Demonstration of alcohol as an aviation fuel
A recently funded Southeastern Regional Biomass Energy Program (SERBEP) project with Baylor University will demonstrate the effectiveness of ethanols as an aviation fuel while providing several environmental and economic benefits. Part of this concern is caused by the petroleum industry. The basis for the petroleum industry to find an alternative aviation fuel will be dictated mainly by economic considerations. Three other facts compound the problem. First is the disposal of oil used in engines burning leaded fuel. This oil will contain too much lead to be burned in incinerators and will have to be treated as a toxic waste with relatively high disposal fees. Second, as a result of a greater demand for alkalites to be used in the automotive reformulated fuel, the costs of these components are likely to increase. Third, the Montreal Protocol will ban in 1998 the use of Ethyl-Di-Bromide, a lead scavenger used in leaded aviation fuel. Without a lead scavenger, leaded fuels cannot be used. The search for alternatives to leaded aviation fuels has been underway by different organizations for some time. As part of the search for alternatives, the Renewable Aviation Fuels Development Center (RAFDC) at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, has received a grant from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to improve the efficiencies of ethanol powered aircraft engines and to test other non-petroleum alternatives to aviation fuel.
- OSTI ID:
- 508478
- Journal Information:
- SERBEP Update, Other Information: PBD: Jul 1996
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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