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World Biofuels
Symposium
November 13-15, 2005
Beijing, China
2nd Annual Canadian Renewable Fuels Summit
December 13-15, 2005
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Hosted by:
Candadian Renewable Fuels
Association
National Biodiesel
Conference & Expo 2006
February 5-8, 2006
San Diego, California
Organizer:
National Biodiesel Board
11th Annual
National Ethanol Conference: "Policy & Marketing"
February 20-22, 2006
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Sponsored by:
Renewable Fuels Association
22nd
Annual International Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo
June 20-23, 2006
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
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Posted on
October 18, 2001CONTRACT AWARDED FOR AVIATION-GRADE ETHANOL FUEL The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has approved a $765,000 contract to the University of North Dakota (UND) to further refine and certify aviation grade ethanol fuel (AGE). The FAA contract, with UND Aerospace, covers the first year of the 3-to-5- year project.
UND's Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) will optimize the aviation fuel formulation and develop the fuel's specifications. In addition, EERC will work with the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) to approve the fuel's specifications. UND Aerospace will conduct test flights using the new fuel. AGE is designed for aircraft that have reciprocating engines as opposed to jet engines, and are made by companies such as Piper, Cirrus and Cessna. Dr. Dennis Helder, Dean of South Dakota State University's engineering department, will lead efforts to achieve FAA certification for AGE. Industrial partners include Textron Lycoming and Phillips Petroleum Company.
"We burn 532,000 gallons of aviation gas annually," said Bruce Smith, Dean, John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences. "With estimates showing that this fuel can be as much as 50 cents less per gallon than our current aviation gas, switching to AGE will create important savings."
According to EERC's Ted Aulich, in addition to a lower price per gallon than current aviation gas, AGE is lead-free. Leaded fuels continue to be used in aviation due to technical hurdles in producing fuels for high-performance engines. The higher octane content of AGE results in more power than standard aviation gasoline. Ethanol-based fuel also enables longer time between overhauls because it causes less wear on engines than aviation gas. Time between overhauls, measured in flying hours, is the period of time after which an airplane engine must be completely overhauled, a procedure that may cost $20,000 or more. "Ultimately, through this project, we hope to change the industry standard for planes with reciprocating engines from leaded aviation gas to lead-free, ethanol-based fuel," said Aulich.
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