NASA tests chicken fat as eco-friendly jet fuel

[News_Editor]

NASA tests chicken fat as eco-friendly jet fuel

2011-03-29 07:00:39 GMT+7 (ICT)

HAMPTON, VIRGINIA (BNO NEWS) -- NASA on Monday announced that a group of scientists from its Langley Research Center traveled cross-country this month for an experiment with eco-friendly jet fuel made out of chicken fat.

The Langley team drove 2,600 miles (4,184 kilometers) from Hampton, Virginia, to meet up with other researchers at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in California, while testing the biofuel on a NASA DC-8 to measure its performance and emissions as part of the Alternative Aviation Fuel Experiment II, or AAFEX II.

The fuel is called Hydrotreated Renewable Jet Fuel, and AAFEX II project scientist Bruce Anderson explained it is made out of chicken fat.

"The Air Force bought many thousands of gallons of this to burn in some of their jets and provided about 8,000 gallons (30,283 liters) to NASA for this experiment," Anderson said.

Anderson and his team will test a 50-50 mix of biofuel and regular jet fuel, biofuel only, and jet fuel only. The jet fuel is Jet Propellant 8, or JP-8, a kerosene-like mix of hydrocarbons.

Two of the group's scientists traveled in a specially RV equipped 32-foot (9.75 meter) van on loan from Langley's Aviation Safety Program. It was dubbed "EM-50" by researchers after the urban assault vehicle used in the 1981 comedy "Stripes" that starred Bill Murray.

Three more researchers from Langley flew to the experiment, and researchers from Dryden and NASA's Glenn Research Center in Ohio have key roles as well. The effort includes investigators and consultants from private industry, other federal organizations, and academia. In all, 17 organizations are participating in AAFEX II.

Previously, researchers in the AAFEX I project in 2009 tested two synthetic fuels derived from petroleum-based coal and natural gas.

On this occasion, Glenn researchers shipped instruments that will be used to measure particulate and gaseous emissions.

"AAFEX II will provide essential gaseous and particulate emissions data as well as engine and aircraft systems performance data from operation of the DC-8 on a fuel produced from a renewable resource," said Glenn's Dan Bulzan, who leads clean energy and emissions research in NASA's Subsonic Fixed Wing Project.

"The use of alternative fuels, including biofuels, in aircraft is a key element for substantially reducing the impact of aviation on the environment and for reducing the dependency on foreign petroleum," said Glenn's Ruben Del Rosario, manager of NASA's Subsonic Fixed Wing Project, which is conducting the tests.

Testing is being done at a time when the U.S. military has set a goal of eventually flying its aircraft using 50 percent biofuel.

The Air Force is currently engaged in certifying its fleet to operate on a 50-percent blend of the same fuel being tested in AAFEX II. Meanwhile, some military cargo and fighter planes already use alternative fuels.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-03-29

[canuckamuck]

Using food for fuel is driving up food pries and creating shortages.

But you get great PR for calling the product green.

[bangkokeddy]

Using food for fuel is driving up food pries and creating shortages.

But you get great PR for calling the product green.

I wanted to stock up some chicken fat but its already sold out at the 7/11.

[canuckamuck]

Using food for fuel is driving up food pries and creating shortages.

But you get great PR for calling the product green.

I wanted to stock up some chicken fat but its already sold out at the 7/11.

If this became a fuel source that pays better than chicken for eggs or chicken for meat, then you would see chickens modified to produce fat begin to replace the other types.

[bangkokeddy]

Using food for fuel is driving up food pries and creating shortages.

But you get great PR for calling the product green.

I wanted to stock up some chicken fat but its already sold out at the 7/11.

If this became a fuel source that pays better than chicken for eggs or chicken for meat, then you would see chickens modified to produce fat begin to replace the other types.

Chicken for meat and chicken that lay eggs are to different types already.

Chicken will just become a more industrialized product, genetically modified.

And you can take chicken on a space trip so you don't have to worry if you run out of gas and the next petrol station is a few miles away.

S.M.I².L.E.

[elshaheen]

Back in the U.S. some people would use their old VW's as testing grounds from "Alternative fuels". What they would do is pull up to some fast food restaurant like say Taco Bell, McDonalds or Wendy's and ask for the old oil or essentially "Fat" used in deep frying their products. The owners of these fast food places were happy to get rid of it, since most of the use oil would end up at a local Tallow works to be processed into whatever.

The only drawback, to using this style of Alternative fuel, is the oil produces a smell from the product that it was primary used to cook. Just imagine smelling something like KFC flying or bacon flying by (pig’s don’t fly) or driving by.

[samuijim]

I think NASA needs to try prune juice. Works really well for me, very eco-friendly and works like a jet fuel.

[egg]

l think you would get more miles to the bird if you used ostriches, and it would only take 1 or 2 to fill the tank

[ETatBKK]

what after the palm oil - my pool CHICKEN ?

this is not neither a green soultion. live stock is very resource demanding - consume a lot of crops and pollute thousand litres of water . . . then we get a little fat chicken

Using food for fuel is driving up food pries and creating shortages.

But you get great PR for calling the product green.

[dananderson]

Not the first time NASA has used chickens, Sometimes it does take a rocket scientest. Sorry about the font size. Scientists at NASA built a gun specifically to launch standard 4 pound dead chickens at the windshields of airliners, military jets and the space shuttle, all traveling at maximum velocity. The idea is to simulate the frequent incidents of collisions with airborne fowl to test the strength of the windshields.

British engineers heard about the gun and were eager to test it on the windshields of their new high speed trains. Arrangements were made, and a gun was sent to the British engineers.

When the gun was fired, the engineers stood shocked as the chicken hurled out of the barrel, crashed into the shatterproof shield, smashed it to smithereens, blasted through the control console, snapped the engineer's back-rest in two, and embedded itself in the back wall of the cabin, like an arrow shot from a bow.

The horrified Brits sent NASA the disastrous results of the experiment, along with the designs of the windshield and begged the U.S. scientists for suggestions.

NASA responded with a one-line memo --

"Defrost the chicken." (True Story)