Exergetic sustainability assessment of a HALE UAV using dodecene fuel

Abstract

Exergetic sustainability performances of a high altitude long endurance (HALE) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), having a single turbofan engine and using dodecene as its fuel were investigated all along its flight profile, taking place in between 0-16 km altitudes. The maximum instant exergy efficiency was obtained as ∼31.30% at the beginning of level flight; the maximum cumulative exergy efficiency was obtained as ∼27.58% at ∼30.5 h of flight; the maximum instant environmental effect factor was obtained as 138.12 at the beginning of take-off run; the minimum cumulative environmental effect factor was obtained between ∼25 h and ∼32 h as 1.17; the maximum instant exergetic sustainability index was obtained at the beginning of level flight as 1.015 and the maximum cumulative exergetic sustainability index was obtained as ∼0.855 in between ∼25 h and ∼27 h of flight.