CLEANSKY green rotorcraft noise and emissions benefits – Maximizing the impact of new technologies

Abstract

This paper describes the work done by the Green Rotorcraft (GRC) Integrated Technology Demonstrator (ITD), the Sustainable And Green Engine (SAGE) ITD and the Technology Evaluator (TE) of the CleanSky Joint Technology Initiative (JTI). The GRC and SAGE ITD's are responsible for developing new (rotorcraft) technologies, whilst the TE has the distinctive role of assessing the environmental impact of these technologies at single flight (mission), airport and Air Transport System levels (ATS). Besides the trade-off work already performed by each individual GRC subproject (GRCi), a need has emerged to perform trade-off studies for the complete rotorcraft with various technologies applied to the generic rotorcraft classes. The assessments reported here have been performed by using a GRC-developed multidisciplinary simulation framework called PhoeniX that comprises various computational modules. These modules include a rotorcraft performance code (EUROPA), an engine performance and emissions simulation tool (GSP or Turbomeca engine deck) and a noise prediction code (HELENA). PhoeniX can predict the performance of a rotorcraft along a prescribed 4D trajectory offering a complete helicopter mission analysis. Two helicopter classes have been examined, being a Single Engine Light (SEL) configuration for passenger transport missions and a Twin Engine Heavy (TEH) configuration for Oil & Gas missions. The results of this study illustrate the potential that incorporated technologies possess in terms of improving such performance metrics as fuel burn, and CO2 and NOx emissions.