Rotorhub
PARIS 2009: A Bluecopter with 'green' ambitions
EADS and Eurocopter have used the Paris Air Show to reveal their ideas for 'greener' rotary wing flight.
Sitting in the static park at Le Bourget is an ungainly-looking little aircraft, but appearances are deceptive.?
Whilst the outside is merely a shell, the inside is packed with current 'off the shelf' turbodiesel engine technology that could potentially if made flight operable and light enough could reduce fuel consumption by 30-40% and deliver similar savings in CO2 emissions.?
NO and NO2 emissions could be cut by as much as 50%.
Johannes Stuhlberger, Head of Global Innovation Power and Flight - Propulsion, Energy and Control at EADS told Rotorhub.com said: "This is our idea of the helicopter of the future, but this radial configuration we see on the mock-up is too heavy to be safely used in a helicopter."
The engine on the Bluecopter, a Mercedes-Benz V6 turbodiesel is fully operational and can be adapted to run on a range of fuels and not just diesel. With this in mind, Stuhlberger believes that the technology in turbodiesels will improve to the point where they they could become as light as small turbines.
Also helping to improve the emissions from the engine are an Oxidising catalytic converter to reduce the carbon monoxide and unburned hydrocarbons. A particulate filter and a second, selective catalytic convertor which helps to eliminate remaining nitrogen oxides by turning them in naturally occuring nitrogen and water vapour.
The company says the environmental impact will be further reduced through effective recycling at the aircraft's end of life.
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