AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING …

    AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING




                                                                                                                                                 MICHAEL PLISKIN
                                      Short But Sweet
                                   U.S. Air Force completes B-52 test cycle
                                                      JAMES OTT/EDWARDS AFB, CALIF.
    A blend of synthetic kerosene and JP-8 burns in PW TF33 engines 7 and 8, leaving a slightly reduced trail of black smoke.




    T
           he U.S. Air Force is moving slow-       since the synthetic contains no aromat-        million-gallon purchase by the Air Force
           ly but surely toward the goal of cer-   ics, which cause 0-rings and gaskets to        and the Navy in 2008, 25 companies re-
           tifying a synthetic kerosene while      swell and prevent leaks. Pre-flight tests      sponded to a request for information on
           domestic producers of alternative       indicated that by mixing JP-8 with the         synthetics.
           fuels and potential commercial          synthetic kerosene, the blended fuel had          The Air Force has adopted a systems
    users wait for concrete developments.          the right properties for proper sealing.       engineering approach to determine the
       Initial flight tests over a 10-day peri-       Syntroleum Corp. of Tulsa, Okla., pro-      impact of synthetic kerosene on aircraft
    od in a B-52 Stratofortress, using a blend     vided 100,000 gal. of the synthetic kero-      and engines. A similar synthetic, pro-
    of synthetic and JP-8 fuels in a two-en-       sene. It was produced from natural gas         duced from coal by Sasol Ltd. of Johan-
    gine pod, demonstrated that the blend          using the Fischer-Tropsch process de-          nesburg, South Africa, has been fueling
    is working, says Jerold C. Smith, chief        veloped in Germany in the 1920s, but it        commercial aircraft at Johannesburg
    engineer with the Oklahoma City Air            can be made from coal as well. Syntro-         since 1999 was approved by the U.K. De-
    Logistics Center. Analysts are going over      leum also provided diesel fuel the Air         fense Ministry as Def Stan 91-91.
    performance data, and the next step will       Force is using in ground vehicle tests            Success of the drive for alternative
    determine what it will take to fully qual-     at Edwards AFB and Selfridge Air Na-           fuel will depend on purchase contracts,
    ify the blend. He says it's likely a series    tional Guard base in Michigan.                 one industry official says. A roadblock
    of ground tests will precede using the            Syntroleum has "mothballed" its dem-        to large government buys is a require-
    blend as fuel in all eight B-52 engines.       onstration plant, according to a compa-        ment that fuel be acquired for a fiscal
       IN THE FIRST TEST SEPT. 19, the bomber      ny official. The plant, capable of produc-     year. If Congress would permit Defense
    launched from a Flight Test Center run-        ing 70 barrels a day, costs $1 million a       Dept. contracts for much longer peri-
    way here and passed over a gathering of        month to operate. Syntroleum is looking        ods, the chance of Wall Street financing
    government and industry officials. Test        for business and will reopen the refinery      new refineries would be improved great-
    engines 7 and 8 left a good impression--       when new contracts are obtained.               ly, according to a government official.
    a somewhat reduced trail of black smoke           Representatives of three U.S. users            Interest in synthetic fuels is broaden-
    compared to longer and wider streams           of the Fischer-Tropsch process attend-         ing into the commercial sector, says Paul
    from the six JP-8-fueled engines.              ed the initial Air Force test flight and       P. Bollinger, Jr., special assistant to the
       Air Force Under Secretary Ronald            eagerly await the results. In addition to      assistant secretary of the Air Force In-
    M. Sega, a retired major general and           Syntroleum's Chairman Kenneth L.               stallations, Environment and Logistics.
    former Air Force pilot, flew on the test       Agee, there was D. Hunt Ramsbottom,            The FAA and Georgia Tech are co-host-
    mission. Though that flight was cut short      president and CEO of Rentech of Den-           ing a workshop Oct. 23-24 in Atlanta for
    because a wingtip landing gear failed to       ver, and John W. Rich, Jr., president of       industry personnel to explore econom-
    retract properly, Sega said the two TF33       WMPI Pty. of Frackville, Pa. Each com-         ic and environment factors of a shift to
    engines fueled with the blend, "worked         pany is looking to develop aviation syn-       alternative fuels.
    like the other engines using JP-8."            thetics to complement their offerings.            DESPITE ENVIRONMENTAL advantages
    Flights on Sept. 27 and 29 completed              Harrison says the drive to find alter-      of the synthetic fuels, Steve Bergin, pro-
    the initial test cycle.                        native and improved fuels has picked up        gram manager for advanced vehicle
       Ground tests of the synthetic kero-         steam with rising concerns over the price      technologies with ICRC of Sterling
    sene-JP-8 blend indicate that it burns         of petroleum-based fuels, dependence           Heights, Mich., anticipates a backlash
    at about the same rate as petroleum-           on foreign sources for oil and interest        from activists who "want zero emissions.
    based fuel, says William E. Harrison, 3rd,     in conservation (AW&ST July 31, p. 54).        I'm pleased the Fischer-Tropsch utiliza-
    chief of the fuels branch at the Air Force     Synthetic kerosene has been the Air            tion is moving forward, but it's going to
    Research Laboratory at Wright-Patter-          Force's chief focus in part because it ap-     be a tough sell."
    son AFB, Ohio. Tests also have demon-          pears to be transparent to engines built          Edwards' Test Center commander
    strated the advantage of a 20-40% re-          for petroleum-based fuels. Furthermore,        Maj. Gen. Curtis M. Bedke says the test
    duction in particulates. Harrison says no      there are large stores of natural gas and      program is "creating options for the Air
    leakage was found in the test engines.         coal in North America.                         Force . . . . If this doesn't work, we will
    This was expected, but is still a concern         Interested in the potential of a 200-       continue to look for alternatives."       c
    62 AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/OCTOBER 9, 2006                                                              www.aviationweek.com/awst



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c               AW_10_09_2006_p62.qxd                                                                                           CMYK