Posted 10/27/2009   Updated 10/27/2009

by Tom Brown
Propulsion

10/27/2009 - WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio – In support of the Department of Defense Assured Fuels Initiative for securing domestic fuel sources to meet the military’s energy needs, Air Force Research Laboratory and the Southwest Research Institute conducted tests of the first biologically based synthetic jet fuel to undergo detailed investigation. The ultimate advantage sought through the use of this bio jet fuel or similarly derived alternative is a reduced dependence on foreign petroleum sources with no loss of operational performance or reliability. 

AFRL propulsion engineers supported the effort by joining SwRI in testing 600 gal of Syntroleum Corporation’s aviation-grade renewable research fluid, dubbed R-8 for short. The synthetic fuel is derived from an animal/vegetable oil blend via the company’s proprietary Bio-Synfining™ process. Initial physical property and T63 engine testing indicates R-8’s performance as indistinguishable from that of S-8, Syntroleum’s Fischer-Tropsch synthetic (paraffinic-kerosene-based) jet fuel that first flew in 2006 aboard the B-52. Additional, “fit for purpose” property, combustor, and fuel pump tests of R-8 are under way, with the product also entering the first stages of the MIL-HDBK-510 Alternative Fuel Certification Process. 

The long-term plan directs that, beginning in 2010, Dynamic Fuels LLC (a Tyson Foods/Syntroleum joint venture) will produce 75 million gallons of alternative fuels targeting diesel, jet, and military markets. These synthetic fuel, naphtha, and liquefied petroleum gas products will be founded largely on R-8’s biologically renewable animal/vegetable oil sources.

This article originally appeared in the News section of the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base website (click here for link).