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GE and U.S. Navy join hands to recycle out-of-service aircraft engines

ge f404 engine

The new recycling program by the U.S. Navy in collaboration with GE Aviation is sure to do wonders for the environment. The duo have initiated a program under which rhenium-bearing aircraft engine components will be recovered from out-of-service F404 and F414 engines, after which the precious metal would be used for the manufacturing of new engine parts. The project known as the GE/Navy Reclamation Program aims at reducing raw-material requirements, lowering dependency on foreign sources of rhenium and providing financial “credits” the Navy can apply to future engines and hardware.

As part of a comprehensive Department of Defense effort to promote key material reclamation throughout the system, the program was formalized last June, after which it was included in the existing GE-Navy F414 multi-year contract. Rhenium, a major component in turbine blades and stators, is tracked and reclaimed from rhenium-rich parts that have reached the end of their contracted life cycle. Already thousands of pounds of rhenium-based components have been shipped from the Fleet Readiness Center South East Jacksonville, Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst and Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point.

Via: AvStop

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