The A380 was one of the first commercial aircraft to use more electric systems. Photo: Getty Images
Commercial aircraft have historically relied on hydraulic and pneumatic systems to provide many essential functions. But using bleed air to drive these systems comes at a cost of efficiency.
Replacing such systems with electric alternatives can drive down fuel burn, while also boosting the reliability of the part.
Simple Flying caught up with the leading supplier of More Electric systems, Collins Aerospace, to find out more.
Historically, many functions of an aircraft rely on bleed air to provide the power they need. Things like environmental control systems, wing deicing systems and flight control surfaces usually rely on hydraulics or pneumatics that are powered by bleed air. It makes sense – it’s hot, it’s already compressed, and it’s readily available.
However, systems that divert high-speed air from the engines rob conventional airplanes of some thrust and increase the engine’s fuel consumption. Collins Aerospace is leading the way in replacing many of these systems with electric alternatives, a project known as ‘More Electric.’
Simple Flying spoke with Todd Spierling, Senior Technical Fellow at Collins, to find out more about the benefits of switching to more electric systems. He said,
“Today, compressed air is the single largest secondary load on an aircraft. 90%+ of fuel is used to actually move the airplane, but around 6% of fuel is used to provide these services. And the creation of compressed air is one of the biggest draws of that. Compressed air is a convenient source, but it’s not terribly efficient. By going from pneumatics to electricity, we’re able to increase the efficiency of that portion of the aircraft’s fuel usage.
“About 6% of the fuel that you use or 6% of the carbon that you emit is due to these secondary systems. If we can implement more electric and cut that usage in half, if we could get 2 – 3% fuel burn savings by this implementation, that’s millions of gallons of jet fuel saved and tens of millions of tonnes of carbon emissions reduced every year.” Simple Flying - link - Joanna Bailey - link - more like this - link
“Today, compressed air is the single largest secondary load on an aircraft. 90%+ of fuel is used to actually move the airplane, but around 6% of fuel is used to provide these services. And the creation of compressed air is one of the biggest draws of that. Compressed air is a convenient source, but it’s not terribly efficient. By going from pneumatics to electricity, we’re able to increase the efficiency of that portion of the aircraft’s fuel usage.
“About 6% of the fuel that you use or 6% of the carbon that you emit is due to these secondary systems. If we can implement more electric and cut that usage in half, if we could get 2 – 3% fuel burn savings by this implementation, that’s millions of gallons of jet fuel saved and tens of millions of tonnes of carbon emissions reduced every year.” Simple Flying - link - Joanna Bailey - link - more like this - link
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