New design philosophy paves the way for greener aviation

According to the SEPA (Swedish Environmental Protection Agency), the climate impact from aviation in Sweden accounts for emissions as large as its entire passenger car traffic. To remedy the problem, aircrafts and engines have historically been designed targeting efficiency improvements in order to reduce carbondioxide-emissions. But now a new international research project led by Chalmers will investigate how a new concept of designing may reduce not only carbon dioxide emissions but also other emissions which are believed to have a larger impact in global warming. So says the Chalmers University in a press release.

This will allow us to factor in the effects of global warming in the early stages of engine development and filter out concepts that might otherwise look attractive. If picked up by the industry, this new design philosophy has the potential to be a game-changer,” says Carlos Xisto, Associate Professor of Fluid Mechanics at Chalmers University of Technology and coordinator of the MINIMAL project, whose main aim is to support the goal of aviation climate neutrality by 2050.

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Minimal

The project MINIMAL is based on a unique collaboration between universities and engine manufacturers across Europe. It aims to unite sciences and experiences that can make air traffic significantly greener “One of the most important outcomes of MINIMAL will be to bridge knowledge between atmospheric science and engine design to create more climate-friendly propulsion technology for aviation”, says Carlos Xisto.

With funding from the EU and UKRI of six million euros, the researchers will now be able to carry out advanced experiments that, together with computational and aero-thermal-mechanical climate impact studies, can test new design concepts. The aspiration is to introduce the concept to the industry for further development eventually and brought to the market as early as 2035 – 2040, thus paving the way for air traffic compatible with the environmental goals established in the Paris Agreement.