Final Report Summary - AHEAD (Advanced Hybrid Engines for Aircraft Development)
Executive Summary:
Aviation is the backbone of our modern society, connecting markets and people worldwide. As in the past, passenger demand and freight traffic is expected to grow at a rate of 5% per year in the next decades. As a result of continuous growth there is concern over the environmental impact of aviation. Today air transport contributes around 3-5 % to Global Warming. In order to reduce the environmental impact despite the increasing future demand, the Advisory Council for Aviation Research and Innovation in Europe (ACARE) has put forth ambitious goals for civil aviation in 2050: CO2 emissions per passenger kilometre needs to be reduced by 75%, NOx emissions by 90% and perceived noise by 65%, relative to the year 2000. Moreover due to the dwindling petroleum reserves, the availability of kerosene cannot be guaranteed in the future.
The AHEAD project proposes a Multi-Fuel Blended Wing Body (MFBWB) aircraft with Hybrid Engines as the next generation aircraft and propulsion system. This novel configuration is a step change in both aircraft design as well as the propulsion system and has the potential to meet the abovementioned future challenges which will be faced by aviation. The MFBWB aircraft carries two kinds of fuel, a clean cryogenic fuel such as Liquid Hydrogen (LH2) or Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) and a liquid fuel such as biofuel or kerosene. Cryogenic fuels have a higher energy density compared to kerosene which reduces the total weight of fuel required for the mission however storing these cryogenic fuels is difficult due to their large volume and low temperature requirements. However the proposed MFBWB aircraft overcomes this problem and the hybrid engine enables the optimum usage of these fuels while reducing the overall emissions from the engines significantly.
A conceptual design of the MFBWB aircraft was carried out to see the feasibility of carrying multi-fuels in the aircraft. Several elements of the proposed novel hybrid engine were investigated in the project like the hybrid engine architecture, the hydrogen combustion chamber, the flameless combustion chamber, the overall engine design, engine layout and sizing, etc. The overall impact of the new aircraft and the engine on the climate with respect to global warming (including contrail formation) was looked into.
The results from the AHEAD project suggests that the CO2 emission from the MFBWB aircraft using LNG and Kerosene is more than 50% less when compared to Boeing 777-200 LR for the same mission. The NOx, soot and CO emission can be reduced by more than 80% when compared to the baseline B777-200 ER aircraft. Significant noise reduction is also expected from this novel aircraft configuration due to its embedded aircraft-engine integration.
The AHEAD project paves the way for design of the next generation aircraft and engine technologies which will enhance the efficiency of civil aviation while reducing its environmental footprint.
Project Context and Objectives:
see attached report
Project Results:
see attached report
Potential Impact:
see attached report
List of Websites:
http://www.ahead-euproject.eu/(opens in new window)
Aviation is the backbone of our modern society, connecting markets and people worldwide. As in the past, passenger demand and freight traffic is expected to grow at a rate of 5% per year in the next decades. As a result of continuous growth there is concern over the environmental impact of aviation. Today air transport contributes around 3-5 % to Global Warming. In order to reduce the environmental impact despite the increasing future demand, the Advisory Council for Aviation Research and Innovation in Europe (ACARE) has put forth ambitious goals for civil aviation in 2050: CO2 emissions per passenger kilometre needs to be reduced by 75%, NOx emissions by 90% and perceived noise by 65%, relative to the year 2000. Moreover due to the dwindling petroleum reserves, the availability of kerosene cannot be guaranteed in the future.
The AHEAD project proposes a Multi-Fuel Blended Wing Body (MFBWB) aircraft with Hybrid Engines as the next generation aircraft and propulsion system. This novel configuration is a step change in both aircraft design as well as the propulsion system and has the potential to meet the abovementioned future challenges which will be faced by aviation. The MFBWB aircraft carries two kinds of fuel, a clean cryogenic fuel such as Liquid Hydrogen (LH2) or Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) and a liquid fuel such as biofuel or kerosene. Cryogenic fuels have a higher energy density compared to kerosene which reduces the total weight of fuel required for the mission however storing these cryogenic fuels is difficult due to their large volume and low temperature requirements. However the proposed MFBWB aircraft overcomes this problem and the hybrid engine enables the optimum usage of these fuels while reducing the overall emissions from the engines significantly.
A conceptual design of the MFBWB aircraft was carried out to see the feasibility of carrying multi-fuels in the aircraft. Several elements of the proposed novel hybrid engine were investigated in the project like the hybrid engine architecture, the hydrogen combustion chamber, the flameless combustion chamber, the overall engine design, engine layout and sizing, etc. The overall impact of the new aircraft and the engine on the climate with respect to global warming (including contrail formation) was looked into.
The results from the AHEAD project suggests that the CO2 emission from the MFBWB aircraft using LNG and Kerosene is more than 50% less when compared to Boeing 777-200 LR for the same mission. The NOx, soot and CO emission can be reduced by more than 80% when compared to the baseline B777-200 ER aircraft. Significant noise reduction is also expected from this novel aircraft configuration due to its embedded aircraft-engine integration.
The AHEAD project paves the way for design of the next generation aircraft and engine technologies which will enhance the efficiency of civil aviation while reducing its environmental footprint.
Project Context and Objectives:
see attached report
Project Results:
see attached report
Potential Impact:
see attached report
List of Websites:
http://www.ahead-euproject.eu/(opens in new window)
