An investigation into emissions in civil aviation

• Main Author: Wong, Adrian Shu Rong
• Other Authors: Lye Sun Woh
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2015
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Aeronautical engineering::Aviation
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/64941
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This paper quantifies the current and future impact of aviation emissions on local air quality and climate change in light of growing sustainability concerns and current aviation trends. Emissions from flights in and out of Changi airport were determined, both within the landing/take-off (LTO) cycle as well as over the entire flight, i.e. take-off, climb-out, climb to cruise altitude, cruise, descent, approach and taxiing. Emissions examined include carbon dioxide, nitrous oxides, water vapour, carbon monoxide and unburnt hydrocarbons. Fuel burn and emissions were computed based on the ICAO Engine Emissions Databank (ICAO, 1995), BADA Calculation Tool and the Boeing Fuel Flow Method 2 (BFFM2). CO¬2, H2O and NOx emissions were the three most significant emissions. A reduction in taxiing times by two minutes resulted in a 7.4% reduction in CO and HC emissions, a 3.9% decrease in CO2 and H2O emissions, and a 1% decrease in NOx emissions over an LTO cycle. Emissions in the LTO Cycle were comparable to similar-sized international airports, but were much higher (when normalised by flight movements) when compared to more heavily domestic airports. On an emissions per passenger-km basis, HC (29.2% of total) and CO (27% of total) were predominantly produced in shorter flights, while CO2 emissions were similar across all flight lengths. A five-year forecast for Changi Airport showed that HC emissions would increase by 34.2%, CO emissions by 36.1%, NOx emissions by 30.5%, and CO2 emissions by 32.6%. These findings have implications for regional air hubs such as Changi Airport.