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The paper describes a numerical study, supported by experiments, on light aircraft 2-Stroke Direct Injected Diesel engines, typically rated up to 110 kW (corresponding to about 150 imperial HP). The engines must be as light as possible and they are to be directly coupled to the propeller, without reduction drive. The ensuing main design constraints are: i) in-cylinder peak pressure as low as possible (typically, no more than 120 bar); ii) maximum rotational speed limited to 2600 rpm. As far as exhaust emissions are concerned, piston aircraft engines remain unregulated but lack of visible smoke is a customer requirement, so that a value of 1 is assumed as maximum Smoke number. For the reasons clarified in the paper, only three cylinder in line engines are investigated. Reference is made to two types of scavenging and combustion systems, designed by the authors with the assistance of state-of-the-art CFD tools and described in detail in a parallel paper.

Offering aircraft fuel efficiency improvements of 30 to 40% over the powerplants it will replace, PW2037 retrofit in the 727-200 Advanced and B-52 aircraft is attracting heightened interest. A comparison of PW2037 technical characteristics with current aircraft powerplants substantiates the improvement potential.The engine installation and modifications necessary for aircraft system compatibility do not impose significant increases in complexity or cost. The resultant improvements in aircraft capability (727 and B-52) and economic viability to airlines (7271 produce aircraft uniquely suited to today's operational requirements and constrained equipment budgets.

The 912 engine is a well known 4-cylinder horizontally opposed 4-stroke liquid-/air-cooled aircraft engine. The 912 family has a strong track record: 40 000 engines sold / 25 000 still in operation / 5 million flight hours annually. 88% of all light aircraft OEMs use Rotax engines. The 912iS is an evolution of the Rotax 912ULS carbureted engine. The “i” stands for electronic fuel injection which has been developed according to flight standards, providing a better fuel efficiency over the current 912ULS of more than 20% and in a range of 38% to 70% compared to other competitive engines in the light sport, ultra-light aircraft and the general aviation industry. BRP engineers have incorporated several technology enhancements. The fully redundant digital Engine Control Unit (ECU) offers a computer based electronic diagnostic system which makes it easier to diagnose and service the engine.

A hydrogen economy is an increasingly popular solution to lower global carbon dioxide emissions. Previous research has been focused on the economic conditions necessary for hydrogen to be cost competitive, which tends to neglect the effectiveness of greenhouse gas mitigation for the very solutions proposed. The holistic carbon footprint assessment of hydrogen production, distribution, and utilization methods, otherwise known as “well-to-wheels” carbon intensity, is critical to ensure the new hydrogen strategies proposed are effective in reducing global carbon emissions. When looking at these total carbon intensities, however, there is no single clear consensus regarding the pathway forward. When comparing the two fundamental technologies of steam methane reforming and electrolysis, there are different scenarios where either technology has a “greener” outcome.

In recent years, a tremendous interest has spawned towards adapting Lithium-Ion battery technology for aircraft applications. Lithium-Ion technology is already being used in some military aircraft (e.g., the F-22, F-35 and the B-2) and it has also been selected as original equipment for large commercial aircraft (e.g., the Airbus A380 and Boeing B787). The advantages of Lithium-Ion technology over Lead-Acid and Nickel-Cadmium technologies are higher specific energy (Wh/kg) and energy density (Wh/L), and longer cycle life. Saving weight is especially important in aircraft applications, because it can boost fuel economy and increase mission capability. Disadvantages of Lithium-Ion technology include higher initial cost, limited calendar/float life, inferior low temperature performance, and more severe safety hazards. This paper will present a direct comparison of a 24-Volt, 28Ah Lead-Acid and a 24-volt, 28Ah Lithium-Ion aircraft battery.

In this study, the authors concluded that a super energy-efficient vehicle (SEEV) with fuel economy more than 100km/liter could be possible with the present technology level. The new environmentally-compatible vehicle was designed to mitigate urban warming, air pollution and CO2 emissions in the urban area. The authors evaluated optimal specifications of the new concept energy-efficient electric vehicle (EV) equipped with flywheel and photovoltaic (PV) cell and also reported the results of the running simulations for the proposed vehicle. The proposed SEEV will be very promising to mitigate urban and global warming, and toconserve fossil fuel consumption.

This paper is a review of the literature covering the history of the use of lubricants. The uses of oils derived from animals, vegetables and minerals are placed in perspective from ancient times to the Wright Brothers' flight in 1903. After that period, the discussion is confined largely to the lubrication of aircraft piston engines. The paper attempts to explain the preference for castor oil in European and British engines and the more general, but by no means exclusive, use of petroleum-based mineral oils in the United States. The British Air Ministry, in 1929, reached a decision to abandon castor oil due to availability and cost of petroleum-based oils. The simultaneous U.S. Army Air Corps recognition of the advantages of the very flat viscosity-temperature curve of Pennsylvania oils for hot running engines and for cold starting led to the world-wide use of these lubricating oils.

The severe temperatures encountered in aircraft at speeds above Mach 3 have created a need for highly efficient use of the fuel supply on board the aircraft as a heat sink for the cooling system. Since the fuel temperature limitations and heat rejection characteristics of the present fixed displacement fuel pumps represent inefficiencies in the system, the use of higher efficiency variable displacement piston type fuel pumps is analyzed. The design of such a pump is shown to be practical and within the present state of the art. It is shown that the effect of the change on the fuel control system is moderate and requires no new or untried techniques.

A mean value based sizing and simulation model has been developed for use in the conceptual design and sizing of hydrogen fueled spark-ignition internal combustion engines (HICE) in the aerospace industry, here ‘mean value’ includes mean effective pressure (MEP), mean piston speed, mean specific power, etc. This model is developed since there is currently no such model readily available for this purpose. When sizing the HICE, statistical data and common practice for gasoline internal combustion engines (GICE) are used to obtain preliminary sizes of the HICE, such as total cylinder volume, bore and stroke; to capture the effect of low volumetric efficiency, the preliminary results are adjusted by a volumetric correction factor until the cycle parameters of HICE are reasonable. A non-dimensional combustion model with hydrogen as fuel is incorporated with existing GICE methods. With this combustion model, the high combustion temperature and high combustion pressure are captured.

A new all-metallic seal has been tested and produced by The B.F. Goodrich Co. This seal, which is adapted for rod or piston service, dynamic or static applications, has been operated successfully at temperatures from -65 to 560 F. The temperature range was limited only by the fluids used. The pressure test range extends to 35,000 psi, which is not a design limit. Break-out force can be adjusted with very low or no leakage of the fluids or gases. The concept is that of a blunt knife edge that forms the radial or axial edge of a flexible diaphragm.

The focus on driver and occupant safety as well as comfort is increasing rapidly while designing commercial vehicles in India. Improvements in the road network have enhanced road transport for commercial vehicles. Apart from the cost of operation and fuel economy, the commercial vehicles must deliver goods within stipulated time. These factors resulted in higher speed of operation for commercial vehicles. The design should not compromise the safety of the vehicle at these higher speeds of operation. The vehicle should obey the driver’s intended direction at all speeds and the response of the vehicle to driver input must be predictable without much larger surprises which can lead to accidents. The commercial vehicles are designed with rigid axle and RCB type steering system. This suspension and steering design combination introduce steering errors when vehicle travel over bump, braked and while cornering.

This paper characterizes the features and describes some of the benefits of the present generation of multigrade “MS” oils. Particular emphasis is placed upon viscosity retention characteristics as a function of the stability of the viscosity index improver. Comparative automobile field tests in private commuter, taxicab, and highway service are shown for both SAE 10W-30 and a carefully compounded SAE 10W-40 oil. Observations of cylinder and piston ring wear, crankcase deposits, PCV valve cleanliness, and oil economy are reported.

Bioregenerative systems for removal of gaseous contaminants are desired for long-term space missions to reduce the equivalent system mass of the air cleaning system. This paper describes an innovative design of a new biofiltration test lab for investigating the capability of biofiltration process for removal of ersatz multi-component gaseous streams representative of spacecraft contaminants released during long-term space travel. The lab setup allows a total of 24 bioreactors to receive identical inlet waste streams at stable contaminant concentrations via use of permeations ovens, needle valves, precision orifices, etc. A unique set of hardware including a Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectrometer, and a data acquisition and control system using LabVIEW™ software allows automatic, continuous, and real-time gas monitoring and data collection for the 24 bioreactors. This lab setup allows powerful factorial experimental design.

Accurate and fast positioning of large aircraft component is of great importance for Automated Alignment System. The Ball joint is a widely-used mechanical device connecting the aircraft component and positioners. However, there are some shortcomings for the device in man-machine engineering, such as the entry state of the ball-head still needs to be confirmed by the workers and then switched to the locking state manually. To solve above problems, a new positioning mechanism is present in this paper, which consists of a ball-head and a ball-socket. The new device is equipped with a monocular vision system, in which a calibrated industrial camera is used to collect the images of the ball-head. And then, the 3-D coordinate of the ball-head center is calculated by a designed algorithm, guiding the positioner to capture the ball-head. Once the ball-head gets into the ball-socket, the pneumatic system will drive the pistons to move to the specified location.

A newly-invented "X"-configuration engine utilizing the Scotch yoke mechanism renders potential for the best power/weight ratio of any piston engine. Due to its inherent space and weight efficiency, low stress levels on critical components and low bearing pressures, this new configuration can be designed for aircraft applications using high-pressure 4-stroke diesel cycle with large numbers of cylinders - as many as 24 or 32 cylinders - to minimize engine weight and cross-sectional area. Given the efficiency advantage of 4-stroke turbo-diesel cycle over turbine engines, a study reveals that diesel X-engines may be a preferable solution to turbine engines for airplanes, helicopters and UAVs up to approximately 60000 lbs max. weight @takeoff. Calculations using existing turbine-powered aircraft as a baseline indicate potential for 35 to 50% lower fuel consumption with no compromise to maximum takeoff weight, payload, range, cruise speed, maximum speed or takeoff power.

Forty-eight different flyover noise certification tests are analyzed using multiple linear regression methods. A prediction model is presented based on this analysis, and the results compared with the test data and two other Prediction methods. The aircraft analyzed include 30 single engine aircraft, 16 twin engine piston aircraft, and two twin engine turboprops. The importance of helical tip Mach number is verified and the relationship of several other aircraft, engine, and propeller parameters is developed. The model shows good agreement with the test data and is at least as accurate as the other prediction methods. It has the advantage of being somewhat easier to use since it is in the form of a single equation.

The crankcase-scavenged two-stroke-cycle engine is preferred in cases where low weight and high power output are paramount requirements. These qualities are most important in small pilotless aircraft. It was found that the main problem in the use of two-stroke cycle engines for this purpose, is a sharp decrease in the engine power with the increase in altitude. This is attributed not only to the low density of the ambient air, but also to the deterioration of the efficiency of the gas exchange process. In order to improve the engine performance at high altitude, it is proposed here to employ a stepped-piston engine. The engine is constructed of a stepped piston and a single stepped cylinder thus forming three compartments; a power, a compression and a crankcase compartment. In this arrangement, the fresh charge is compressed in the compression compartment before it enters the crankcase compartment.

The Sabatier reactor is an exothermic, heterogeneous catalytic reactor that has the function of reducing carbon dioxide to methane and water vapor. Sabatier reactor operation is affected by gravity through the effects of buoyant forces. The buoyant forces affect the transfer of heat and can be significant in determining the temperatures of the various portions of the reactor. The temperatures then affect the fundamental processes such as the chemical reaction rate. This paper presents the results of zero “G” computer model simulations of Sabatier reactor operation. Groundbase experiments were made for various manned loadings under normal ambient and gravity (l-G) conditions and were correlated with normal gravity simulations. The zero “G” simulations show the reactor will run significantly hotter in a zero “G” environment if cooling air flow is not increased to compensate for the loss of natural convections.

The kinetics of the Sabatier methanation reaction, the reduction of carbon dioxide with hydrogen to methane and water, was investigated for 58 percent nickel on kieselguhr catalyst and 20 percent ruthenium on alumina catalyst. Differential rate data from an experimental program were correlated with a power function rate equation both for forward and reverse reactions. The kinetic parameters of activation energy, frequency rate constant and reaction order were determined for the rate equation. The values of these parameters were obtained from an Arrhenius plot of the experimental differential rate data. Also the carbon monoxide side reaction effect was measured and included in the correlation of parameters. The reaction was found to fit the rate equation experimentally within the temperature range 421°K, where the reaction effectively begins, to 800°K where the reaction rate drops and departs from the rate equation form.