The National Research Council has been flying its
Dassault Falcon 20 jet pm biofuel
from Brassica carinata, a relative of mustard.
The NRC is also using a Lockheed T-33 chase plane
to catch and analyze the jet’s exhaust.
The flights took place in May and June this year
and pushed the mix 10 percent beyond the certified 50/50 blend of fossil fuel
and the biofuel.
Agrisoma Biosciences produced the fuel from
Brassica carinata it harvested last year.
Flights at an even split and at a ratio of
60-percent bio and 40-percent fossil were made under various conditions.
“The T-33 flies about 1,000 to 2,000 feet in
trail and measures the whole wake of the Falcon,” said Stewart Baillie,
director of the flight research lab at the NRC
Institute for Aerospace Research, Ottawa.
Preliminary results of the sampling indicate that
“particulate emissions, including aerosols of black carbon, sulphates and
by-products of the combustion of aromatic compounds,are significantly lower
from biofuels than from jet-A1,” the NRC says.
Baillie said the performance of the Falcon 20
operating on biofuels was essentially the same as operations under jet-A1 on
the ground, in cruise and during in-flight engine restarts.
“The use of the biofuels did not demand any
change to our ground handling, fueling or fuel system or engine
maintenance practices.”
This crop has all the features necessary to make
it a sustainable energy feedstock crop, says the NRC.
“It is a nonfood, industrial oilseed, uniquely
suited for production in semi-arid areas unsuitable for food oilseed
production, with excellent agronomic characteristics,” the council said.
It’s “almost like a weed in that it grows where other crops could
not grow, and it’s got some interesting characteristics right at the molecular
level that allow it be a particularly effective fuel feedstock,” said Baillie.
Honeywell UOP provided the Honeywell Green Jet Fuel for this test flight.
Honeywell UOP provided the Honeywell Green Jet Fuel for this test flight.
