Fuel Consumption Model of the Climbing Phase of Departure Aircraft Based on Flight Data Analysis

Ming Zhang, Qianwen Huang, Sihan Liu and Yu Zhang
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Ming Zhang: College of Civil Aviation, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China
Qianwen Huang: College of Civil Aviation, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China
Sihan Liu: College of Civil Aviation, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China
Yu Zhang: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620, USA

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 16, 1-23

Abstract: Accurate estimation of the fuel consumed during aircraft operation is key for determining the fuel load, reducing the airline operating cost, and mitigating environmental impacts. Aerodynamic parameters in current fuel consumption models are obtained from a static diagram extracted from the outcomes of wind tunnel experiments. Given that these experiments are performed in a lab setting, the parameters cannot be used to estimate additional fuel consumption caused by aircraft performance degradation. In addition, wind tunnel experiment results rarely involve the influence of crosswind on fuel consumption; thus, the results could be inaccurate when compared with field data. This study focuses on the departure climbing phase of aircraft operation and proposes a new fuel consumption model. In this model, the relationships between aerodynamic parameters are extracted by fitting quick access recorder (QAR) actual flight data, and the crosswind effect is also considered. Taking QAR data from two airports in China, the accuracy of the proposed model and its transferability are demonstrated. Applying the proposed model, the fuel saving of a continuous climb operation (CCO) compared with the traditional climb operation is further quantified. Finally, how aircraft mass, climbing angle, and different aircraft models could affect the fuel consumption of the climbing phase of aircraft operation is investigated. The proposed fuel consumption model fills gaps in the existing literature, and the method can be used for developing specific fuel consumption models for more aircraft types at other airports.

Keywords: estimation model of fuel consumption; quick access recorder data; aerodynamic parameter; crosswind; continuous climb operation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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