Air miles are now becoming an important component in the determination of global trade and the general public are becoming more and more concerned with the effects of airliner pollution and energy use to the extent of preferring to purchase locally made or produced products rather than those from across the other side of the world. But can we do better? Can the plane makers produce more environmentally sound aircraft? Researchers are saying that perhaps they can!

According to experts at the international aerospace trade show in Berlin, earlier this year, air travel of the future is expected to be quieter, cleaner and more environmentally
friendly. To achieve this goal, new structural concepts and aerodynamic profiles have to be engineered, along with better drive concepts as well as adapted logistical designs, and then put to use. In the European Union project ‘Clean Sky’, researchers are determined to make their contribution to solving this task.

Flying can become considerably more environmentally friendly—the aviation experts from the “Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in Europe” ACARE are certain of this. In the guidelines that they compiled for the European aviation industry, the experts are calling for a 50 percent reduction in carbon dioxide and noise emissions by 2020; nitrogen oxide output should be reduced by 80 percent.
The goals are ambitious, researchers say but are achievable. Since 2008, the head of the Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability LBF in Darmstadt, Germany, has been a member of the Governing Board, the decision-making body of the EU’s “Clean Sky” project, one of the most expansive and complex research projects in Europe, with a subsidy volume of 1.6 billion euro. The goal of the 86 participating industry and research partners from 16 nations is not only to develop unique technologies for specific applications, but also to evaluate and advance the entire aeronautics system.
In its first stages a task force set the plot for the technology fields for the airplane encompassing engines, wings and fuselage structures as well as systems and landing gear, etc. Each of these components can be put into an improved ecological balance of the system as a whole. An optimized airflow profile on the wings cuts noise and saves energy; improved engine technology minimizes kerosene consumption; materials with long lifespans save on raw materials; the application of recyclable materials prevents the accumulation of waste.

The breadth of detail is immense: Materials have to be tested, material flows simulated, calculation methods refined, experiments conducted and analyzed. For the first time, the researchers also intend to take into account the lifecycle of materials within airline construction so that the aircraft components can be disposed of at the end of their economic lives in an environmentally sound manner. Therefore, researchers are investigating the best way of joining the most important lightweight construction materials in use today, and how new paint systems can reduce frictional resistance.
Safety is of course a very important feature. So testing should indicate if a newly developed material diminishes the air quality in the passenger cabin. In the Flight Test Facility, researchers can simulate the pressure, temperature and moisture conditions during a flight.

This photo was taken by Robert J. Boser http://www.airlinesafety.com/editorials/AboutTheEditor.htm.
Article adapted from a report provided by Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.

Energy, Pollution