Engineering news
'Zero carbon footprint supersonic flight' – Boom Supersonic makes huge claim after fuel partnership
Professional Engineering
The first of four stories from the Paris Air Show this week is Boom Supersonic’s massive claim that it will make the first ever ‘zero carbon footprint’ supersonic flight next year. The ambitious start-up, which is developing a two-seater prototype plane ahead of its planned 55-seat Overture commercial airliner, made the claim after announcing a partnership with little-known fuel company Prometheus. The California firm reportedly “sucks” carbon from the air and uses electricity from renewable energy sources to convert it into petrol, diesel and jet fuel. Burning just that fuel to power an aircraft could result in no net increase in carbon emissions.
Boeing v Airbus
Aerotech News
One of the biggest stories at the biennial Paris show was the rivalry between Boeing and Airbus. Boeing started the trade show with a press conference where executives apologised to the families of people who died in the two recent 737 Max crashes. The next day, however, it surprised delegates with a large new order for the aircraft from IAG. The main stories on Airbus, on the other hand, focused on the company’s new long-range A321XLR single-aisle jet. Ultimately, reports Flight Global, “the European manufacturer undoubtedly took the largest share of business.”
Electric dreams becoming reality
New Atlas
With greater public and political focus on carbon emissions than ever before, electric flight and alternative fuels were a main topic of discussion in Paris. One of the most eye-catching projects is the Alice, an all-electric nine-seater aeroplane from Eviation. Using either Siemens or magniX technology for propulsion, the aircraft will reportedly fly up to 1,046km.
Giant airship could deliver turbine blades to windfarms – if it doesn't float away
Professional Engineering
Transporting wind-turbine blades is a pain – comically long beams are strapped to lorries, which wend their way through thin and winding roads towards the coast or remote installation sites at a snail’s pace. Could there be another way? Flying Whales says its helium-lifted LCA60T will be the world’s largest cargo delivery airship when it launches in 2022. The company says its vehicle could be ideal for transporting several onshore turbine blades at a time – either in the hold or in a hanging frame designed to minimise wind catching the blades while in flight.
'If you stand up for yourself, it backfires' – female engineers on careers in a man's world
Professional Engineering
This Sunday (23 June) is International Women in Engineering Day. Ahead of the event, we spoke to three female engineers about what it is like forging careers in a man’s world.
“If you, as a woman, achieve certain success, people need to be continually persuaded that you deserve to be where you are,” said Jane. “That doesn’t happen to a man.”
Wood powers up for nuclear power station contract
Process Engineering
Wood will provide engineering and technical services at Hinkley Point C over a five year contract, with potential for another five years. The company will also work to improve supply chain delivery. The project will be the UK’s first new nuclear power station in 20 years.
The lowest-cost battery in the energy sector?
Energy Live News
A new ‘zinc hybrid battery system’ could become the cheapest battery in the sector, three companies have claimed. The device, developed by Bryt Energy, Eos Energy Storage and Connected Energy, reportedly has a high energy to power ratio and could be recycled at the end of its use.
Glucose and oxygen power artificial muscle for implants and self-sufficient robots
Professional Engineering
The exciting and terrifying prospect of self-sufficient robots has come a step closer, after researchers created an artificial muscle powered by glucose and oxygen. The human-like polymer actuator was created by a team at Linköping University in Sweden. The researchers sandwiched a thin membrane layer between two layers of polypyrrole, an electroactive polymer in which they integrated naturally-occurring enzymes that convert chemical energy into electrical energy. Devices based on the technology could be implanted into people’s bodies as artificial muscles – or help create autonomous robots powered by the biomolecules in their surroundings.
A fast lane for driverless car testing
The Engineer
An efficient and data-light technique of gathering data for autonomous car development could help bring their UK introduction forwards, reported The Engineer. The process was developed by government-funded Move_UK, a three-year project collecting information from Land Rovers driving around Greenwich. The project increased efficiency by only collecting data after being triggered by events such as harsh braking. The approach generated up to 3,000 times less data than simply recording everything.
NASA's Mars Helicopter prepares for flight in thin, cold Red Planet atmosphere
Professional Engineering
NASA has built a Mars Helicopter, and is planning its first flights above the Red Planet. While the lower gravity provides a welcome boost, the two contra-rotating rotors will have to spin at almost 3,000rpm – roughly 10 times more frequently than Earth helicopters. For the 1.2m-diameter rotors, the maximum mass is 1.8kg.
“Within this mass allocation, the vehicle had to be designed and built to be capable of autonomous flight, able to survive in Mars environments such as the very cold temperatures at night [and] able to survive independently through solar power garnered from the sun,” said project manager MiMi Aung.
Content published by Professional Engineering does not necessarily represent the views of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.