Abstract
Accurate estimation of the fuel consumed during aircraft operation is key for determining the fuel load, reducing the airline operating cost, and mitigating environmental impacts. Aerodynamic parameters in current fuel consumption models are obtained from a static diagram extracted from the outcomes of wind tunnel experiments. Given that these experiments are performed in a lab setting, the parameters cannot be used to estimate additional fuel consumption caused by aircraft performance degradation. In addition, wind tunnel experiment results rarely involve the influence of crosswind on fuel consumption; thus, the results could be inaccurate when compared with field data. This study focuses on the departure climbing phase of aircraft operation and proposes a new fuel consumption model. In this model, the relationships between aerodynamic parameters are extracted by fitting quick access recorder (QAR) actual flight data, and the crosswind effect is also considered. Taking QAR data from two airports in China, the accuracy of the proposed model and its transferability are demonstrated. Applying the proposed model, the fuel saving of a continuous climb operation (CCO) compared with the traditional climb operation is further quantified. Finally, how aircraft mass, climbing angle, and different aircraft models could affect the fuel consumption of the climbing phase of aircraft operation is investigated. The proposed fuel consumption model fills gaps in the existing literature, and the method can be used for developing specific fuel consumption models for more aircraft types at other airports.
Highlights
With the continuous rapid growth of the airline industry, the air traffic volume will double in the 15 years [1]
Observing the gaps in the existing literature, this study focuses on the climbing phase of aircraft operation, uses true quick access recorder (QAR) operation data to reveal the relationships between aerodynamic parameters, and applies the outcomes to a fuel consumption model
The following experiment was designed to conduct a comparative analysis of past methods with the fitting method of actual QAR data proposed in this study: (1) on the basis of the Base of Aircraft Data (BADA)-based fuel consumption model in the climbing phase, drag and lift coefficients among aerodynamic parameters were acquired through the static diagram relation obtained by a wind tunnel experiment (Figure 6)
Summary
With the continuous rapid growth of the airline industry, the air traffic volume will double in the 15 years [1]. Burzlaff [12] and Pagoni and Psaraki-Kalouptsidi [13] calculated aircraft fuel consumption during flight operation on the basis of an aircraft performance model in the BADA database; in their studies, relationships between aerodynamic parameters were acquired from static diagrams obtained through wind tunnel experiments. The study used historical QAR flight data to establish the neural network model and incorporated the flight altitude and true airspeed into the model; it disregarded the influences of meteorological factors and aircraft performance on fuel consumption. The modeling method based on the principle of energy conservation does not consider the effect of aircraft performance degradation on fuel consumption and the influence of meteorological factors such as crosswind. Observing the gaps in the existing literature, this study focuses on the climbing phase of aircraft operation, uses true QAR operation data to reveal the relationships between aerodynamic parameters, and applies the outcomes to a fuel consumption model.
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