U.S. Navy media reported its most significant demonstration yet of shipboard alternative fuel on 17, November 2011 when the Spruance-class destroyer ex- USS Paul F. Foster (EDD 964), now decommissioned and designated a (remotely controlled) ‘Self Defense Test Ship’ (SDTS) completed a 17-hour test-run from San Diego back to home base Port Huename, California. The fuel was a blend of algae-derived, hydro-processed algal oil mixed 50-50 with normal military grade F-76 diesel oil for a demonstration that signalled a major step forward towards achievement of the Navy’s goal of getting at least half their fuel from alternative sources by the year 2020.
Alternative Fuel Trial Details
The test ship has four Lockheed Martin LM 2500 main propulsion gas turbines and four 501-K17 ship service gas turbine generators. The trial began with a baseline run on the ship’s transit from Port Hueneme to San Diego using normal F-76 fuel, then according to Rick Kamin, leader of the Naval Fuels and Lubricants Cross-functional Team: “Using the 50-50 blend on the return run to Port Hueneme, the tested engines were assessed on their abilities to perform start sequences as well as motoring and purging operations …. We also collected data on compressor inlet temperature, engine speed, engine start time, fuel manifold pressure, turbine outlet temperature, turbine inlet temperature, ship service gas turbine generators power output, and gas turbine main engine shaft output.” Reportedly baseline and test run data corresponded.
In accord with the Secretary of the Navy’s terms of reference for a fossil fuel substitute for the fleet, this trial required no changes to be made to the infrastructure of the ship or fuelling pier for the test, which also marked the only sea-going operational test of alternative fuels in the LM 2500 gas turbine – significantly the engine found in most of the Navy’s surface combatants. The Spruance-class destroyer was the largest ship so far to have trialled the use of algol fuel.
Alternative Fuel – Algol
The Department of the Navy is experimenting with algae and mustard seed oil as a way to lessen its dependence upon petroleum, which is increasingly expensive and is supplied by some nations that may not have the best interests of the United States at heart.
The 20,000 gallons of “green crude” used for the trial were supplied by Solazyme, a San Francisco-based biofuel company that grows the algae indoors at an East Coast facility. Algae contains natural oils that can be harvested, then refined, but the biggest remaining challenge for the Navy is to achieve industrial production at a competitive price.
George Backwell - Merely a reporter who endeavors to provide a reliable compass for those who look for one.
