Air Force News, news from Iraq - Air Force Times

Wright-Patterson facility to aid fuel research

DAYTON, Ohio — A new $2.5 million facility at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base will allow the Air Force to conduct research designed to help produce alternative fuels for military aircraft.

Construction started this week for the new Assured Aerospace Fuels Research Facility to be completed at the southwest Ohio base by the fall of 2010.

The facility will be able to produce 15 to 25 gallons a day of research jet fuels derived from coal or biomass materials rather than having to depend on the commercial industry to supply that for Air Force testing, an official said Tuesday.

One of the Air Force’s major goals in the next few years is to come up with a reliable, domestic source of fuel that will be an alternative to increasingly expensive, petroleum-based fuel from foreign countries and decrease U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

“The Air Force Research Laboratory has been a center of excellence for fuel research, and this facility allows us to expand that into the alternative fuel arena,” Tim Edwards, a senior chemical engineer with the Propulsion Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory, said.

He said the Air Force lab views the new 4,000-square foot facility as a valuable resource for the whole aviation industry and the nation.

“We expect a lot of graduate students from different universities to come here and for it to be used in collaboration with industry as well,” said Edwards.

Officials say the amount of fuel created over a couple of days will be enough to test a small engine, and the ability to produce its own research fuel will save the Air Force money.

“We have found that if you want to get 500 gallons of a test fuel, it can sometimes cost hundreds of dollars a gallon from a commercial facility,” Edwards said.

“The AAFRF will be a one-of-a-kind facility that will dramatically enhance our current fuels research capabilities,” Doug Bowers, director of the Propulsion Directorate said at the facility’s groundbreaking Monday.

Research is being done in collaboration with the University of Dayton Research Institute, other military branches, the state of Ohio and the Department of Energy, officials said.

“I’m very optimistic about the future of this facility, and frankly I’m very optimistic about what this facility is going to help us do for the Air Force, for the nation and for the world,” Maj. Gen. Curtis Bedke, commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory, said.