Virtually every day the news covers events that focus attention on the need for new fuels. The news concerning the oil spill in the Gulf is the most recent example of this. This debacle may have far reaching implications for both the price of fuel and for environmental impact. For those involved in new fuels research, such events provide further impetus to continue the work and may even lead to additional funding for such efforts as the price of oil and fuel skyrockets. Fuels development work continues on several fronts, and demonstration flights using some of the test fuels have emphasized the short term success of these efforts, and have served to promote future research, as well. However, while success may just be around the corner, some critically important issues and problems remain to be solved. New fuels must also be compatible with all of the existing equipment, components, and materials they come in contact with in the aircraft. A comprehensive study of the impact of new fuels at the technological endpoint – the aircraft and its components - remains to be done if new fuels are to take wing successfully. This presentation will discuss those efforts, and how the National Test Facility for Fuels and Propulsion at Purdue University intends to fill that critically important niche in the development of new aviation fuels.

• super-administrator

David L. Stanley is an associate professor of Aeronautical Engineering Technology and is the principal investigator of the National Test Facility for Fuels and Propulsion (NaTeF) research project at Purdue University. Currently, he devotes most of his time to developing the research capabilities of this facility, which is focused on improving the technology of both fuels and propulsion for aviation and aerospace applications. He teaches primarily powerplant-related courses for the Aeronautical Engineering Technology plan of study and has served as the curriculum chair for that program, as well. Prof. Stanley has been a lead investigator in three fuels research projects, and continues to explore alternative fuels for aviation applications. Professor Stanley has authored or co-authored more than 25 papers and presentations, and is continually engaged in scholarly activities as a journal reviewer. He was named as the 2010 recipient of the Dwyer Award for Undergraduate Teaching in the College of Technology

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

• David Stanley (2010), "Aviation Fuel Research: Bridging the Technological Gap to the End User," http://c3bio.org/resources/23.

  BibTex | EndNote

1. Frontiers in Bioenergy: Symposium 2010