JAL conducts 747-300 camelina oil test flight
Japan Airlines Friday conducted the latest biofuel test flight, operating a 747-300 partially powered by fuel derived primarily from the camelina plant.
Posted 02/02/2009
The 90-min. flight from Tokyo Haneda followed recent biofuel demonstration flights conducted by Air New Zealand and Continental Airlines (ATWOnline, Jan. 8). A 50/50 blend of traditional jet fuel and camelina-based biofuel powered one of the aircraft's four Pratt & Whitney JT9Ds. It was the first biofuel test flight using Pratt engines.
Keiji Kobayashi, who piloted the 747, said, "There was no difference at all in the performance of the engine powered by the biofuel blend and the other three engines." Camelina made up 84% of the biofuel, which also contained jatropha oil (under 16%) and algae oil (under 1%).
Honeywell subsidiary UOP converted the plant-based crude oil to biofuel and then blended it with jet fuel. Sustainable Oils provided the camelina oil while Terasol Energy and Sapphire Energy sourced the jatropha oil and algae oil respectively.
by Aaron Karp
Originally published 3 Feb 2009 at: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/AtwDailyNews/~3/529401877/story.html
