Reduced-Engine Taxi Predictor for Aircraft Fuel Savings
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Solution Overview
Problem
The complexity of factors impacting fuel savings during reduced-engine taxi operations (RETO) in aircraft, such as weather conditions, airport procedures, and engine warm-up/cool-down durations, makes it challenging for pilots to effectively implement RETO, leading to reduced or eliminated fuel savings.
Innovation Solution
A system that receives information about taxi operations and determines whether RETO is permitted based on predicted taxi duration and weather conditions, using models to calculate fuel savings compared to normal taxi operations, and outputs a recommendation to a display device onboard the aircraft when RETO results in a threshold fuel savings.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If pilots manually determine RETO implementation considering multiple factors (weather, airport procedures, engine warm-up/cool-down durations), then fuel savings can be achieved, but the complexity of decision-making increases and fuel savings are reduced or eliminated due to operational challenges
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables the aircraft itself to automatically determine optimal RETO implementation by collecting relevant data (weather conditions, airport procedures, engine parameters), analyzing fuel savings potential, and generating recommendations without requiring complex manual decision-making by pilots, thus resolving the contradiction between achieving fuel savings and managing decision complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical/physical process of manual pilot decision-making with an automated computational system that processes multiple factors (weather, airport procedures, engine warm-up/cool-down durations) and outputs RETO recommendations, eliminating the complexity burden from pilots while maintaining fuel savings optimization
2Loss of energy
If RETO is implemented without considering engine warm-up and cool-down durations, then fuel savings increase, but engine operational reliability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary analysis of engine warm-up and cool-down durations before recommending RETO implementation, ensuring that engines are properly prepared for operation and cooled down after use, thus maintaining engine reliability while achieving fuel savings through informed RETO decisions
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates engine operational parameters and performance data into the RETO decision-making process, using feedback from engine status monitoring to determine appropriate warm-up and cool-down durations, thereby balancing fuel savings with engine reliability requirements
3Loss of energy
If RETO is implemented without considering airport procedural constraints, then fuel savings increase, but operational compliance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary analysis of airport procedural constraints and requirements before recommending RETO implementation, ensuring that all airport regulations and procedures are met, thus maintaining operational compliance while achieving fuel savings through legally and procedurally sound RETO decisions
Data Source
AI summary
A method of supporting taxi operation of an aircraft with multiple engines is provided. The method includes receiving information indicating a predicted duration of a taxi operation of a flight of the aircraft and weather conditions at the airport and determining whether a reduced-engine taxi operation (RETO) of the aircraft is permitted based on the predicted taxi duration and the weather conditions. When RETO is permitted, the method further includes determining a fuel savings of RETO in which at least a portion of the taxi operation is performed with less than all of the engines running, relative to a normal taxi operation in which the taxi operation is performed with all of the engines running and outputting a recommendation of RETO or normal taxi operation to a display device onboard the aircraft, the recommendation of RETO when the fuel savings is at least a given minimum fuel savings.