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View Full Version : B-1B achieves first supersonic flight using synthetic fuel


warthog1984
03-26-2008, 09:26 PM
Each time the price of oil goes up $10 per barrel, it costs the Air Force an additional $600 million for fuel. The FT process gives the Air Force a cleaner, more cost-efficient fuel source. (http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123090913)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/B1B_Lancer_on_Syn_Fuel.jpgStaff Sgt. Matthew Bates - Air Force News - March 20, 2008

USAF transitioning away from petroleum as the cost of aviation fuel drives them into a new direction. -- Ed.

DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFPN) -- A B-1B Lancer from the 9th Bomb Squadron here became the first Air Force aircraft to fly at supersonic speed using an alternate fuel March 19 in a flight over Texas and New Mexico.

The fuel, a 50/50 blend of synthetic and petroleum gases, is being tested as part of an ongoing Air Force program to help the environment and to use a fuel produced domestically.

Air Force officials are in the process of evaluating and certifying this alternative fuel, which is derived from natural gas using the Fischer-Tropsch process, for use in all Air Force aircraft.

"The goal is to have every aircraft using synthetic fuel blends by 2011," said Maj. Don Rhymer, assigned to the Air Force Alternative Fuels Certification Office. "By 2016 we hope at least 50 percent of this fuel will be produced domestically."

Air Force officials previously have tested the fuel blend in the B-52 Stratofortress, the first aircraft to use the fuel, and the C-17 Globemaster III. The supersonic flight by the B-1B occurred over the White Sands Missile Range airspace in south-central New Mexico, but the flight took off from Dyess AFB.

Within the federal government, the Air Force is the single largest user of aviation fuel, using an estimated 3 billion gallons per year… http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123090913

xcel
03-26-2008, 09:51 PM
Hi WH:

___Wouldn’t it be something if all those military $’s we throw away were to actually solve our energy crisis and needs in the future? The AF has a budget just like everybody else and as JP4 becomes more expensive, they start looking for ways to use less or find a new source altogether too. It looks like their way of using NG under F-T makes sense. Now if they can make it out of coal and capture the CO2, oh boy :)

___Good Luck

___Wayne



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