AVIATOR - Assessing aViation emission Impact on local Air quality at airports: TOwards Regulation

Abstract

Emissions from aircraft have adverse effects on the air quality in and around airports, contributing to public health concerns within neighbouring communities. AVIATOR will adopt a multi-level measurement, modelling and assessment approach to develop an improved description and quantification of the relevant aircraft engine emissions, and their impact on air quality under different climatic conditions. Particulate and gaseous emissions in a test cell and on-wing from an in-service aircraft will be measured to determine pollutant plume evolution from the engine and APU exhaust. This will provide an enhanced understanding of primary emitted pollutants, specifically the nvPM and vPM (down to 10nm), and the scalability between the regulatory test cell and real environments. AVIATOR will develop and deploy a proof-of-concept low cost sensor network for monitoring UFP, PM and gaseous species across multiple airports and surrounding communities. Campaigns will be complemented by high-fidelity modelling of aircraft exhaust dynamics, microphysical and chemical processes within the plume. CFD, box, and airport air quality models will be applied, providing validated parameterisations of the relevant processes, applicable to standard dispersion modelling on the local scale. Working with the regulatory community, AVIATOR will develop improved guidance on measuring and modelling the impact of aircraft emissions, and will provide airports and regulators with tools and guidance to improve the assessment of air quality in and around airports.

Performance and Emissions of a Microturbine and Turbofan Powered by Alternative Fuels

“…After many years, the introduction of new rules for the certification of aircraft engines by ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) began, which is associated with the use of a new measurement methodology, which has been proposed in publications over the past years [6]. Recent research efforts [7] are aimed at measuring gaseous and particulate emissions under real conditions and better understanding their toxicity and impact on health [8][9][10].…”

Reduction of Nonvolatile Particulate Matter Emissions of a Commercial Turbofan Engine at the Ground Level from the Use of a Sustainable Aviation Fuel Blend

“…As the local air quality impacts of aviation’s ultrafine PM emissions have become a growing concern, the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (ICAO CAEP) initiated a regulatory standard for nvPM emissions. ,− All in-production engines with rated thrust F oo greater than 26.7 kN have to comply with the limit for the maximum nvPM mass concentration in the exhaust (CAEP/10 nvPM standard) and the limits for the nvPM mass and nvPM number emitted during the standard landing and take-off (LTO) cycle normalized by F oo (CAEP/11 nvPM standard). ,, Although the nvPM certification requirement is in force, there are ongoing efforts to improve the measurement methodology and address uncertainty and variability sources. For example, the EU-funded projects AVIATOR and RAPTOR aim to quantify measurement uncertainties and variability due to instruments’ calibration drift, particle losses in the sampling systems, ambient conditions, and fuel composition. , Despite numerous studies performed with SAFs, there is limited data acquired with standardized nvPM sampling and measurement systems for large commercial turbofan engines. Such data are necessary to develop a robust fuel composition effect model for nvPM certification and predict the impacts on local air quality.…”

Characterization of Particle Emissions from a DGEN 380 Small Turbofan Fueled with ATJ Blends

“…Regulatory limits for mass and number-based nvPM emissions will become applicable from 2023 [13]. Several projects have been developed focusing on particulate matter from aircraft engines, e.g., Research of Aviation PM Technologies, mOdelling and Regulation (RAPTOR) [14]; and AVIATOR-Assessing aViation emission Impact on local Air quality at airports: Towards Regulation [15]. RAPTOR focuses on, i.e., providing enhanced insights into PM including the ultrafine PM (UFP) component within aircraft exhaust emissions [14].…”

“…RAPTOR focuses on, i.e., providing enhanced insights into PM including the ultrafine PM (UFP) component within aircraft exhaust emissions [14]. In turn, one of the goals of the AVIATOR is to measure emission from aircraft engine fueled with alternative fuel to find its impact on particulate matter formation in the plume but also locally, in the airport environment [15].…”