The Warzone column of the US "The Drive" website published an article on October 23, saying that the US Air Force plans to use thin air to make fuel for jet engines.
【U.S. Air Force refueling truck】
A new carbon conversion process could change the air force's game. The Air Force spends billions of dollars a year on aviation fuel and billions of dollars on transporting it where it's needed, including delivering it directly to aircraft on combat missions via aerial tankers. Now the Air Force says it has made significant progress in developing a chemical process that would allow the Air Force to produce the fuel it needs directly in the air, reducing the logistical burden and environmental impact.
The U.S. Air Force Office of Combat Energy announced oct. 23 that in an experiment in August, twelve, an energy company that has been working with the service, was able to use carbon dioxide to produce a viable jet fuel called "electronic jet" (E-Jet). The Air Force believes that Twelve's current process also involves renewable energy, with the potential to be "highly deployable and scalable, enabling combatants to access synthetic fuels from anywhere in the world."
Roberto Guerrero, the Air Force's deputy assistant secretary for combat energy, said in a statement: "History tells us that our logistics supply chain was one of the first targets of the enemy. As the threat posed by peer-level adversaries grows, how we reduce fuel and logistical requirements will be key to avoiding risks and winning any war. ”
The basic science behind the carbon conversion process of the "Twelve" companies is not new. In the 1920s, German scientists Franz Fisher and Hans Tropsch invented what came to be known as Fisher-Trops (FT) synthesis. Since then, this method has been improved and is still in use today, including the production of fuel for the U.S. military.
According to the U.S. Air Force, "Fisher-Tropsch synthetic fuels are approved as 'added' fuel for specific aircraft, first commercially procured and then advanced by the U.S. Military and the Office of Aircraft-Related Systems Programs." The current highest certified mix ratio is a 50/50 blend of FT synthetic fuels and petroleum fuels. ”
[Afghanistan in 2011, a convoy of fuel for U.S. troops]
The Air Force noted that "most synthetic fuels are syngas made from a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, produced by burning biomass, coal or natural gas, which means fossil fuels are still needed." "Twelve's technology eliminates the need for fossil fuels, produces syngas by recovering carbon dioxide captured from the air, and converts carbon dioxide using only water and renewable energy as inputs."
From a cost perspective, the benefits of this potentially simple carbon-neutral synthetic fuel manufacturing process could be enormous, as could the environmental costs be low. Even a slight reduction in the cost per gallon of fuel can bring huge savings to the U.S. Air Force.
This is always a multibillion-dollar expenditure. In its fiscal 2022 budget request, the Air Force included nearly $8.2 billion in various fuel charges, including aviation fuel and gasoline and diesel for ground vehicles. If the Air Force could cut the cost of buying 2 billion gallons of aviation fuel by 5 cents per gallon a year, that would be equivalent to saving $100 million.
However, it's not just the cost of the fuel itself that's at stake, the U.S. military has to pay for the cost of delivering fuel to the troops in need, including the battlefield. In addition to the cost of transporting fuel to forward-deployed troops, doing so can pose significant risks. The U.S. Air Force said attacks on convoys transporting fuel and water accounted for more than 30 percent of casualties at the height of the war in Afghanistan.
[U.S. Air Force operations rely heavily on aerial tankers]
The Air Force said the infrastructure associated with Twelve's carbon conversion process not only has the potential to mass-produce synthetic fuels, but also has the potential to design a system that is easy to deploy. This, in turn, could reduce the need to deliver fuel to troops and reduce the cost of the logistics chain.
If Twelve's carbon-shifting technology can be as the U.S. Air Force hopes, it could be a game-changer. It is conceivable that other branches of the U.S. military will also be interested in this technology, especially if it can produce multiple fuels. Twelve also sees a potential commercial market for electronic jet fuel.
The U.S. Air Force has recognized that there are some flaws in the concept of carbon transition that still need to be overcome. One of the biggest drawbacks is the electricity required for the fuel production process, especially in battlefield environments. Because the technology of the "twelve" companies also needs to supply water at all times, this will be another key resource in future conflicts.
The company "Twelve" came up with the idea of extracting water from the air, which would eliminate the need for a separate water supply. Extracting water from the air has also been suggested as a way to provide drinking water and other water to soldiers in remote and severe environments, including in combat operations. Of course, in an environment with limited air moisture content, this can be a difficult approach.
In addition, while the concept will help reduce the Air Force's reliance on fossil fuels, Twelve's synthetic products are still hydrocarbon fuels, though the company says they burn very cleanly. Carbon emissions remain a factor in global climate change, and the U.S. military and other parts of the U.S. government are increasingly concerned about the issue.
Still, with the Potential for the Air Force to save hundreds of millions of dollars and alleviate growing logistical problems, it's not surprising that there's a lot of interest in seeing if the technology will work as advertised. The first phase of the project is scheduled to end in December, after which expanded trials are planned to prove its ability to produce large quantities of fuel.
Author: Slightly fat
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