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"Asset Managed Parts help our environment by saving energy and natural resources."
www.hobsonindustries.co.uk
30 Oct 08. Northrop Grumman Corporation has completed manufacturing and integrating a spacecraft engine that runs on the "green" or non-toxic propellants of liquid oxygen and liquid methane for possible use on NASA human exploration missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond. The company's TR408 second-generation, oxygen-methane 100 pound-force reaction control engine (RCE) was designed for the Propulsion and Cryogenics Advanced Development Project within NASA's Exploration Technology Development Program, and features robust operation over widely variable propellant conditions. Propulsion systems using engines like the TR408 may have the potential to use green propellants that are produced from lunar or Martian soil.
24 Nov 08. Boeing announced that its Huntsville site has earned International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001 certification, a global benchmark of an organization's commitment to understand and continuously improve its environmental performance. Boeing is working to have all of its major manufacturing facilities certified to the ISO 14001 standard by the end of 2008.
Independent auditors from Det Norske Veritas, an accredited certification body
of quality, environmental and safety management systems, audited the Missile
Defense Systems site Sept. 30-Oct. 3 to ensure an established environmental-management system exists and that employees understand their roles in protecting the environment. The auditors commended the site for its communications, community outreach and conservation efforts, as well
18 Nov 08. Today’s signature of Clean Sky’s first Grant Agreements provides a sound framework for a new way of performing research through Public Private Partnerships. Clean Sky will accelerate the introduction of new, radically greener technologies in future generations of aircraft. The first Grant Agreement of the Clean Sky JTI (Joint Technology Initiative) has been signed today and celebrated at the European Aviation Summit in Bordeaux, by the JTI’s twelve leaders (AgustaWestland, Airbus, AleniaAeronautica, Dassault Aviation, EADS Casa, Eurocopter, Fraunhofer Gesellschaft, Liebherr, Rolls-Royce, SAAB, Safran and Thales) and the European Commission. “In 2008, major steps have been completed with Clean Sky’s official launch in February, the setting up of the Governing Board in May, the start of activities in June and now the finalisation of the contractual framework. We are on track to bring the programme fully up to speed and to achieve the ambitious objectives of Clean Sky” said Marc Ventre, Chairman of the Clean Sky Governing Board, and CEO of the Aerospace Propulsion Division of SAFRAN. Clean Sky is one of the largest European research programmes ever, with a budget estimated at €1.6bn over seven years, contributed equally by the European Commission and industry. Clean Sky will be a major contributor to meet by 2020 the environmental goals set by ACARE (Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in Europe): 50% reduction of CO2 emissions, 80% reduction of NOx emissions (Nitrogen Oxides), 50% reduction of external noise and a green product life cycle.
18 Nov 08. Ricardo today announced the launch of WAVE-RT, the first version of Ricardo's leading engine simulation product specifically designed to enable highly accurate real-time simulation to become an embedded part of the engine management system development process. With wave propagation effects fully captured, the transient response of the model is much closer to that of the real engine than would be the case with mean-value engine models typically used to date for this application. WAVE-RT thus enables validation of strategies to perform close control of engine performance during transients, and the accuracy of its airflow simulation allows development of concepts such as variable valve timing and lift control including more unusual examples such as negative overlap for controlled auto-ignition or for camless engine control. The fact that individual cylinders are separately represented also enables the development and validation of complex control strategies such as closed-loop combustion control, fully accounting for variations between cylinders arising from the different air paths and hence key associated variables such as air mass and residuals or exhaust temperature. Because the WAVE-RT model is automatically generated from an existing high resolution and previously validated donor WAVE engine model, there is very little calibration needed to produce the real-time model. The physical nature of the model means that engine faults are immediately transparent, allowing more rapid and thorough testing of on-board diagnostics and potentially enabling its use as an air-flow estimator for next-generation model-based control strategies. The key CAE process benefit compared to previous methods is the automatic conversion from a WAVE model to real-time format using WaveBuild. This is inherently quicker and more repeatable than creating a large multi-dimensional map or indeed, any other interpretive process. Additionally, if the design of the engine changes in a fundamental way, the new model can be created from the engine design model at the click of a button. Repetition of 1D
simulations or test-bed experiments is not required, and the effort required to calibrate the model is effectively removed. The speed of model generation also enables the development of control strategies to begin at a much earlier stage in an engine development programme and protects against delays arising due to design changes. Engine models tend to evolve during development programmes and at each iteration it is an advantage to be able to produce an accurate real-time model. Quality assurance and traceability is also improved as a single high fidelity WAVE model is used as the basis of both initial simulation work and HiL testing. (Source: Technology4Media.com)
Oct 08. International unveils DuraStar Hybrid tractor. Canada's CCJ reports that Navistar just unveiled another hybrid truck, the International DuraStar Hybrid tractor. The firm says the diesel-electric Class 7 truck aims at general hauliers and food and drink distribution and could deliver 20 to 25% fuel savings on standard urban work. "Hybrid trucks are the next step in providing expanded fuel-efficiency options for customers as they face the new realities of high diesel costs and tough economic conditions," says Steve Guillaume, general manager of Navistar's medium truck group. The new truck uses a parallel-type diesel-electric hybrid system from Eaton Corp. This has an electric motor/generator between the output of an automated clutch and input of the automated manual transmission.(Source: Transport News Brief)
14 Oct 08. As part of Airbus’ on-going, extensive research and development into future technology options, Airbus and Pratt & Whitney (P&W) have commenced a series of flight tests to evaluate the ‘PurePower’ PW1000G technology demonstrator engine which features P&W’s patented ‘Geared Turbofan’ (GTF) architecture. The tests are being performed at Airbus’ flight test facility using Airbus’ own A340 flight test aircraft and will run until the end of the year. Airbus is working with all major engine manufacturers and will conduct similar tests with them in the coming years. Moreover, through such tests, Airbus will obtain data to validate the fuel burn and CO2 emissions that could be achieved with each new engine technology. The dedicated company-owned A340-600 testbed aircraft based in Toulouse, which has been extensively used for various technology evaluations, is already equipped with a full set of flight test instrumentation, and since Airbus has full understanding of the aircraft’s aerodynamic performance, it can easily assess the benefits of new technologies when integrated into the airframe.
07 Oct 08. Today sees the start of the technical activities on the new technologies for the passengers transport aircraft of the future: the Green Regional Aircraft, a project led by Alenia Aeronautica, a Finmeccanica company. In Caserta, on the 7th and the 8th of October, representatives from the programme partners: industries, research centres - about 25 – attend an international meeting, organised by Alenia Aeronautica, on planning methodologies and procedures, times, deadlines and budget of the innovative project. The new eco-compatible regional aircraft could enter into service before 2020, while flight tests will begin in 2013. Six technological platforms are part of the largest and most ambitious European research programme ever financed within the aerospace field, the Clean Sky JTI (Joint Technology Initiative), and Alenia Aeronautica leads the regional ecological aircraft programme – the Green Regional Aircraft - with EADS CASA as co-leader. The Clean Sky JTI programme, launched in February 2008 in Brussels and included in the 7th Frame Programme of the European Union, will last 7 years and will have a total value of €1.6bn, while the Green Regional Aircraft has a value of €174m, equal to 11% of the whole research programme.
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