Engineering news
A pan-European project to reduce CO2 emission from aircraft engines by 75% by 2050 through the use of “radical technology” has received a €3 million boost from the European Union.
The three year Ultimate project (Ultra Low emission Technology Innovations for Mid-century Aircraft Turbine Engines) aims to develop radical engine concepts that increase combustion chamber pressure and reuse waste heat.
The EU is targeting a 75% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions per passenger kilometre between the years 2000 and 2050.
Tomas Grönstedt, Professor in Turbomachinery at Chalmers and coordinator of the project, said: “Decades of investment in advanced technology, supported by programmes such as Clean Sky, have made such ambitious goals feasible. To reach the 75% reduction target, we estimate that the last 18 percent will have to come from radical technology developed within our project.
"We will mature engine concepts that today only exist as ideas, by combining technologies in an unprecedented way.
"For instance, a composite engine cycle that combines conventional aero-engine combustion technology with piston engine solutions."
The researchers aim to increase the overall efficiency of aero engines from 40% to efficiencies of more than 60% by 2050 through new designs and incremental improvements to components that raise pressure in the combustion chamber during the combustion process and better utilise exhaust air from the engine. Exhaust air from modern engines is 500 - 700 degrees hotter than ambient.
"If this wasted heat can be recycled then major improvements can be expected. The kinds of radical solutions we will be exploring could completely change the layout and appearance of future engines,” added Grönstedt.
According to the researchers, close collaboration with industry will ensure that unrealistic concepts are abandoned at an early stage and that stringent noise and nitrous oxide emissions targets can be met. Results from the project will then used by industry to roadmap technology acquisition towards 2050.
The project is being led by Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden and involves some of the largest engine manufacturers in Europe: Rolls-Royce (UK), MTU Aero Engines (Germany), Safran Aircraft Engines (France) and GKN Aerospace (Sweden). Several universities, including Cranfield in the UK, l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace in France and the Bauhaus Luftfahrt research institute in Germany.