Future Fuel Efficient Airplanes

1. GE Aviation is advancing jet propulsion and its next-generation engine core program, called eCore, through several private- and government-funded R&D programs, many with key technology milestones this year.

General Electric is working on HEETE (Highly Efficient Embedded Turbine Engine) A three-year program sponsored by the USAF, HEETE focuses on embedded technologies for the endurance and range of future intelligent surveillance and reconnaissance, tanker, mobility and unmanned combat air vehicles. The first phase will fund development of an ultra-high-pressure ratio compressor and associated thermal management technologies – potentially the centerpiece of GE’s next compressor system. Along with a new high-pressure turbine, HEETE will provide a 25 percent improvement in fuel burn at a 70:1 overall pressure ratio in a full engine. GE completed detailed design and is procuring a compressor rig to run in 2010.

A target is for 35% more fuel efficient jet engines by 2021.

2. LEAP-X: The first version of eCore runs in mid-year as part of CFM International’s (50/50 joint company of GE and Snecma) LEAP-X engine program, a new turbofan engine for future replacements for current narrow-body aircraft. With the first core running this year, GE and Snecma are targeting the run of a full demonstrator engine in 2012, incorporating technologies developed over three years as part of the LEAP56 technology program [with possible certification in 2016]. The LEAP-X is rooted in advanced aerodynamics and materials technologies, such as ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) and Titanium-Aluminide. This new turbofan will reduce the engine contribution to aircraft fuel burn by up to 16 percent compared to current CFM56 Tech Insertion engines powering Airbus A320 and Boeing Next-Generation 737 aircraft. Additional fuel burn improvements will be achieved once this engine is paired with new aircraft technology.

3. FATE (Future Affordable Turbine Engine): A follow-on to AATE is the U.S. Army’s FATE program, focusing on a 7,000-shaft-horsepower class engine to power future heavy-lift helicopters. Goals include a 35 percent improvement in fuel efficiency, 20 percent reduction in development costs, 45 percent improvement in maintenance costs and 90 percent improvement in power-to-weight ratio**. GE will test advanced materials and pursue aerodynamic improvements for high-pressure ratios. Competitions for component programs are under way. In September, GE received a contract on turbine cooling technology. A second round of contracts will be awarded this year to develop a compressor, followed by a four-year technology program scheduled to begin in 2012.

4. INVENT (INtegrated Vehicle ENergy Technology): The USAF Research Laboratory’s INVENT program is studying next-generation military electric power and thermal management systems for aircraft with integrated hybrid-electric system architectures. Goals include a 10 to 15 percent extension of range and endurance, 10 to 30 percent increase in power and thermal capacity, and lifecycle reduction costs. GE contracts involve preliminary designs of possible adaptive power and thermal management systems and robust electric power systems for possible integration into tactical, unmanned and long-strike platforms. An integrated ground demonstration is scheduled for 2012, with flight demonstrations planned for 2015.

5. Future Vehicle Aircraft Research (N+3 Designs): NASA contracted GE to study concepts for commercial aircraft 25 to 30 years from now. The concepts are called N+3, denoting technologies three generations beyond today’s aircraft. They face significant performance and environmental challenges set by NASA, including: an 80 decibel reduction in noise below current Stage 3; 80+ percent lower NOx emissions below CAEP 2; 70 percent improvement in fuel burn; and the ability to operate from small airports. GE, Georgia Institute of Technology and Cessna Aircraft Company will take an integrated airframer and propulsion system design approach to analyze a 10- to 30-passenger aircraft that can fly point-to-point service between small community airports. Potential designs include a traditional ducted turbofan and open-rotor or unducted fan engine designs.

6. Open Rotor: Last fall, GE announced a joint study with NASA related to an open rotor or unducted fan engine design. In the 1980s, GE successfully ground-tested and flew an open-rotor engine that demonstrated dramatic fuel savings. Since then, GE has advanced its data acquisition systems and computational tools to better understand open-rotor systems. GE also gained extensive experience with composite fan blades in its GE90 engine and GEnx engine. This year, GE and NASA will conduct wind tunnel tests, using a component rig, to evaluate subscale counterrotating fan blade designs and systems. Snecma (SAFRAN Group), GE’s longtime 50/50 partner in CFM International, will participate in fan blade design testing.

7. Fuel additives made of tiny particles known as nanocatalysts can help supersonic jets fly faster and make diesel engines cleaner and more efficient.

Princeton-led team has proposed a solution based on the use of graphene — molecular sheets of carbon atoms. In 2003, Aksay and his chemical engineering colleague, Professor Robert Prud’homme, developed the first commercially viable technique for making graphene by using a chemical process to split graphite into its ultrathin individual sheets. The resulting flakes are 200- to 500-nanometers wide, making the largest of them about one-hundredth the width of an average human hair. When small amounts are added to liquid fuels, they lower the temperature at which the fuel ignites. The catalyst might also be used to reduce the amount of nitric oxide produced by diesel engines or accelerate soot oxidation rates, which could reduce the pollution and fuel use.

41 page pdf : Environmentally AviationEnvironmentally Responsible Aviation Technical Overview