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The green agenda: The use of biofuels is a major part of industry’s response to meeting the challenge of reduced dependency on hydrocarbon fuels.
CHARACTERISATION GOING GREEN WITH SURFACE
CERAM’s Dr Chris Pickles explains how surface characterisation technology is supporting biofuel developments in aerospace.
T
he green agenda continues to dominate aerospace developments both from the regulatory
perspective and from economic operating imperatives. The use of biofuels as a means of reducing carbon footprint, whilst at the same time achieving fuel economies and performance improvements is a major part of the combined industry response to meeting the challenge of reduced dependency on hydrocarbon fuels. Engine component materials evaluation
and lubricant developments are two important aspects of the successful adoption of biofuels. One feature of these efforts is the need to understand surface and interface functionality from both a chemical and physical standpoint. In this paper we give examples of where surface characterisation techniques are continuing to make a major contribution to the endeavours to reduce the environmental impact of the aerospace industry in the future.
According to the UK Committee
on Climate Change, by using biofuels, aircraft could become 40% to 50% more fuel efficient by 2025, compared to 2006 models. This would equate to a saving of 60 million tons of CO2. Air Transport Action Group executive director, Paul Steele says it’s now time for the aviation industry to alter its view towards emissions, especially when it demands the right to grow. His group is a strong advocate for the use of biofuels, given these recent performance indicators. Rolls-Royce vice-president for
strategic marketing Robert Nuttall has previously remarked: “Jet engine technology, coupled with the use of biofuels, will actually be the biggest single contributor in the next 20 years to reducing our environmental footprint. There is no other technology that can reduce fuel burn, CO2 and noise like it.” Ian Dawkins, senior vice-president and head of future programmes, Airbus, in his presentation at the 2009 Aero
Engineering Strategic Business and Skills Summit confirmed that the number one contributor to reducing the industry’s carbon footprint was the adoption of biofuels. These operational and regulatory pressures have only been intensified by the recent increases in the price of oil and the impending ‘peak oil’ scenario. Over the last two years, airlines, engine manufacturers and oil technology companies have collaborated to conduct flight trials on a range of biofuel types and substitution rates. The advent of biofuel powered air transport is upon us. The development of non-competing crops (jatropha, camelina, halophytes, algae) and other sources (gas to liquid) have effectively surmounted the objections regarding food displacement. The introduction of alternative (lower carbon) fuels is, however, recognised as a challenge for engine components in terms of the potential for increased wear due to soot formation and the increased
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