Electrically powered nose wheel saves kerosene

At Frankfurt Airport alone, this practice leads to the consumption of around 44 tons of kerosene a day. In collaboration with Airbus and Lufthansa Technik AG, the DLR’s Institute of Technical Thermodynamics in Stuttgart, Germany, has developed an electrically powered nose wheel that could help save this fuel. In an initial taxiing test at Hamburg Airport in June 2011, an Airbus A320 equipped with a fuel-cell powered electric nose wheel successfully demonstrated the feasibility of the drive system. Lower levels of fuel consumption, noise and air pollution from exhaust gases are the main advantages of the power ful electric motor combined with the fuel cell system. “There is tremendous interest in our technology and we’re surprised at how quickly the idea has caught on,” says DLR project manager Dr. Josef Kallo, who expects an electrically powered nose wheel to be introduced within fi ve to seven years. Initially the nose wheel is likely to be powered by an on-board kerosenefueled generator, the auxiliary power unit (APU), but later it could also be driven by a fuel cell, which generates electricity from hydrogen. In addition to saving expensive fuel, airlines could reap other advantages from this technology. Since it would enable pilots to turn off their engines more quickly after landing, engine operation time could be reduced by 900 hours per year, which would allow maintenance intervals to be extended. If on-board power could be obtained from fuel cells, the water resulting from hydrogen conversion could be fed into the on-board tank. Less water would have to be pumped into the tank on the ground and the takeoff weight of the jet could be reduced, bringing additional fuel savings.

DLR/red.