Boeing, Alternative Fuels and Big Oil - Part III

Just like the typical addict who refuses to admit the addiction, Boeing is addicted to oil. Funny how we can convert cars to be natural gas powered, propane, or hydrogen, or biodiesel/alcohol....somehow, we just can't make airplanes run on multiple energy sources. The technology does exist to convert existing aircraft to be multiple energy. But more important these alternative fuels can be made from renewable energy sources. While there is not enough sunlight falling on the roof of a jet liner to fly it, still the sun's energy can be tapped to make those new fuels.

Alcohol. To date no airlines have signed on, but the FAA has approved alcohol for aircraft. Care has to be taken to prevent the fuel lines from freezing the alcohol, but it is cleaner burner. Alcohol has traditionally made from solar grown corn distillation, but it is commonly made today in existing oil refineries as feedstock. Alcohol can be made by combining natural gas with steam. Steam can be made from concentrated sunlight! Several nation's have extensive alcohol resources. Brazil for example uses sugar crops to make alcohol for taxi cabs. While bulker and heavier than traditional JP fuels, still there is enough bang to get an airplane off the runway. There is a plus, alcohol flames are cooler burner, thus safer in case of a fuel spill.

BioDiesel. Made from vegetable oil, or cooking grease, aircraft fuel can also be burned. There is a plus, this fuel has less ash than mineral geologic oil pumped from the ground. The trick is to break the vegetable oil carbon chain into smaller carbon chains..more akind to diesel fuel.
The BioDiesel veggie oil is typically recovered from restaurants, but, this is a big but, there are only so many restaurants. To make BioDiesel in such quanity to power the air transportation fleet it will require land area, and lots of. Trouble is you need rain to grow those crops. We have a lot of land that could grow BioDiesel crops, but lack of clean water is a major no grow. This is where HelioHydroElectric technology kicks in. Using solar and wind pumps underground salt water from deep aquafiers can be pumped to the surface, making for evaporation ponds. The evaporation of the water creates local micro-area rain and morning fog. The salt can be contained and mined, preventing it from getting into the fresh wateraquaifiers. Thus solar energy from the evaporation of salt water can make BioDiesel aircraft fuels.

Natural Gas. While not necessarily a renewable energy, still solar and wind can be utilized to compress, chill and cool the gas so that it can be put into high pressure tanks. Perhaps more appropriate for cargo planes, renewable energy can be integrated. The day may come when 1,000 of rooftops make electricity from sunlight, feeding back to the grid.
That surplus power is then used by the natural gas factory to compress, chill and cool the gas for the aircraft insertable tanks.

Propane. This fuel can be made from natural gas, but sometimes is a byproduct from oil. It has been highly underrated for an aircraft fuel.
Just like natural gas, and alcohol, still it is bulker and heavier than mineral oil...but it stiill can shoot an aircraft off the runway. What is often discounted is the 'mass flow'...all the mass thrown out the end of an engine. Unlike traditional JP, there is more mass flow from alternative fuels like propane, natural gas and alcohol.

Hydrogen. Popular with environmentalist, hydrogen as a fuel does not exist naturally. Hydrogen always likes to be attached to something like carbon, or oxygen, or even metal. It is very common in the world, but always is locked up chemically. Trick to unlocking hydrogen from nature is a cheap source of energy. Wind energy is ideal, when the wind blows, it makes hydrogen, thus hydrogen acts like an energy storage battery.
Hydrogen could potentially be made from solar energy, there are even bacterias that make it organically. Often times hydr dams have surplus electrical power. If there is a cheap 'prime mover', hydrogen can be manufactured, and then compressed chilled and cooled and made into aircraft fuel. Hydrogen is again much more bulker, but lighter weight per volume. There is a plus, hydrogen has a lot more bang per pound than any other fuel...it is the perfect fuel for take off. Engines love it.
The engines are much more peppy. One concern on takeoff is the 'revs' or RPMs of the turbine, if the RPM of an engine can be low, it is safer.
When turbines rotate at lower RPMs on takeoff there is less danger of a turbine flying apart. Lower RPMs also translate to lower maitenance cost.

Inerting Gases. Carbon Dioxide, Nitrogen, and Argon. Anytime an alternative fuel is used, in order to make it safe, inerting of the fuel tank is a must. These three inerting fuels are common already in the air. Again, it takes energy to make these gases, cool and compress. In theory, just like a shook up coke can, the gases can push the alternative fuels out of the tank to the engines...thus eliminating the need for electrical pumps. The energy again for making these inert gases is from renewable energy. Liquid air plants today operate worldwide.
Ironically these inert gases can aid combustion in the jet engine.
Alcohol fuel could have dissolved CO2, just like beer has CO2. There are actually a lot of energy sources that can be used to make these. In some places, there is nighttime surplus electrical power. In the daytime, electric utilities are overloaded from air conditioners, but at night these powerplants are idle, sometimes just dumping electric power...what a waste! Solar and wind energy can be sporatic, but making inerting gases is one sure market. When the sun shines or the wind blows, inerting gases are made, compressed and chilled. It is unusual to think of inerting gases as a fuel, but not only do these have known fire fighting ability, but can also be injected into the engines...making for additional trust. These inerting gases when mixed with alternative fuels, help keep the RPM of the turbines are lower speed, thus, safer.
It makes for cooler combustion, helping on keeping nitrogen-oxide pollution down. The combination of alternative fuels with inerting gases makes for a smooth take-off.

Boeing needs to act more like Boeing. The airlines are screeming over the price of fuels. Having an oil-only aircraft only creates a huge oil based monopoly. Making aircraft multiple fuel will eliminate that monopoly, and create an eliminate of free enterpise competition between fuel sources. Boeing historically has always listened to the airlines and their needs....how come Boeing is deaf? If Boeing persist in it's oil-only future, it will find a rude discovery when price for fuel reaches 10 dollars a gallon.

Written by Martin Nix. A.A.S, C.A., B.U.S. Ex-Boeing 777 electrical system designer.