scholarly journals A Probabilistic Assessment of NASA Ultra-Efficient Engine Technologies for a Large Subsonic Transport

Author(s):  
Michael T. Tong ◽  
Scott M. Jones ◽  
Philip C. Arcara ◽  
William J. Haller

NASA’s Ultra Efficient Engine Technology (UEET) program features advanced aeropropulsion technologies that include highly loaded turbomachinery, an advanced low-NOx combustor, high-temperature materials, intelligent propulsion controls, aspirated seal technology, and an advanced computational fluid dynamics (CFD) design tool to help reduce airplane drag. A probabilistic system assessment is performed to evaluate the impact of these technologies on aircraft fuel burn and NOx reductions. A 300-passenger aircraft, with two 396-kN thrust (85,000-pound) engines is chosen for the study. The results show that a large subsonic aircraft equipped with the UEET technologies has a very high probability of meeting the UEET Program goals for fuel-burn (or equivalent CO2) reduction (−15% from the baseline) and LTO (landing and takeoff) NOx reductions (−70% relative to the 1996 International Civil Aviation Organization rule). These results are used to provide guidance for developing a robust UEET technology portfolio, and to prioritize the most promising technologies required to achieve UEET program goals for the fuel-burn and NOx reductions.

2016 ◽  
Vol 120 (1226) ◽  
pp. 693-723 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.E. Green ◽  
J.A. Jupp

ABSTRACTThe International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Circular Cir 337 is the first step towards ICAO establishing an Aeroplane CO2Emissions Standard to form part of Annex 16, Volume III to the Chicago Convention. It describes itself as ‘a work in progress’. This paper reviews Cir 337 against the background of flight physics, the published literature on aircraft fuel burn and CO2emissions and the current practices of the aircraft and engine manufacturers and the airline operators. We have taken, as our starting point, the aim of ICAO to reduce the fuel used per revenue tonne-kilometre performed and argue that the Breguet range equation, which captures all the relevant flight physics, should be the basis of the metric system underpinning the standard. Our overall conclusion is that Cir 337 provides an excellent basis for the initial regulation of aviation's CO2emissions and, further in the future, for developing measures to increase the fuel efficiency of the operational side of civil aviation. Our main criticism of the circular in its current form is that it does not address the ICAO goal of reducingfuel used per revenue tonne-kilometre performedand makes no reference to payload. This defect could be eliminated simply by omission of the exponent 0.24 of the Reference Geometric Factor (RGF) in the formula for the metric given in Chapter 2 (paragraph 2.2) of the circular. Retaining theRGFto the power unity in the metric and multiplying it by an appropriate value of the effective floor loading would convert it to what the 37thAssembly of ICAO called for – a statement of fuel used per revenue tonne-kilometre performed. Finally, correlating the amended metric against design range, as determined from the measured specific air range and the key certificated masses, provides a sound scientific basis for an initial regulation to cap passenger aircraft emissions.


Author(s):  
Han-Joong Kim ◽  
Hojong Baik

This study proposes a novel procedure for estimating aircraft fuel burn during ground operations using aircraft trajectory data acquired from an airport surface surveillance system. A fundamental assumption employed throughout the study is that aircraft fuel burn on the ground depends on taxi phases and corresponding thrust settings. The computational process is split into three steps: (1) define a taxi phase for each data point by analyzing the trajectory data; (2) find the fuel flow index appropriate for each taxi phase of each engine type from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Engine Emissions Databank which contains fuel flow indices for four flight status of every commercial engine; and (3) estimate the total fuel burn on the ground for each flight by multiplying the time duration at each taxi phase by the corresponding fuel flow rate. Using 24-hour surface trajectory data collected from the Airport Surface Detection Equipment (ASDE) system at Seoul/Incheon International Airport, all flights operated on the day were analyzed applying this procedure. The results indicate that suggested taxi fuel burn rates are estimated to be about 17% lower than the ICAO values. The proposed procedure is expected to be used as an alternative method for ground fuel burn estimation.


Aerospace ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (7) ◽  
pp. 87
Author(s):  
Stanislav Karpuk ◽  
Yaolong Liu ◽  
Ali Elham

The German Cluster of Excellence SE²A (Sustainable and Energy Efficient Aviation) is established in order to investigate the influence of game-changing technologies on the energy efficiency of future transport aircraft. In this paper, the preliminary investigation of the four game-changing technologies active flow control, active load alleviation, boundary layer ingestion, and novel materials and structure concepts on the performance of a long-range Blended Wing Body (BWB) aircraft is presented. The BWB that was equipped with the mentioned technologies was designed and optimized using the multi-fidelity aircraft design code SUAVE with a connection to the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) code SU2. The conceptual design of the BWB aircraft is performed within the SUAVE framework, where the influence of the new technologies is investigated. In the second step, the initially designed BWB aircraft is improved by an aerodynamic shape optimization while using the SU2 CFD code. In the third step, the performance of the optimized aircraft is evaluated again using the SUAVE code. The results showed more than 60% reduction in the aircraft fuel burn when compared to the Boeing 777.


Author(s):  
Michael T. Tong

NASA’s Intelligent Propulsion System Technology (Propulsion 21) project focuses on developing adaptive technologies that will enable commercial gas turbine engines to produce fewer emissions and less noise while increasing reliability. It features adaptive technologies that have included active tip-clearance control for turbine and compressor, active combustion control, turbine aero-thermal and flow control, and enabling technologies such as sensors which are reliable at high operating temperatures and are minimally intrusive. A probabilistic system analysis is performed to evaluate the impact of these technologies on aircraft CO2 (directly proportional to fuel burn) and LTO (landing and takeoff) NOx reductions. A 300-passenger aircraft, with two 396-kN thrust (85,000-pound) engines is chosen for the study. The results show that NASA’s Intelligent Propulsion System technologies have the potential to significantly reduce the CO2 and NOx emissions. The results are used to support informed decision-making on the development of the intelligent propulsion system technology portfolio for CO2 and NOx reductions.


2006 ◽  
Vol 110 (1113) ◽  
pp. 705-721 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. K. Nangia

Summary As civil aviation expands, environmental aspects and fuel savings are becoming increasingly important. Amongst technologies proposed for more efficient flight, air-to-air refuelling (AAR), ‘hopping’ and flying in close formation (drag reduction), all have significant possibilities. It will be interesting to know also how these technologies may co-exist e.g. AAR and formation flying. In military use, AAR is virtually indispensable. Its benefits are real and largely proven in hostile and demanding scenarios. We present a case for applying AAR in a civil context to show that substantial reductions in fuel burn for long-range missions are achievable. Overall savings, including the fuel used during the tanker missions, would be of the order of 30-40% fuel and 35-40% financial. These are very significant in terms of the impact on aviation’s contribution to reducing atmospheric pollution. AAR allows smaller, efficient (greener) aircraft optimised for about 3,000nm range to fulfil long-range route requirements. This implies greater usage of smaller airports, relieving congestion and ATC demands on Hub airports. Problems due to shed vortices and wakes at airports are reduced. Smaller engines will be needed. Integrated (accepted) AAR could lead to further benefits. Aircraft could take-off ‘light’, with minimum fuel and reserves and a planned AAR a few minutes into the flight. The ‘light’ aircraft would not require over-rating of the engines during take-off and would therefore be less noisy during take-off and climb-out, permitting more acceptable night operations. The availability of civil AAR will enable opportunities for hitherto borderline technologies to be utilised in future aircraft. Laminar flow will provide fuel savings and increased efficiency in its own right but could be significantly enhanced within a civil AAR environment. Similarly, supersonic transport may become an acceptable economic option. AAR affords the possibility of a complete widening of the design space and this should appeal to the imagination of current and future designers.


2014 ◽  
Vol 118 (1206) ◽  
pp. 903-934 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. I. A. Poll

AbstractAn analysis, based upon exact relations and previously published approximate relations, is presented. It describes the connection between changes in aircraft weight and changes in the energy to revenue work ratio (ETRW), which, for a given aircraft on a given route, correspond to changes in trip fuel burn. This is used to establish the link between weight saving and fuel burn improvement at both the total aircraft and the component levels. The analysis is then extended to address the impact of trading weight savings anywhere on the aircraft for increased wing aspect ratio, whilst the aircraft total weight remains the same. It is shown that, for flights in excess of about 350 km, if saving fuel is the objective and provided that all the aerodynamic design and airworthiness requirements can be met, it is better to trade weight saving for increased aspect ratio. In general, the ratio of fuel burn reductions for traded to non-traded weight varies with aircraft size, design range, distance flown and payload carried, with the maximum values, for typical operational payloads, ranging from 2•8, for the smaller aircraft, to 2•2 for the largest aircraft, with medium haul operations deriving the largest benefit. It is estimated that, over the past 50 years, about 10% of the operational empty weight has been traded for increased aspect ratio, giving close to a 20% improvement inETRW. Finally, estimates are produced for the impact of weight reduction and traded weight reduction on the fuel burn for the current global feet.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Budi Aji Warsiyanto

Abstrct - A Windshield is a component that must be tested to comply with the certification requirements in the bird strike phenomenon based on Civil Aviation Safety Regulations (CASR) subpart 23.775. The purpose of this study is to obtain the thickness of 19 passenger aircraft windshield that meets the certification requirements and determine the dynamic response of the windshield to impact velocity variations. The finite element is used to simulate bird strike phenomena. The elastic-plastic polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) material with the maximum principal strain failure criterion is used to model the dynamic response of the windshield. Numerical modeling is validated, both with analytical and experimental results which are then used to investigate the effect of variations in windshield thickness and impact velocity. The results obtained that with a thickness of 9 mm, the windshield is able to withstand bird strikes based on cases that have been determined by the regulation. In addition, the impact velocity that causes the dynamic response of the windshield in the elastic, plastic deformation, and the greatest failure is the velocity of 87.5 ms-1(cruising phase). The uppermost of the windshield (fixed) is the weakest part due to the stress concentration.


2017 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 104
Author(s):  
Petra Skolilova

The article outlines some human factors affecting the operation and safety of passenger air transport given the massive increase in the use of the VLA. Decrease of the impact of the CO2 world emissions is one of the key goals for the new aircraft design. The main wave is going to reduce the burned fuel. Therefore, the eco-efficiency engines combined with reasonable economic operation of the aircraft are very important from an aviation perspective. The prediction for the year 2030 says that about 90% of people, which will use long-haul flights to fly between big cities. So, the A380 was designed exactly for this time period, with a focus on the right capacity, right operating cost and right fuel burn per seat. There is no aircraft today with better fuel burn combined with eco-efficiency per seat, than the A380. The very large aircrafts (VLAs) are the future of the commercial passenger aviation. Operating cost versus safety or CO2 emissions versus increasing automation inside the new generation aircraft. Almost 80% of the world aircraft accidents are caused by human error based on wrong action, reaction or final decision of pilots, the catastrophic failures of aircraft systems, or air traffic control errors are not so frequent. So, we are at the beginning of a new age in passenger aviation and the role of the human factor is more important than ever.


2021 ◽  
Vol 127 ◽  
pp. 107738
Author(s):  
Nanfei Jia ◽  
Xiangyun Gao ◽  
Donghui Liu ◽  
Jingjian Si ◽  
Meihui Jiang

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