September 20, 2008

The Crisis

Since the first global fuel crisis of the 1970’s, companies, governments, and private persons have been searching for an alternative to the fossil fuels that we now use. After oil prices stabilized in the 80’s most people except environmental groups turned away from them, opting to use instead good ‘ol smoke belchin’ fossil fuel which was readily available and relatively cheap. Today’s prices of gasoline and jet fuel have soured so high that we’re all taking another more seriously look into the matter.

The future
 
Were do we go from here when we run the oil wells of the world dry? What do we use to lubricate and fuel the machinery of what we fondly like to call civilization? Do we junk all existing gas turbine, and internal combustion technology, dumping planes, busses, and cars into large fields that used to have oil, converting them into metal theme parks or free housing for the multitudes of downtrodden ex gas pump attendants and their petroleum co. execs?

Peak oil proponents are saying we may have less than 30 years of oil left, given that fossil fuels are just that—fossils, they’re finite. They also take millions of years to make. Other people are saying the energy crisis is bogus, and fuel prices are driven by mysterious market forces that most of us non-pedantic pedestrian types may never hope to understand. What ever the case maybe I for one am tired of the rhetoric, and tired of being slave to one and only one fuel choice, petroleum.

 Fischer-Tropsch (learning from the past)

The world is no stranger to alternative fuel. The Nazi’s used a process called Fischer-Tropsch (named after the 2 Germans that developed it) back in WWII to convert natural gas and coal into a liquid fuel. The same process is in use today by a South African company called Sasol to make Jet fuel. Virtually every plane that passes thru the Johannesburg airport uses Sasol’s brand of coal/gas liquid fuel.

 Why just South Africa and not anywhere else, perhaps the sanctions and embargoes back in the dark days of apartheid forced the S.A. authorities to look seriously into alternatives. Unfettered by petroleum lobbyists and unfair competition, and borne by everyone’s favorite mother—necessity, Sasol refined the process and is now a world player in the alternative fuel game. Though the technology sounds promising Sasol has still a hurdle to overcome, they will have to abate concerns about CO2 emissions from the process for them to have a presence in the US market. But word on the street is, they’re working on it.

Biodiesel and Biomass

Liquid Gas/coal Jet fuel isn’t the only choice out there, but because of the South Africans and Sasol, it is the most tried, and thusly the safest. Biodiesel, which can be made from soybeans, corn and other organic products, tends to freeze at much higher temperature than traditional Jet fuel. It is likely a biodiesel and traditional jet fuel combination can be used in the future. Another promising alternative is a coal and biomass combination that scientists at Princeton developed. Combined with a carbon capture and sequestration system, the process has near-zero greenhouse gas emissions. The process has been approved to be test flown on Virgin airline jets and as announced by Richard Brandon.

Aluminum Galium pellets

Hydrogen is generated spontaneously when water is added to gallium coated aluminum pellets. The system developed by Jerry Woodall, a Perdue Engineer is noteworthy because the hydrogen produced by the system can be made on demand. This means a safe system that will not need a large hydrogen reservoir, which may be potentially dangerous especially in an airliner flying around bolts of lightning. Galium is very expensive however, and an inexpensive method to manufacture it still remains to be developed. Handling Galium is also tricky since it is solid but goes to liquid form a little above room temperature. Galium will melt in your hand.

 HHO

 A very much seen Hydrogen based alternative especially on the internet is HHO. Basically it is a gas + water system. The water (H20) is broken down by electrolysis into hydroxy (HHO) or Brown’s gas which proponents claim has 3 times more explosive energy than Gasoline. Although the applications are mostly for the automotive industry (many of them DIY kits and instructional sites on the web) it is not hard to see aviation applications far off, if indeed the process works.

 Understanding the Jet Engine

 Other alternatives and their different combinations need to be tried in all the extreme conditions of flying, such as extreme temperature. Although a feature car engines share with a jet engine is a combustion chamber, it has unique fuel requirements. In a jet engine the fuel acts like a coolant before it reaches the injectors and burns in the combustion chamber. Fuel must withstand certain temperatures. Exceeding a certain value, fuel starts thermally decomposing and forming deposits that can cause injectors to clog. Soot formation needs also to be looked at as it is strongly correlated to thermal radiation on the combustion chamber walls. Failure to adhere to fuel development standards will result in engine failure, something not taken lightly in aviation.

Conclusion

Alternatives to fossil fuel are here and they have been for a few years. But now because of fuel prices and prevailing political climates on environmental impact, we may see more of them as they develop in the future. Many of the technologies already exist, certain hindrances limit their usefulness to the experimental stage. The biggest one being is cost. As long as fossil fuel continues to be relatively cheaper, it will remain the defacto standard. The problem here is economics. If there isn’t a high enough demand for new alternative fuels, there won’t be enough motivation for companies to invest in their development.

Some argue that the present energy crisis is artificial and driven by corrupt people in both government and politics. Whatever their motives may be, perhaps it is this artificial crisis that will turn the tide for alternative fuels.

Wouldn’t it be something that through no conscious effort on their parts they’re making our future cleaner and greener? This planet has withstood several mass extinctions, natural upheavals and has always seemed to bounce back. Perhaps nature is more resilient than we think. Perhaps this is mother nature’s way of bouncing us back on course, manipulating even our own political arenas to save herself because we’ve strayed so far.