Honeywell Aerospace to test sustainable aircraft fuels in Phoenix
Honeywell Aerospace is now testing a new kind of sustainable aviation fuel in Phoenix with the aim of making its equipment fully compatible with these new energy sources.
Honeywell (Nasdaq: HON) said it received its first delivery of sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF, and will be using it in support development and production testing for auxiliary power units, or APUs, and propulsion engines at the company’s Phoenix Engines campus and at its repair and overhaul facility.
The fuel was developed, using Honeywell refining technology, by World Energy LLC in California and was produced using renewable materials such as hydro treated esters and fatty acids, which come from vegetable oils.
The SAF can be combined with petroleum-based jet fuel in blends of up to 50% and can be used in existing systems. Honeywell said it intends to test other SAF blends as well.
Honeywell said it plans to eventually run engines and APUs completely using SAF.
This testing is intended to help Honeywell with its goal to be carbon neutral by 2035.
“At Honeywell, we see SAF as a logical path to decarbonize the aviation industry and we consider our facilities as laboratories for sustainable innovation,” said Dave Marinick, president of Engines and Power Systems, Honeywell Aerospace, in a statement. “Honeywell has a wide variety of ready-now solutions to help create a more sustainable future for the aviation sector, and we are proud to make this progress on our sustainability commitments in our propulsion and power systems portfolio. Running our engines and APUs on SAF is a further demonstration of our commitment to our customers to do our part to reduce our carbon footprint.”
To develop the fuel, Honeywell’s own UOP Ecofining process was used. Honeywell says Ecofining uses a wide range of waste fats, oils and greases or feedstocks such as oil crops that can be grown on marginal land or as part of a crop rotation pattern.
Honeywell Aerospace is one of the largest defense contractors in Arizona, and its APUs are in wide use in commercial and military aircraft. APUs are used to power functions besides actual propulsion on an aircraft.
In one recent application, Honeywell was selected by Boeing in October to provide APUs for the U.S. Air Force’s long-range B-52 bomber as the aircraft is upgraded for a future generation. Those APUs will be used to provide high-pressure air to start the B-52 Stratofortress’s main jet engines before departure.