HNA flight HU497 from Beijing to Chicago landed in the early hours of Beijing time after a nearly 12-hour flight.

The jet fuel used by the airplane was mixed with a certain percentage of bio-jet kerosene. The raw material comes from restaurant waste oil, commonly known as "gutter oil". The successful landing of the flight is also the first time that a trans-oceanic flight has been made with fuel refined from "gutter oil".

While the "gutter oil" flights have attracted attention, there are still difficulties in promoting similar fuels. Industry insiders point out that the relatively high production costs, recycling, sales end of the "small workshop" type of operation, to the "gutter oil" fuel full use is still a long way off.

"Gutter Oil Flight" is popular

The engine rumbled from far and near, and the huge shadow of the wing slowly pressed down. At about 12:00 local time on the 21st, Hainan Airlines Flight HU497, which took off from Beijing Capital International Airport, carrying 186 passengers and 15 crew members, landed at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport after a 6,100 nautical mile trans-oceanic flight.

At home across the ocean, a group of people breathed a sigh of relief -- they came from Zhenhai Refining and Chemical Plant, and the smooth landing of the plane meant that the results of years of research could be put into practice. Unlike traditional transoceanic flights, this Boeing 787 uses aviation fuel mixed with a percentage of bio-jet coal.

Bio jet fuel, known as bio jet kerosene, is a fuel produced from a variety of animal and plant fats and oils, using hydrogenation technology, catalyst systems and process technology. The waste from the restaurant industry is also known as "gutter oil". In other words, the trans-oceanic flight of Flight HU497 was completed on the basis of fuel processed from "gutter oil". Because of this, the "gutter oil flight" has become popular on the Internet.

Reporters learned from the Zhenhai Refining and Chemical Company that the bio-aviation fuel used in the flight was made from waste oil from restaurants and blended with conventional aviation fuel at a ratio of 15:85.

Sun Jianfeng, the captain of Flight HU497, reportedly said that there was no difference between the biofuel and the regular fuel used on the flight, and that even when the plane was flying at a maximum altitude of 41,000 feet (about 12,497 meters), it was "running very smoothly and well. The use of bio-jet fuel as aviation fuel was approved by the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) prior to the flights, which can effectively reduce carbon emissions while ensuring flight safety and efficiency.

Large-scale promotion will take time

This is not the first time that "gutter oil" has been used in the aviation industry. on April 24, 2013, China Eastern Airline, an active Airbus A320 passenger aircraft, in Hongqiao Airport, to perform the 1.5 hour on-site verification flights, recording The flight recorded all important data and indicators. This is the first technical verification test flight of China's own intellectual property rights of bioaviation coal.

The test flight team has since tested the mixing ratio of biofuel, temperature measurement in the cruise phase, the influence of flight altitude, engine borehole inspection before and after the flight, as well as the handling of special situations.

After the technical verification test flight, on March 21, 2015, a Boeing 737-800 airliner filled with biofuel took off from Shanghai Hongqiao Airport and landed at the Capital International Airport after an 85-minute flight. This is the first application of "gutter oil" fuel in domestic commercial flights.

Publicly available information shows that conventional aviation coal will emit 3.2 tons of carbon dioxide per ton, according to China's current aviation coal consumption of 30 million tons per year on average, if all the bio-aviation coal substitution, it will be at least 30% emission reduction, a year of carbon dioxide emission reduction of about 33 million tons. In addition, this fuel is not only renewable and sustainable, but also has a high environmental advantage as it does not require engine modifications.

However, the high production cost of "gutter oil" fuel has deterred some companies. A staff member at the Zhenhai refinery said the production cost of bio jet fuel is two to three times that of traditional petroleum-based jet fuel, according to international standards.

"Taking waste oil from the catering industry as an example, it takes about 3 tons of water-free oil and grease to produce 1 ton of bio jet fuel." The staff said, therefore, although the technology is relatively mature, but at present the refining of this kind of waste oil from the catering industry from the "gutter oil" fuel, from the large-scale promotion, there is still a long way to go.

Narrative

Recycling and sales affect the promotion of new energy fuels

In 2005, Wu Shiping set up a gutter oil reuse business. Learning of the success of the first flight of the trans-oceanic "gutter oil flight", he said, "For domestic gutter oil recyclers, this is tantamount to a kind of encouragement, which means that the reprocessed fuel has reached the standard of aviation fuel."

Wu Shiping said that almost all domestic "gutter oil" comes from slaughterhouses or restaurants, with restaurants being the main source. At present, the reuse of "gutter oil" has formed a recycling, refining and sales process, and his company can use about 3,500 tons per month.

"Gutter oil" treatment process, mainly divided into petrochemical reaction and separation of two steps, through the distillation tower for raw materials, the later oil and impurities separation is the key technology. "The outside world has a misunderstanding of gutter oil, always feel that it is waste material, but in reality it is a treasure." Wu Shiping introduced, "gutter oil" fuel compared to traditional fuels, combustion is more fully, the use of the effect of "better than 0 diesel". In addition, due to high degradability, resulting in less pollution.

Wu Shiping said that the main factors currently plaguing the "gutter oil" recycling enterprises to do big, the essence is still from the raw materials. "Doing recycling is still basically guerrilla form, can continue to provide sufficient raw materials are very few." He said that sometimes the impurity content of the raw material is too high, which will reduce the efficiency of the oil. In addition, post-sale also affects the promotion of this new energy fuel. "There is no problem with the technology of production now, the key is the two ends, one is recycling and the other is sales, which companies hope to open up in the future."

Experts say

Increase research to make clean energy for environmental protection

Even with the advantages of clean, renewable, "gutter oil flights" was launched, it still triggered questions from the environmental community

On October 7, 2011, Thompson Airlines launched its "gutter oil flights", adding 50% "hydrogen esters and fatty acids" to the engine fuel of its passenger planes, which are mainly processed from kitchen waste oil (commonly known as "gutter oil"). These substances are mainly made from processed kitchen waste oil (commonly known as "gutter oil"). After the flights were launched, several environmentalists protested at the airport, accusing the company of increasing its development of biofuels, which would lead to environmental damage.

On Nov. 21, Hainan Airlines Flight HU497 was greeted with a spray of water after landing at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport in the United States.

Wang Jiangmin, a civil aviation expert, pointed out that airline companies and environmentalists are divided over the use of "gutter oil" fuel. The airlines want to promote the development of "gutter oil" fuel to replace oil and achieve the goal of getting rid of resource dependence. Environmentalists say the production of "gutter oil" fuels will compete with food and water resources for development space, ultimately causing environmental damage.

Wang Jiangmin said that if the research on "gutter oil" fuel is interrupted because of technical problems that may arise in the early stages of the study, it would be tantamount to choking on food. It said, should increase the investment in this research, and then let the clean energy for the environmental protection cause, "blocking is not as good as dredging".

The reporter noted that some countries have explored the recycling of gutter oil, and there are strict legal provisions. In Germany, restaurants must sign a "slop recycling contract" with the government, before the opening of the restaurant must be purchased in accordance with European standards for the separation of fats and oils designed to separate equipment, separated from the oil by the government approved by the company unified recycling. In the United States, the energy sector is also mandatory for federal, state and public **** department, must ensure that a certain percentage of vehicles using recycled oil.