Your used cooking oil could help fly a jet in the near future. Dehradun-based Indian Institute of Petroleum has successfully finished a pilot test to convert used cooking oil into bio-aviation turbine fuel (Bio-ATF), which can be blended with conventional ATF and used as aircraft fuel.
The Institute collected used cooking oil from caterers and hotels in Dehradun for the pilot, which has now set the platform for commercial use of the technology. “The chemical composition of the used cooking oil is identical to other plant-based oils that have been converted to Bio-ATF. We have shown that Bio-ATF production is possible from used cooking oil,” said Saleem Akhtar Farooqui, a scientist at the institute.
Mr. Farooqui said that the Bio-ATF derived from used cooking oil is yet to be tested on a flight. “The pilot test has proven that it is very similar to Bio-ATF derived from jatropha oil.
