On the Transition to Green Aviation

Abstract

To solve the problem of harmful emissions into the atmosphere, the principles of “green aviation” have been developed, which are based on optimizing flight schedules, changing the aircraft design, using lightweight composite materials, changing the engine operation principle and design, and the fuel used. The staff of the National Research Center Zhukovsky Institute, working jointly with other institutes, develops the principles of “green aviation”. Over the past few years, specialists of the Zhukovsky Institute have developed a number of powerful switching voltage converters as part of power plants for electric and hybrid aircrafts, in particular, for charging aircraft on-board storage batteries. Owing to the use of modern solid-state electronic components and an ergonomic design, the power plant specific capacity has been brought to a level from units to tens of kW/kg. In the field of low-temperature plasma physics, work is also underway on electrohydrodynamic flow control systems for aircraft, which is of primary importance for increasing aerodynamic and energy efficiency, thus helping solve the environmental problem of reducing harmful emissions, including carbon and nitrogen oxides, and achieve significant fuel saving.