Airbus Completes A380 Test Flight with Alternative Fuel

Airbus test flew an A380 using a liquid fuel processed from gas in the first stage of a program designed to evaluate the environmental impact of alternative fuels for airlines.

The flight from Filton, U.K. to Toulouse, France, lasted three hours.

The A380 was powered by Rolls Royce Trent 900 engines.  Shell International Petroleum provided the GTL (gas to liquid) jet fuel. The tests are running in parallel to the agreement signed in November 2007 with the Qatar GTL consortium partners and the results will be shared.

Airbus said the A380 was chosen partly because its four engines, and its segregated fuel tanks made it ideal for engine shut down and re-light tests under standard evaluation conditions.  During the flight, the number one engine was fed with a blend of GTL and jet fuel, while the remaining three were fed with standard jet fuel.

The test was the first step of a long-term Airbus testing phase to evaluate future alternative fuels.  GTL is being evaluated because its availability at certain locations makes it a practical and viable drop-in alternative fuel for commercial aviation in the short term.  In addition to its advantages in terms of air quality, GTL has some benefits in terms of aircraft fuel burn relative to existing jet fuel, such as its being virtually free of sulphur.

Synthetic fuel can be made from a range of hydrocarbon source material including natural gas or organic plant matter made by a process called Fischer-Tropsch.

Airbus believes today's testing of GTL will support second-generation bio-fuels that are not presently available in sufficient commercial quantities. The company says it will study viable second generation bio-fuels when they become available.  02-05-2008.

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