Drag reduction, weight reduction, emission reduction and noise reduction, China's C929 large wide-body aircraft wants to be a "green aircraft"

The green development of the manufacturing industry is the top priority in the construction of a modern industrial system, and civil aviation is no exception. Recently, the reporter learned from the 2024 Zhongguancun Forum Annual Meeting that COMAC has put forward the concept of "green commercial aviation", looking forward to developing green aircraft through technological innovation, building a green home through technological transformation, and building a green industrial chain through technical cooperation.

According to public data, the air transport industry accounts for 2% of the world's carbon emissions so far, and the industrial industry accounts for 24% of the world's carbon emissions. As early as 2016, ICAO proposed a corresponding plan to reduce carbon emissions, hoping that aircraft carriers would achieve carbon reduction targets by purchasing emission units from the global carbon market. The European Union has also proposed a "clean sky" plan to reduce emissions.

In aerospace manufacturing, Boeing plans to achieve near-zero emissions in its manufacturing and industrial base by 2030, and Airbus plans to use sustainable fuels for its engines by 2030 and near-zero emissions by 2050. "COMAC has also carried out innovative practices in green development. Shen Weiguo, counselor of the Shanghai Municipal Government and chief expert of Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, said that "green commercial aircraft" is striving to achieve "green aircraft" on the C929 large wide-body aircraft through "three reductions and one reduction".

Shen Weiguo introduced that the "three reductions" are to reduce resistance, reduce weight and reduce emissions, and the "one reduction" is noise reduction.

Drag reduction is the use of new design technologies, such as a new generation of supercritical wings, new shark fin winglets, etc., to make the aircraft flight performance better, less drag, thereby reducing carbon emissions.

Weight reduction is the use of lightweight new materials and innovative structural design to reduce aircraft weight and carbon emissions. According to COMAC's plan, the proportion of composite materials for C929 large wide-body aircraft will reach about 51%.

Emissions reductions are mainly driven by engines. "In the future, commercial aircraft will choose a new generation of high-efficiency engines with large bypass ratios, or new energy engines to reduce carbon emissions. Shen Weiguo revealed.

Noise reduction is to reduce noise and improve the cabin environment by optimizing the design and using better sound-absorbing and sound-insulating materials.

Shen Weiguo said that in addition to aircraft design, COMAC is also implementing green concepts in aircraft manufacturing. That is, carbon reduction and pollution reduction are achieved through seven professional green layouts, including green thermal process, green cold process, green composite materials, green assembly process, green integrated testing, green process materials, and additive manufacturing process. For example, the boron sulfuric acid anodizing process is used to replace the primary chromic acid anodizing process to reduce the discharge of chromic acid waste liquid, and the parts and products are polished and painted through the automatic coating production line to achieve high efficiency, carbon reduction and environmental protection.

COMAC also attaches great importance to the construction of green homes and green supply chains. For example, we will actively deploy green energy construction, successively carry out distributed photovoltaic power generation projects to improve the utilization rate of green energy, upgrade and technological innovation of inefficient, high-consumption and polluting equipment, and select suppliers through "green supply chain evaluation indicators".

"We hope that through our efforts, the planes we take will become safer, more economical, more comfortable and more environmentally friendly. Shen Weiguo said.