New Purdue Facility to Test Aircraft Engines, Alternative Fuels
25 November 2009
Purdue University will operate a new federally funded facility to test aircraft engines and develop alternative fuels. The National Test Facility for Fuels and Propulsion is funded with a $1.35 million grant from the US Air Force and will be housed in the Niswonger Aviation Technology Building at the Purdue Airport.
The aerospace industry now has an unprecedented interest in developing green aircraft using biofuels. Testing will be conducted while fuels are being researched for development. This means input will be provided during the development phase, not after the fuel has been developed, which helps to ensure the best results possible.
—David L. Stanley, associate professor of aeronautical engineering technology
The facility, expected to open in late 2010 or early 2011, will test aerospace hardware in engines and aircraft and provide data related to fuel-sustainability and emissions goals and for economic assessments.
Work will focus on jet engines but will include some testing related to piston engines. The researchers will work with the Air Force, industry and government agencies to develop the fuels.
The work will tackle four major bottlenecks to aerospace progress:
Access to hardware testing;
Development of control logic and systems permitting flex-fuel operation and realization of improved efficiencies;
Sustainability of biofuels related to crop productivity, as well as bio and synthetic fuels’ ability to meet both near- and long-term aerospace requirements; and
Regulatory compliance.
Interesting how Argonne National Laboratory is getting $97 Million to "provide an environment that will accelerate the pace of discovery by bringing together interdisciplinary teams of researchers in a space that can be adjusted to accommodate an evolving energy-related science agenda" (http://www.greencarcongress.com/2009/11/anl-20091117.html), yet this incredibly important research center is getting just $1.35 Million (probably the cost of one taxibot)... evidence of screwed up priorities - the allocations should be vice versa: $1 Mil for Argonne, $97 Mil alternative aviation fuel research.
Posted by: ejj | 25 November 2009 at 01:10 PM
This is a test facility. Ouch!
I doubt there'll be one (synchotron) in my workshop anytime soon.
http://www.diamond.ac.uk/Home/About.html
Cut and paste from Australia. ABC Radio National Science Show.
"By next year this place will be the only one in the world that can handle large engineering objects of up to two tonnes, an aircraft turbine for example.
Naomi Fowler: I'm back in the doughnut building with Professor Terrill.
When are they going to finish this building?
To be perfectly honest, hopefully never. As a scientist I hope we never finish because...
And Professor Terrill may get his wish, this place can ultimately house up to 40 beam lines, each one optimised for a specific technique."
Posted by: arnold | 25 November 2009 at 03:38 PM