Aero Engines - Green to the Core By Joseph Noronha, Goa Aviations contribution to anthropogenic global warming is small but

increasing. Small efforts here and there add up to major emissions reduction. Everything counts. What is needed is a concerted effort by the entire aviation industry. The inexorable rise in oil prices and environmental concerns are the two issues giving sleepless nights to aero engine manufacturers. With the political turmoil in West Asia showing no signs of abating, fossil fuels are only getting pricier by the day. Fuel accounts for 35 to 50 per cent of airlines operating costs and many carriers that were just beginning to emerge from the recent downturn are starting to hike ticket pricesa measure that could yet again drive travellers away. In spite of the hope that oil prices may at least stabilise if not fall, pressures from the environmentalists are only bound to intensify, and with good reason too. The rapid increase in airline flights worldwide means that the carbon footprint of aviation is expanding. A Boeing B737 or Airbus A320 in an hour of flight burns about 3,000 litres of fuel emitting 6.5 tonnes of CO2. Overall, commercial aviation is responsible for 12 per cent of the CO2 currently generated by the transport sector. Environmentalists insist that either the aviation-linked greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions be aggressively reduced or curbs be imposed on aviation to avert catastrophic climate change. There is also a flurry of regulations concerning emissions from governments worldwide plus aircraft noise restrictions by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and local authorities. That is why manufacturers are spending huge sums of money to design more fuelefficient and quiet green engines. And their focus is on every component of the engine, right to the core. Airbus promises up to 15 per cent fuel-burn improvement with its eagerly awaited neo (new engine option), due for service entry in October 2015. The neo features the Pratt & Whitney (P&W) PW1000G PurePower high-bypass geared turbofan (GTF) engine as the lead development engine and CFM Internationals Leap-X as an alternative. Not to be outdone, Bombardiers futuristic CSeries aircraft ( first flight target 2012), powered by the P&W PW1500G, will deliver 20 per cent less fuel consumption vis--vis current

airliners. Variants of the same engine have also been selected for the Japanese Mitsubishi MRJ (service entry 2014) and the Russian Irkut MC-21 (service entry 2016). Good enough progress? Not really. A LEAP-X Forward Airlines have been investing heavily in fuel-efficient technologies, encouraging the development of alternative fuels and optimising operations helping the industry save billions of dollars and charting a sustainable, low-emissions future. But for those banking on alternative fuels, the truth is that compared to other industries, there are limited options before the aviation sector to replace fossil fuel. Large-scale biofuel commercialisation is still decades away. Although there is hope that by 2030, 30 per cent of aviations fuel requirements may be met by biofuels, it may not reduce GHG emissions significantly. Airlines have no alternative but to reduce fuel consumption. Thus, reduction in fuel burn and noise are the primary challenges for engine manufacturers. From their perspective, fuel economy can be achieved by reducing three thingsspecific fuel consumption (SFC), engine weight and engine drag. Engine noise is curbed by decreasing jet velocity, reducing fan tip speed and smoothening turbine operation. Meeting these sometimes conflicting demands requires a quantum leap in technology and many trade-offs. CFM Internationals engineers are evaluating sophisticated composite materials, next-generation 3D aerodynamics and low-emissions combustion techniques. They expect that compared to the present generation CFM56 engine, the Leap-X turbofan engine (certification likely 2016) will produce 60 per cent less Nitrous Oxide (NOx), 16 per cent less CO2 and will fly quieter. The Leap-Xs launch aircraft will be the Chinese Comac C919 narrow-body ( first flight expected by 2014). But there is a limit to extracting efficiency from conventional engine architecture. Only radical redesign can provide the paradigm shift the industry desperately needs. The two major engine concepts being investigated to improve fuel efficiency are the GTF and the open rotor (prop-fan or un-ducted fan) model. GTFs Green Promise Fans work more efficiently at low speeds while turbines favour high speeds. As both components are mounted on the same shaft, turbofan engines have to compromise between the two. P&W solves the problem with a gearbox that lets the fan and turbine spin independently. The fan is much larger and spins at one-third the speed of the turbine, creating a quieter, more powerful engine. Company sources claim that it burns less fuel, emits 20 per cent less CO2, and costs 30 per cent less to maintain. P&W believes it can obtain a step change in both fuel efficiency and noise reduction with this configuration and claims that the GTF is the only technical solution that can simultaneously improve both parameters. The GTF is expected to be less susceptible to foreign object damage because the fan runs at lower speed than in other engines. It will also have 40 per cent fewer blades because of the reduction in the number of low-pressure compressors and

lowpressure turbine stages. The German manufacturer MTU Aero Engines is also making progress on a GTF design, with its clean air engine (CLAIRE) technology, under the banner of the European Commissions clean sky joint technology initiative. By means of a new low-pressure turbine, designers hope to reduce its length and weight while improving efficiency. The initial aim is a 15 per cent reduction in fuel burn. The second step will be to combine a two-stage counterrotating fan with the geared concept, targeting a 20 per cent fuel burn reduction by 2025. The third step will be the implementation of an intercooled recuperative aero-engine concept in which the exhaust nozzle heat is tapped to increase the temperature of the air entering the compressor.