A mechanical failure during the test launch of a biodiesel-powered rocket produced unexpected results, giving rocket engineers a deeper appreciation for the biofuel. According to Steve Harrington, chief executive officer of Carlsbad, Calif.-based aerospace engineering company Flometrics Inc., a stuck fuel valve on the rocket caused some biodiesel to flow into the liquid oxygen system and, upon ignition, a fire inside the liquid oxygen manifold caused the launch to fail on March 7 in the Mojave Desert in the southwestern U.S.
“We got a big puff of flame out of the nozzle, but no significant thrust,” Harrington said. “The rocket didn’t go anywhere.” But what happened next was a surprise. “We ran into a problem, but then we discovered this advantage of biodiesel that we hadn’t expected. This type of failure often causes a serious fire when you use kerosene: you get a pool fire underneath the rocket and it just kind of barbeques the fins, and so on. But this time the fire was minimal. The biodiesel just went right out and the rocket did not even get scorched.”
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