Research team identifies optimal flight route for solar-powered airship
Flying is the most harmful mode of transportation for our climate. At least, until now. However, work is already underway to investigate technical alternatives to conventional aircraft. For example, airships with highly efficient solar cells and very light batteries. FAU Professor Christoph Pflaum, together with Professor Agnes Jocher of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and FAU student Tim Riffelmacher, investigated which route a solar airship would have to take to fly from London. To New York as soon as possible and as climate-friendly as possible.
The survey results were published in the International Journal of Sustainable Energy.
“We can make aviation more climate-friendly relatively quickly and economically by relying on solar-powered airships,” says Professor Christoph Pfraum. The FAU computer science professor specializes in numerical simulations using high-performance computers, and a student at FAU, along with Tim Riffelmacher and his Jocher professor at TUM, have worked on “airship design and route optimization”. published a paper.
Climate-friendly and cost-effective air travel
“Our calculations show that solar airships can significantly reduce both transportation costs and the CO2 emissions of air travel,” explains Professor Pflaum. In the course of his research, the scientist became a true fan of solar-powered air travel, enthusiastically listing its many benefits. Recharge again during flight. As a result, no combustion-related emissions are produced while the airship is in flight. “
Energy from the power grid is only needed to recharge the batteries before the airship launches, and the charging process has very low CO2 emissions. “Up to 5% of the amount of carbon dioxide produced by conventional air transport is emitted,” he says, referring to the numbers. 1.4 percent, about 5 percent for human transport.
“Unfortunately, this solar blimp does not exist at this time, but a company in California is investing heavily in developing the first large, fully rigid blimp in 90 years. space and is well protected from wind and wind, says Professor Pflam enthusiastically.
Although the technology can be implemented quickly, it has been largely ignored for decades. “Of course, the tragedy of the airship LZ 129, better known as the ‘Hindenburg’, contributed to this lack of progress,” the professor admits. “At 245 meters long and 41.2 meters in diameter, the LZ 129 was one of the largest aircraft ever built and made a sensation on its maiden voyage in March 1936. The United States was completely destroyed. This has long meant the end of the airship, but now it’s being reimagined with solar power, and work is underway to make it a ‘true game changer’.
With these newer models, the airships are not filled with flammable hydrogen or other fuels, so no one has to fear fires.
The researchers believe that the cost aspect will also favor solar blimps, as their energy consumption costs are significantly lower than that of conventional aircraft, according to current calculations.
2-3 days on a transatlantic flight
Will solar airships be a true technological alternative to conventional aircraft? Professors Pflaum and Jocher agree. “Since airships fly much slower than planes, it’s enough to lower your expectations for flight time.”
Several students at FAU, in their bachelor’s and master’s thesis, explored how fast solar-powered airships actually fly and which routes to take to make optimal use of wind, weather and the position of the sun. was calculated by simulating Most recently, Tim Riffelmacher covered his bachelor’s thesis “Optimizing Solar Airship Battery Charging with Simulated Annealing”.
He’s also very enthusiastic about solar-powered airships, and took a closer look at day and night battery usage in simulations. “Batteries must be charged before flight and then maintained over long distances,” the young researcher explains. “This is easier said than done, because there is no sun at night and solar cells do not generate electricity.” But optimizing the charging process makes a lot possible.
In their work, Riffelmacher and other students were able to demonstrate that sufficient flight time is possible within countries, continents and even intercontinents. “According to our calculations, a transatlantic flight from New York to London takes about two days and he one night,” Christophe Pfraum sums up the results. “For the reverse direction from London to New York, we calculated a flight time of 3 days and 2 nights.”
He believes such travel times are acceptable for most cargo flights, and there are opportunities for passenger traffic. There is space for a dining room and lounge, and a stylish double room for passengers. “
Original: How solar-powered airships can make air travel climate-friendly
Than: Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg | Technical University of Munich
