The Challenge for
Today and Tomorrow
Society’s demand for mobility drives development in the aviation industry. The haracteristics of that demand, increasingly evident in the present, are expected to continue well into the future and include:
- Double digit growth in traffic
- Corresponding growth in emissions
- No short term alternatives to kerosene
A key source of emissions at airports is the use of the Aircraft Auxiliary Power Units or APU’s for short. They provide electricity and pre-conditioned air for aircraft during their ground time. In addition to this, APU’s fulfil a range of important tasks when the aircraft is in flight. It is therefore understandable that this technology focuses on reliability rather than efficiency. Unfortunately APU’s extremely low efficiency (approx.8-14 %) not only pollutes the environment at an unacceptably high rate, but squanders resources that could be put to better use and most certainly wastes money.
