The aeronautics industry is aiming for significantly fewer polluting emissions thanks to NASA’s work on an innovative small engine, an achievement that could revolutionize air transport.
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The Size Conundrum: Small Gets Interesting
At a time when climate change is at the heart of concerns, NASA seems to have found an interesting avenue to make planes less energy-intensive and less polluting. The latter is none other than the DART, a small aircraft engine slightly larger than a meter, designed specifically to carry out propulsion experiments at lower energy costs.
Half the size of the means of propulsion used in medium-sized aircraft, this small engine is a boon for research. As NASA researcher Dan Sutlif explains, its small size represents a significant advantage: “It’s a very good way to explore new technologies that have not yet reached the level to be tested on a large scale.” .
Dart, the key to a greener aeronautical future?
The DART engine, designed by the French company Price Induction which became Akira and acquired by NASA in 2017, finds itself in the spotlight of aeronautical research. Indeed, due to its architecture which allows more air to pass through its turbines making it similar to those of commercial aircraft, the DART could prove to be an invaluable research base for the construction of more powerful aircraft.
NASA’s ambition is no less than to create an aircraft that consumes less kerosene and has a reduced engine for airlines by the 2030s. Based on the first successful tests of the DART engine, the agency American plans to continue its experiments outside the laboratories in the coming months.
A versatile testing platform
In addition to being a major advance in building more environmentally friendly aircraft engines, the DART engine also revolutionized the way NASA conducts its testing. As Sutliff says: “This testing tool helps protect the environment.”
The small engine saves time, energy and money by providing an ideal testing platform for exploiting new technologies. It has already been used in studies of engine noise emissions to minimize noise produced by aircraft.
Furthermore, DART could be used in the future to test protective layers on engines or to explore the properties of sensors inside engines, thus proving its unquestionable usefulness for aeronautical research.
The creation of DART poses a fascinating question: If this small engine has the potential to revolutionize the aviation industry, what else are we heading towards in a large-scale rethinking of aeronautics’ impact on our environment?
