“The future is clean!” As soon as his slender posed volatile Tuesday on the floor of Abu Dhabi, the Swiss Bertrand Piccard, one of the two pilot Solar Impulse 2 , came out of his tiny cockpit (3.8 m²) to launch its leitmotif the public came to applaud the first round the world made by a solar plane. So without any emission of CO 2 . Party March 9, 2015 United Arab Emirates, the unit, which counts 43,041 kilometers from flight to twenty-three days of actual flight, joined Tuesday’s launch base after seventeen stages on four continents, sometimes heckled by due to its weight – light beast hardly taste the wind – and weather – sensors require sunlight
read also: . in Cairo, the high-tech flying over ancient
history will remember that the ultimate achievement of this round the world was created by André Borschberg, another Swiss driver, with its overview of the Pacific ocean Nagoya (Japan) to Hawaii 8924 kilometers one hundred and twenty hours, spent in solitary and without “sleep” over twenty minutes at a time – the techniques of yoga and hypnosis were paramount. His accomplice Bertrand Piccard, heir to a long dynasty of adventurers himself has made the Atlantic crossing, 6 765 kilometers nonstop on board the Solar Impulse 2 . “It sends a clear message record, the two adventurers have claimed. Everyone could use the same technology to the ground to reduce by half the world’s energy use, conserve natural resources and improve our quality of life. “ The experience could also lead the way in the aviation industry which has already begun serious research on the development of cleaner aircraft.
What is the prowess of Solar Impulse 2 ?
Born in the head of Bertrand Piccard in 1999, the project required the collaboration of 80 specialists and 90 partners. Including French Dassault Systèmes, which, says Piccard, “possessed all the necessary types of industries in the development of Solar Impulse 2″ . Never, until now, not a fossil fuel powered aircraft had been able to achieve such a feat. To do this, the unit of 1.5 tonnes, a pen with the wingspan of a Boeing 747 (72 meters), embarked on its two wings 17,248 photovoltaic cells, energy sources delivered to its four engines Power. Objective: fly day at an average speed of 80 km / h under the sun to store in batteries the energy needed for night flights. Problem to solve: if the solar star must show as generous as possible to feed the beast, even impose a sauna of 40 degrees to the pilot, the night in the cockpit can go down, according to altitude, to – 40 degrees. Hence the cover of the cabin by an insulating foam to mitigate extreme temperatures. Other companies have provided leading edge technologies. The Belgian chemist Solvay has developed electrolytes to increase the energy density of batteries, the film that protects the solar cells covering the wings of the aircraft and pilot clothes. ABB, the Swiss-Swedish group who practices in automation, drives provided energy savers. Omega, the Swiss watch company, developed the steering instrument that allowed to indicate the inclination of the plane. For its part, the French Altran is responsible for advanced autopilot when German chemist Bayer created the fuselage carbon fibers. Finally, the Swiss Lantal imagined the seat.
When will electric airplanes?
“In ten years, electric aircraft can carry fifty people,” prophesies Bertrand Piccard. The goal seems very ambitious. Currently, the aircraft in the most advanced electric propulsion is a small two-seater developed by the Airbus group. The E-Fan has crossed the Channel in thirty-seven minutes July 10, 2015, operating only with electric power. The plane traveled the 74 km that separated the English Lydd Town Calais-Dunkirk Airport. Built entirely of carbon fiber by the company ACS Charente, this model weighs 500 kg lighter, with a wingspan of 9.5 meters less than Solar Impulse, with a length of 7 meters. Two engines propel, and its lithium-polymer battery gives it a range of forty-five minutes, plus fifteen minute safety. Its speed far exceeds that of the Solar Impulse with peaks up to 220 km / h and a cruising speed of 160 km / h. The prototype of the E-Fan was presented for the first time in 2013 at the Paris Air Show. He then performed a hundred flights to his Channel crossing.
To develop its electric aircraft project, Airbus has created a dedicated subsidiary, VoltAir, in 2014. One of its main investments involves the construction of a factory for the assembly of the E-Fan near Pau-Pyrenees airport. The preparatory work should begin next year. This site will first build 10 to 15 aircraft per year, but Airbus hopes to reach an annual rate of 80 aircraft by 2025. Currently, the E-Fan is not made for transport passengers: besides its small size, autonomy does not allow him to travel more than 160 km. Airbus aims in the short term the flying clubs market: it will commercialize in 2017 its E-Fan 2.0 100% electric, with two seats for a training pilot and his instructor. After this training aircraft, Airbus dream of building fully electric models from 90 to 100 seats for the regional lines by thirty years. But it will take a huge technological leap to take off a device of this size by only the electricity fairy force.
Meanwhile, NASA conducts research on electric propulsion. In June, she presented her small plane Maxwell X-57, particularly quiet and economical with 14 electric motors. The two biggest, wingtip, serve to maintain a cruising speed of 280 km / h while the others are dedicated to take-off and landing. The use of small engines could help divide the power consumption of the device by five.
The middle is it in the hybrid engine?
It is likely as aeronautics, as the automotive industry, through the box of hybrid engines. Several actors working there. Airbus and Siemens have joined in April to set up a research group on hybrid propulsion: 200 people were mobilized to develop different systems with a capacity ranging from 100 kilowatts to over 10 megawatts
Siemens. already has a prototype engine. It flew for the first time at Paris in 2011, in a small two-seater propeller of the Austrian Diamond Aircraft with a hybrid drive system. The idea is to take off and land in electric mode, drawing energy in a battery developed by Airbus. During the cruise phase, the battery is recharged while the aircraft consumes its fuel. The two-seater needed only 70kW, but the challenge is to increase the power to apply technology to commercial flights.
The first hybrid project team Airbus-Siemens, the E-Fan 1.2, is being demonstrated this week at Oshkosh, the US, and it’s still a two-seater. But Airbus has up to four seats and four-hour flight in 2020. This kind of revolution would reduce emissions of CO 2 and reduce the noise of takeoffs and landings. But the motivations are also economical, not just related to fuel costs … “Imagine a silent electric landing, then the slots at airports could be extended” , says one Airbus to Voices . Tom Enders, president of the group, is 2030 for opening the hybrid market had 100 passengers.
At Boeing, also is working on hybrid engines for medium-lift, in the Sugar project NASA – subsonic Ultra Green aircraft research , is “looking for a subsonic aircraft ultravert”. One of the most advanced concepts is the Sugar Volt, which would have the build of a 737 but a much lower weight. Electric motors connected to the reactors come give them a hand on longer flights, whereas below 1 500 km, the aircraft could operate almost exclusively on battery power. Another track – the concept Sugar Freeze – is to use LNG. It’s cleaner, more efficient and less expensive … but more dangerous. An additional electric motor at the rear of the fuselage, would help to reduce drag (the force that opposes the movement of the aircraft).
Meanwhile these two major projects provided for in 2040, Boeing has flown a small hybrid car in the British sky, early 2015, with the assistance of the University of Cambridge. The combustion engine and electric motor work together for intensive phases energy at takeoff and landing, while the cruise phase allowed to drastically reduce fuel consumption by relying on electricity, or the rechargait batteries through the electric motor in generator mode. “Until recently, the batteries were too heavy and did not have enough capacity [to bring an aircraft], says project leader Paul Robertson. But with the improvement of lithium polymer batteries, such as those found in laptops, small hybrid aircraft are starting to become viable. “
No comments:
Post a Comment