Japan Airlines to conduct bio-fuel test flight using Camelina

Japan Airlines Corporation (JAL), United States-based aircraft maker Boeing Company and aircraft-engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney are collaborating to develop a bio-fuel that can be used as jet fuel. The bio-fuel to be used is a mix of Camelina (84 %), Jatropha (15 %) and algae (approx. 1 %).

Photo: A Japan Airlines 747-300

The first test flight using the bio-fuel will depart from Haneda Airport, Tokyo, Japan, on January 30, 2009, using one of Japan Airlines’ Boeing 747-300 aircraft equipped with Pratt & Whitney engines.

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Camelina is a second-generation bio-fuel – it does not use up water like ethanol manufactured from corn.

It will mark the first time a bio-fuel is tested on a Pratt & Whitney engine as well as the first demonstration of bio-fuel by an Asia-based carrier.

Camelian sativa Image Courtesy

Data from the test flight, which will last about one hour, will be collected and analysed to determine the extent to which measures using bio-fuel can help reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. Several of the engine readings will be used to determine if equivalent engine performance was seen from the bio-fuel blend compared to jet fuel, a press release from Japan Airlines said.

Japan Airlines (JAL), which is set to conduct the world’s first test flight with a bio-fuel drawn from camelina, is based in Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan. Its main bases are Tokyo’s Narita International Airport and Tokyo International Airport. The JAL Group is Asia’s largest airline group, serving 213 airports in 33 countries and territories, including 61 airports in Japan. The Group’s network extends over 235 international passenger, 39 international cargo, and 160 domestic routes. Altogether, the 9 airlines of the JAL Group make a total of over 1,200 flights a day.

Pratt & Whitney, the aircraft-engine manufacturer based in the United States, makes products that are widely used in both civil and military aircraft. As one of the “big three” aero-engine manufacturers, Pratt & Whitney competes with General Electric and Rolls-Royce, though it has also formed joint ventures with both of these companies. In addition to aircraft engines, Pratt & Whitney manufactures fixed gas turbines for industry and power generation, marine turbines, railway locomotive engines, and rocket engines.

The fuel for the Japan Airlines’ demonstration flight was converted from plant-based crude oil to bio-jet fuel by Honeywell’s UOP, a developer of refining technology, using proprietary hydro-processing technology to complete the fuel conversion. The fuel was then blended with typical jet fuel to create the 50% bio-fuel blend.

(Honeywell, a major multinational conglomerate company based in the United Stats, produces a variety of consumer products, engineering services, and aerospace systems for a wide variety of customers, from private consumers to major corporations.)

“The test-flight is being conducted at the end of a 12-month process to confirm the sustainable bio-fuel’s operational performance capabilities and potential commercial viability,” a statement from Honeywell said.

Subsequent laboratory testing by Boeing, Honeywell’s UOP, and several independent laboratories verified that the bio-fuel met the industry criteria for jet fuel performance, Honeywell added.

Camelina sativa (false flax) is a flowering plant in the Brassicaceae family, which includes other oilseeds such as mustard and rapeseed. Native to Northern Europe and Central Asia, camelina sativa also thrives in the plains of the United States, including Montana.