SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas: The Air Force Petroleum Agency staff recently conducted field testing for its 50/50 blend of JP-8 and synthetic jet fuel at the 364th Training Squadron fuels training complex at Sheppard Air Force Base.
The Air Force is currently in the certification process for the new blend in step with Department of Defense officials’ plan to reduce its dependency on foreign crude oil by 50 percent and switch to alternative fuels by 2016.
The majority of its aircraft, including the B-52 Stratofortress, F-22 Raptor, F-15 Eagle, B-1B Lancer and all mobile refueling platforms, have already been certified. The tests conducted at Sheppard AFB are for certification of the hydrant refueling systems and their infrastructure, one of the last pieces in the certification process.
“The JP-8 test is a baseline for the tests that will be done with the synthetic fuel to see if there is any significant difference in the operation of the infrastructure,” said Tom Harmon, the AFPET logistics manager at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.
The Air Force Petroleum Agency, along with Robert and Company, is conducting tests on the infrastructure of the Type-III hydrant fueling systems here at Sheppard. Pressure readings were taken with regular JP-8 fuel on April 23 and will be taken again with the synthetic fuels in the system in June. The tests are in preparation for delivery of the Air Force’s synthetic fuel blend to Sheppard AFB in May.
“There has been no significant difference to date using the synthetic fuel,” said Mr. Harmon, who has worked closely with the certification process.
Everything about the synthetic fuels resembles the current fuel being used, from the flash point to the aromatics to the burn process. The fuel meets all the specifications of JP-8. The synthetics the Air Force receives from the company Syntroleum are made from natural gas.
