Honeywell To Test Biofuel in APUs, Engines this Summer

Honeywell Aerospace is gearing up for biofuel tests on its APUs and engines this summer in a bid to stay ahead of the alternative fuel push. But this kind of testing isn’t entirely foreign at the company–over the past few years it has been running military aircraft APUs and engines on jet fuel made from coal and natural gas for the U.S. Air Force. That project is now entering a second phase with biofuel tests, and Honeywell will piggyback testing of civilian engines with a mix of jatropha and algae oils from sister company UOP, which has blended various fuels for more than 100 years. For the civilian tests, an airliner APU and business jet engine will be run on the biofuel blend this summer, Honeywell director of advanced technology Ron Rich told AIN. When asked, he declined to reveal the business aircraft engine model slated for the biofuel testing, though he said that by the end of the trials both the Honeywell TFE and HTF-series engines will have run on the alternative fuel. Meanwhile, Honeywell is participating in a U.S. government committee to define standards for jet biofuels.