India’s First Bio Jet Fuel Powered Test Flight by SpiceJet

By admin On Sep 21, 2018

India saw its first ever Biofuel-Powered Bombardier Q-400, the turboprop aircraft named Haldi take off, when SpiceJet flight, with 20 officials from several regulatory agencies, including DGCA, and five crew members on-board, took 43 minute from Dehradun to Delhi on Monday August 27, 2018, using this sustainable alternative. The flight was powered by a blend of 75% air turbine fuel and 25% biojet fuel, derived from seeds of jhatropa plant grown by 500 farmer families in Chhattisgarh, raising hopes for low-emission flights less dependent on increasingly expensive jet fuel. “The flight result showed that the biofuel had 1.8% higher energy density, than regular aviation turbine fuel,” according to SpiceJet. While some advanced countries like US and Australia have tested commercial flights on biofuel, India is among the first developing nations to make such an attempt. US Grains Council, a global biofuel promoting organisation, dubbed today’s test flight as a significant breakthrough.

A blend of 25% of bio jet fuel and 75% of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) was carried in one of the two engines of the plane, while the other engine carried only ATF. International standards permit a blend rate of up-to 50% bio fuel with ATF.

Council for Scientific and Industrial Research based in Dehradun along with Indian Institute of Petroleum (IIP) indigenously developed the fuel. The institute started its experiment on bio-fuel soon after Virgin Atlantic carried out the first test flight globally in 2008. By 2010, the Indian institute started producing few litres of bio fuel per month in its laboratory. The fuel was recognised by American Standard for Testing and Material and received a patent by 2011. By 2013, it was tested in a Pratt and Whitney engine in Canada.

Bio jet fuel can be produced from animal fat, used cooking oil, waste dairy fat, sewage sludge, etc. The oil needs to have a freezing point below -47 degrees so it doesn’t freeze at altitudes at which planes fly, should not catch fire on ground when being transferred into a plane, must have the same density as ATF, have a certain calorific value and should not choke the filters.

Globally, biofuels have caught the attention in last decade and it is imperative to keep up with the pace of developments in the field of biofuels.

National Policy on Biofuels was announced by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy in December 2009 to meet the increasing energy needs of the country and to provide Energy Security as well as to promote biofuels in the country. The major goals of the policy were Development and utilization of indigenous non-food feed stocks raised on degraded or waste lands, thrust on research and development on cultivation, processing and production of biofuels and a blending mandate of 20% Ethanol and Bio-diesel by 2017.

National Policy on Biofuels – 2018 to promote biofuels and reduce dependence on fossil fuel was approved by the Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 16, 2018 and released on World Biofuel Day 2018 on August 10; with the following expected benefits:

Reduce Import Dependency: In 2017-18 likely supply of around 150 crore litres of ethanol will result in savings of over Rs.4000 crore of forex.
Cleaner Environment: saves ton of CO₂ emissions. By reducing crop burning & conversion of agricultural residues/wastes to biofuels there will be further reduction in Green House Gas emissions.
Health benefits: Prolonged reuse of Cooking Oil for preparing food, particularly in deep-frying is a potential health hazard and can lead to many diseases. Used Cooking Oil is a potential feedstock for biodiesel and its use for making biodiesel will prevent diversion of used cooking oil in the food industry.
Municipal Solid Waste Management: Estimated annual 62 MMT of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) gets generated in India. There are technologies available which can convert waste/plastic, MSW to drop in fuels. One ton of such waste has the potential to provide around 20% of drop in fuels.
Infrastructural Investment in Rural Areas: Oil Marketing Companies are in the process of setting up twelve 2G bio refineries with an investment of around Rs.10000 crore. Further addition of 2G bio refineries across the Country will spur infrastructural investment in the rural areas.
Employment Generation: One 100klpd 2G bio refinery can contribute 1200 jobs in Plant Operations, Village Level Entrepreneurs and Supply Chain Management.
Additional Income to Farmers: By adopting 2G technologies, agricultural residues/waste which otherwise are burnt by the farmers can be converted to ethanol and can fetch a price for these waste if a market is developed for the same. Also, farmers are at a risk of not getting appropriate price for their produce during the surplus production phase. Thus conversion of surplus grains and agricultural biomass can help in price stabilization

India will soon frame a policy supporting the use of biofuels from non-edible oils for powering jet engines. The petroleum ministry will move a proposal and the civil aviation ministry will set the standards for biofuel to be used as jet fuel, Nitin Gadkari Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation in the Government of India; said on August 27, 2018 in the presence of Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship; when budget airline SpiceJet announced a successful demonstration of its bio-fuel powered jet flight from Dehradun to New Delhi.

Environment protection was central to the government’s policy making and Policy makers are working on a civil aviation action plan 2035 that will make the sector fully environment friendly, Suresh Prabhu Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation said on the above occasion and added, “We want to increase the use of biofuel in the country so that there is reduction in greenhouse gas emission and import of petroleum. We will make sure that more and more airlines start the use of biofuel”.

Biofuel has the potential: to reduce the cost of airline operations by 15-20%; to reduce our dependence on traditional aviation fuel by up to 50% on every flight and to reduce carbon footprint by 15%; according SpiceJet Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh who said, “This can dramatically alter the aviation sector in India. Biofuel is incredibly clean and, once commercialised; it can improve the livelihood of farmers”.