The future of supersonic transport
Royce – Hiduminium RR58. 45 During supersonic flying, the air pressure and the friction between air particles and the surface of the aircraft creates a large amount of heat. The tip of the Concorde could get as hot as 153°C during flight, 46 and this causes the metal to stretch by 5-12 inches. 47 The constant stretching and constricting of the metal could cause material fatigue, and this also increases the maintenance costs. Carbon fibre composite does not only solve this problem as it is more heat-resistant, but it could also lower operational costs as the density is two times less than that of metal. 48 It is certain that modern-day supersonic aircraft will be significantly lighter than models from the 20 th century.
Sustainability & environmental impact
As the world is more conscious about climate change than ever before, and with goals for the aviation industry to go fully ‘net zero’ in carbon emission by 2050, 49 aircraft manufacturers pay a lot of attention to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. While Airbus and Boeing are working on hydrogen-powered aircraft, 50 it is quite certain that supersonic aircraft will remain operating with jet fuel. However, Boom Technology has promised that their aircraft will be using 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). 51 SAF can be produced from waste oil, agricultural waste, biofuel such as those made from algae, and direct air capture to combing the carbon in CO 2 with hydrogen to form hydrocarbon fuel. Currently, if airlines were to use SAF as their jet fuel, the maximum blend with regular Jet A1 fuel is 50/50 to ensure aircraft could operate safely without any technical modifications to aircraft, 52 since SAF and Jet A1 fuel have different chemical and physical properties. In order to make SAF more identical to conventional jet fuels, chemicals like aromatics can be added to SAF, 53 but aromatics could cause damage to the environment, while the production of aromatics might produce even more greenhouse gas and waste. The fact that Boom is designing a brand-new aircraft means they could design brand new engine components which are capable of handling SAF. Boom’s commitment to using 100% SAF on their supersonic aircraft is indeed very promising, and this could potentially encourage more airlines to be using SAF, and airports to provide SAF infrastructure in the near future.
45 ‘ Airframe production materials, ’ Heritage Concorde, accessed August 23, 2022, https://www.heritageconcorde.com/airframe-materials.
46 ‘ Concorde History III, ’ aerospaceweb.org, accessed August 23, 2022, http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/planes/q0199a.shtml. 47 Ibid. 48 Dexcraft, ‘ Aluminium vs carbon fiber – comparison of materials, ’ Dexcraft , October 7, 2015, http://www.dexcraft.com/articles/carbon-fiber-composites/aluminium-vs-carbon-fiber-comparison-of- materials/. 49 ‘ Our Commitment to Fly Net Zero by 2050, ’ IATA, accessed August 23, 2022, https://www.iata.org/en/programs/environment/flynetzero/. 50 E & T Editorial Staff, ‘ Airbus and Boeing to embrace hydrogen from mid-2030s, ’ E&T Engineering and Technology , December 2, 2021, https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2021/12/airbus-and-boeing-to- embrace-hydrogen-from-mid-2030s/. 51 Kimberly Chin, ‘Boom Says Its Supersonic Jet Will Be Green Too. Not Everybody’s Co nvinced., ’ Wall Street Journal, June 30, 2021, https://www.wsj.com/articles/boom-says-its-supersonic-jet-will-be-green-too-not- everybodys-convinced-11625047200. 52 ‘Beginner’s Guide to Sustainable Aviation Fuel,’ Aviation Benefits Beyond Borders, accessed August 23, 2022, https://aviationbenefits.org/media/166152/beginners-guide-to-saf_web.pdf. 53 BBC Reel, ‘ Will supersonic air travel make a comeback? – BBC REEL, ’ May 11, 2022, video, 10:56, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DL9XI-av7As .
321
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs