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IAF plane takes to the air on blended bio-fuel
News:
For the first time, an An-32 transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) flew with blended bio-jet fuel produced from Jatropha oil
Facts:
- Blended bio-jet fuel produced from Jatropha has the dual benefit of reducing the carbon footprint as well as usage of fossil fuels.
- With this discovery, India had thus joined a league of select nations to have “developed, tested and certified” a single step Hydroprocessed Renewable Jet (HRJ) process to convert non-edible oil into biofuel for use on military aircraft.
About Biofuel Technology:
- Bio-jet fuel technology was developed by the Indian Institute of Petroleum (IIP) under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in 2009 and tested between 2011 and 2013.
- Bio jet fuel can be produced from animal fat, used cooking oil, waste dairy fat, sewage sludge, etc.
- The oil needs to have a freezing point below -47 degrees so it doesn’t freeze at altitudes at which planes fly, should not catch fire on ground when being transferred into a plane, must have the same density as aviation turbine fuel, have a certain calorific value and should not choke the filters.
- It is also 1.8% more energy dense as compared to Aviation Turbine Fuel and is, therefore, more efficient.
- A lower Sulphur content causes less wear and tear.
Challenges:
- Availability and supply chain – IAF would require over 3,000 Kilo Liters of bio-fuel annually just for operating the AN-32 fleet with a 10% mix.
- Lack of Policy – Policy intervention to incentive the entire supply chain, from production of the crops to its distribution is absent
- Jatropha Production – Inedible oil seeds like jatropha have low per acre productivity and there is a need to use biotechnology to enhance yields
