Reducing aviation's impact on climate change - understanding effects of fuel and engine characteristics on formation of contrails

减少航空对气候变化的影响 - 了解燃料和发动机特性对凝结尾迹形成的影响

• 批准号: 570573-2021
• 负责人: Gulder, OmerOL
• 金额: $ 33.8万
• 依托单位: University of Toronto
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Alliance Grants
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=743256
• 关键词: Reducing; aviation; impact; climate; change

Contributions to climate forcing (due to contrails and carbon dioxide) will be the main drivers that will shape the future of the aviation. Currently, there seems to be no viable prime mover that will replace the gas turbine as the preferred engine for the medium to long range commercial aircraft. It is most likely that for the foreseeable future these engines will be fueled by liquid hydrocarbons obtained from sustainable sources, i.e., sustainable aviation fuels. Contrail formation is a result of the soot aerosol in the engine exhaust acting as the nuclei to form ice particles. The current understanding is that the soot aerosols, any aqueous aerosols formed in the exhaust, and the ambient aerosols entrained into the plume act as nuclei to form ice crystals when water vapour in the plume becomes supersaturated because of the plume mixing with ambient cold air and cooling rapidly. The details of these processes involved in contrail formation are not known well, and there exist several knowledge gaps. The uncertainty associated with modelling its radiative forcing is very high due to a lack understanding nucleation of ice particles. Understanding these processes at a level that physical descriptions leading to realistic models is essential to simulate the aircraft induced contrail properties to predict their behaviour. The proposed project aims to contribute to the advancement of knowledge in contrail formation by addressing the knowledge gaps by means of a combined experimental and modelling effort supported by theoretical development of ice nucleation and growth. The deliverables of this research program will be a better physical description and improved models of contrail formation that can be used in contrail radiation forcing simulations decreasing the uncertainties in climate modelling. Results will help the Canadian gas turbine engine manufacturers to predict the impacts of engine exhaust and contrails on the environment and facilitate the decision-making and strategies for the potential of future aviation technologies such as hybrid electric, hydrogen, and sustainable aviation fuels aircraft.

对气候强迫的贡献（由于尾迹和二氧化碳）将是塑造航空业未来的主要驱动因素。目前，似乎没有可行的原动机，将取代燃气轮机作为首选的发动机为中远程商用飞机。在可预见的未来，这些发动机极有可能使用从可持续来源获得的液态碳氢化合物，即可持续航空燃料。尾迹的形成是由于发动机排气中的烟尘气溶胶作为核形成冰粒的结果。目前的理解是，烟灰气溶胶，任何在排气中形成的含水气溶胶，以及被带入烟柱的环境气溶胶，当烟柱中的水蒸气由于烟柱与周围的冷空气混合并迅速冷却而变得过饱和时，烟柱中的水蒸气就会作为核形成冰晶。这些过程的细节涉及到尾迹的形成还不是很清楚，存在一些知识空白。由于缺乏对冰粒成核的了解，与模拟其辐射强迫有关的不确定性非常高。理解这些过程的水平，物理描述导致现实的模型是必不可少的模拟飞机诱导的轨迹特性，以预测他们的行为。拟议的项目旨在通过在冰成核和生长理论发展的支持下，通过结合实验和建模努力来解决知识差距，从而促进对尾迹形成知识的进步。这个研究项目的成果将是一个更好的物理描述和改进的尾迹形成模型，可以用于尾迹辐射强迫模拟，减少气候模型的不确定性。研究结果将帮助加拿大燃气涡轮发动机制造商预测发动机尾气和尾迹对环境的影响，并促进未来航空技术（如混合动力、氢和可持续航空燃料飞机）潜力的决策和战略。