Aircraft Fuel and Emission Tracking with Engine Deterioration Modeling

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing methods for determining aircraft emissions fail to account for engine deterioration and variations in emissions at different power levels, leading to inaccurate estimates that do not reflect the actual emissions produced during a flight mission.

Innovation Solution

A system and method that utilizes an engine cycle model and service data to estimate emissions by projecting emissions at different power levels, considering engine deterioration, and providing an emission index that is tailored to the specific aircraft or fleet, enabling real-time monitoring and management of emissions.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If existing methods are used to determine aircraft emissions, then the process is simple, but the accuracy of emission estimates is poor because they fail to account for engine deterioration and power level variations

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveemission estimate accuracyVSAvoidsystem complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The emission estimation process is segmented into multiple discrete steps: receiving service flight data, projecting control data input to different power levels, generating emission index, and determining total emissions. This segmentation allows each step to be optimized independently while maintaining overall system manageability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The system performs preliminary projection of control data input to different power levels before generating the final emission index. This preliminary action accounts for engine deterioration and power level variations in advance, improving accuracy without requiring complex real-time adjustments during emission calculation.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

2Reliability

If existing methods are used to determine aircraft emissions, then the system is simple to operate, but the reliability of emission data is poor due to lack of consideration for engine deterioration

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveemission data reliabilityVSAvoidsystem operability
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The system incorporates service flight data as feedback to continuously update and refine emission estimates. This feedback mechanism accounts for engine deterioration over time by using actual operational data, improving reliability while maintaining ease of operation through automated data collection and processing.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

Solution Approach 2:

The system changes key parameters including power levels and service flight data to generate more accurate emission estimates. By varying these parameters and observing their impact on emissions, the system reliably captures engine deterioration effects without complicating operation.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

3Measurement precision

If detailed emission tracking is implemented to account for engine deterioration and power levels, then emission estimate accuracy improves, but the time required for calculation increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveemission estimate accuracyVSAvoidcalculation time
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary projection of control data to different power levels before final emission calculation. This preliminary action pre-processes data to account for engine deterioration and power variations, enabling accurate emission estimates to be generated quickly without extensive real-time computation.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentEP4596859A1System and method for tracking aircraft fuel usage and emissions
Publication Date: 2025.08.06 GENERAL ELECTRIC CO
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AI summary

A system (50) for determining emissions for a flight mission for an aircraft (20) with a turbine engine (22) comprises a controller (54) configured for receiving a control data input (60). The controller is configured to use the control data input (60) to project the control data input to different power levels (66) for completion of the flight mission, to generate an emission index (70) based on the control data input (60) and the projected control data input, to output the emission index and to operate the turbine engine based on the emission index.