Air Force working to 'home-grow' biofuels for DOD, industry
Photo: U.S. Air Force/Staff Sgt. Brian Ferguson
September 6, 2016
BY Marisa Novobilski, Air Force Research Laboratory
Creating, maintaining, protecting and expanding critical technology and technology resources is paramount to national security. A need to address increases in petroleum costs with an environmentally friendly fuel source has led to a new way of looking at production—and the Defense Production Act Title III Program Office, part of the Air Force Research Laboratory, is playing a critical role in commercializing this technology.
In simplest terms, a biofuel is a fuel produced from living matter that includes plant waste and animal fat, rather than a fuel produced through the geological process, such as coal, diesel and petroleum. Biofuels are environmentally friendly and form from renewable resources. Most of all, biofuels are helping to expand military energy sources, improving reliability while decreasing dependence on foreign fuel sources—benefits that President Barack Obama and the Department of Defense stress are critical to national security.
“The military services were directed by the president to address the production of biofuels so we could mitigate the vulnerabilities faced when the price of fuel went up,” said James Neely, a program manager in the DPA Title III Program Office, Material and Manufacturing Directorate, AFRL. “When there is any disruption to the supply of petroleum-based fuels, the financial impact on DOD budgets is tremendous. A one-dollar change in the price of a barrel can result in billions of dollars in expense.”
Neely works in the DPA Title III Program Office here, which carries out presidential directives focused on advancing home-grown domestic production capabilities for leading edge technologies for national security. Through government and industry partnerships and financial incentives, the little-known but extremely important program plays an essential role in assuring domestic ability to produce.
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“We have unique authorities through Title III, allowing us to enter into partnerships with commercial industry to put a manufacturing capability in place in response to a specific DOD need for technology,” said Neely. “Biofuels are determined as essential to national security. We are working to move the technology into the domestic industrial base, with the end goal of a consistent supply at a competitive cost.”
The biofuel program, more than five years in the making, has Neely and his team working with a number of different companies to develop feedstock, acquire equipment and help the firms to develop a business strategy that enables them to sustain the production and distribution of biofuel for use not only by the DOD, but industry as well. Overall biofuel technology has been in development for years; the Title III office is working with industry to commercialize the technology so that it is a viable and affordable option for all, Neely said.
One recent success of the biofuel program is the Bio-Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene, or BSPK project, which led to the retrofitting of an idle California-based refinery, making it possible to manufacture large-scale batches of biofuel for military and industry use. This particular type of biofuel is manufactured using the hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids, or HEFA, process, which blends nonedible natural oils and agricultural wastes with hydrogen and a catalyst. The resulting fuel is able to blend with petroleum jet fuel in a 50-50 proportion, integrating into existing engine systems, including aircraft, without modification.
The U.S. Navy integrated BSPK biofuels into the launch of the Great Green Fleet in January 2016, deploying the first carrier strike group to use alternative fuel blends and energy efficient systems to power ships for combat. The Air Force has qualified biofuels for use in almost all of their equipment and weapons systems, Neely said, and while they have purchased units for testing, fuller implementation depends strongly on cost and availability.
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While biofuels have a strong benefit for the military, industry interest has helped drive these programs forward. For example, United Airlines has purchased biofuel for use in its fleet to power regular flights between Los Angeles and San Francisco.
This Title III program, as well as a number of other projects under the same domain, has led to great advantages for the DOD and industry.
“The benefit to the Air Force is that we will not be dependent on a single source of supply or international supply for our military fleets in the future,” Neely said. “We are growing the domestic base, creating jobs and building industry capability. These home-grown capabilities are helping America stay great.”
It’s a win-win situation for all.
For more information and insight into the DPA Title III Program, click here.
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