with jet fuel.
The payoff will be cleaner air and larger profits for U.S. soybean growers when this oil, known as biodiesel, is functioning in the engines of jet aircraft.
Biodiesel performs like petroleum diesel fuel. It is safer to handle, and offers greater lubrication for engines and produces lower emissions. It is biodegradable and compatible with current engine and fuel distribution systems.
But one serious technical problem has so far prevented biodiesel use in jet aircraft - the behavior of the bean oil at low temperatures. Using biodiesel fuel blends that haven't been winterized could limit a jet's ability to fly at high altitudes, where cold temperatures can cause crystal formation, blocking fuel filters and plugging fuel lines.
Lately, chemical engineer Robert Dunn has been working out solutions to the problem in his lab in Peoria, Illinois at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Oil Chemical Research Unit, in the National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research.
Dunn added small amounts of methyl soyate, esters from fatty acids of soybean oil, to noncommercial jet fuel (JP-8). He developed a three-step winterization process for biodiesel fuel that involves mixing in additives, chilling the fuel and filtering out solids.
In previous tests, Dunn produced biodiesel fuels capable of starting diesel engines at temperatures as low as five degrees Fahrenheit, making them comparable to petroleum-based diesel fuels.
Dunn is still working to expand the lower limits of temperature so that winterized, blended biodiesel fuels can function safely in military aircraft.
Dunn's research was motivated by recent amendments to the Clean Air Act which call for a reduction in harmful emissions from commercial and military aircraft, says USDA spokesperson Linda McGraw.
In 1999, the Federal Aviation Administration certified a fuel for piston driven aircraft containing biodiesel. It is about 85 percent ethanol and contains a high-octane petroleum product and agriculturally derived biodiesel for lubrication. Because of its high percentage of agricultural components, the fuel is known as AGE85.
Ted Aulich, research manager at the National Alternative Fuels Laboratory where AGE85 was developed, says the ethanol used in the new fuel is produced mainly from corn and other grains. The biodiesel component can also come from soy beans, sunflowers, canola and cotton seed. In addition, waste products such as fryer oils and cooking grease, as well as beef tallow and pork lard, can be used.
The U.S. currently imports 50 percent of its oil at a cost of $60 billion annually, says McGraw, making the wider use of domestically produced biodiesel attractive.
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