The NAVAIR¹ fuels team is gearing up for biofuels flight tests in an F/A-18 Super Hornet at Patuxent River, Md., by spring or summer 2010.NAVAIR’s Rick Kamin, Navy fuels lead.

The Navy fuels team leader, Rick Kamin says that before biofueling the plane, the team will first conduct laboratory and rig tests at Pax River, followed by static engine tests with the Super Hornet’s F414 engine on a test stand at the Lynn, Mass., facility of manufacturer General Electric. The static tests are expected to occur December 2009, January 2010.

The NAVAIR fuels team is also preparing to test and certify biofuels for use on ships to support the Navy’s energy strategy to enhance energy security and environmental stewardship, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Kamin says the goal is drop-in replacement for the Navy’s petroleum-based fuels, Kamin said. Fuels derived from plants are considered carbon neutral by the Navy. Burning them doesn’t increase the net amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere because the carbon they contain was originally absorbed from the air as the plants grew.

NAVAIR is asking for 40,000 gallons of JP-5? jet fuel from bio-based feedstocks in a request for proposal or RFP issued by the Defense Energy Support Center?. The fuel will be used in the following way: * Initial laboratory analyses and rig testing will consume 1,500 gallons * Static engine tests will consume 16,500 gallons * Flight tests will consume 22,000 gallons.

The feedstocks sought in the JP-5 RFP are from non-food crops such as camelina, jatropha and algae.

Two commercial biofuels that will not be tested are ethanol, now blended with gasoline, and biodiesel.

Ethanol is considered unsafe for shipboard use because it ignites too easily, and its lower energy content would significantly reduce aircraft range. The biodiesel sold commercially today consists of oxygen-containing compounds called esters. Although they burn well, esters absorb water too readily to be suitable for the Navy’s maritime environment.

For the upcoming static and flight tests, the biofuels will be mixed in a 50-50 blend with conventional petroleum-derived jet fuel to provide the necessary specification properties. Biofuels are not as dense as conventional jet fuel and usually contain no aromatic compounds.

NAVAIR will not be producing any biofuels itself. Fuel for all military services is purchased by the Defense Energy Support Center?. NAVAIR's fuel team is responsible for fuel specification requirements and to test and certify the alternative fuels for inclusion in our specifications.

The fuels team will initially apply three categories of standard tests to the fuels received in response to the RFP: * Analytical chemistry – using instruments such as a mass spectrometer to determine chemical composition and structure, * Wet chemistry – to determining the fuels’ response in specific chemical reactions * Rig tests - to test for water separability, to determine how the fuels will react in aircraft and in conditions typical of Navy operating conditions, which include long-term storage at sea.

The fuel team is also working on certifying by fuel feedstock families, to come up with a spec for an approved class of feedstocks. Examples being looked at include oil shale?, petroleum, hydrotreated renewables?, and coal. The specifications of each family will be determined initially through the full battery of chemical analysis, physical properties, static engine tests and flight tests.

The Navy plans to have test and certification completed on the most promising alternative fuel candidates no later than 2013. As each candidate is approved for use, it will be added to the Navy’s JP-5 aircraft and F-76 ship propulsion fuel? specifications. Once in the specification, the Defense Energy Support Center can buy the fuel to meet Navy requirements from the lowest-cost provider. Actual usage in the fleet will depend on industry production capability.

¹ NAVAIR