Clean Aviation - Workshops 2023/2024. Book of Presentations

Clean Sky aims to develop cleaner air transport technologies for earliest possible deployment. That means integrating, demonstrating, and validating technologies capable of reducing CO2, NOx and noise emissions by 20 to 30 % compared to ‘state-of-the-art’ aircraft entering into service as from 2014. Besides improving the environmental impact of aeronautical technologies, including those related to small aviation, the objective of Clean Sky 2 is also to develop a strong and globally competitive aeronautical industry and supply chain in Europe.
Clean Sky’s programme structure is composed of the three IADPs (Innovative Aircraft Demonstration Platforms) - Large Passenger Aircraft, Regional Aircraft and Fast Rotorcraft - three ITDs (Integrated Technology Demonstrators) - Airframe, Engines and Systems - as well as three TAs (Transverse Activities) - Small Air Transport, Eco-Design and Technology Evaluator. The three Transverse Activities have relevance to several ITDs and/or IADPs and require coordination or management across the ITDs and/or IADPs. ecoDESIGN therefore was organizing several central cooperations - involving all ITD/IDPs.
Eco-Design focuses on the overall ‘cradle to cradle’ approach to design, manufacturing, maintenance and disposal (including recycling), examining the basic elements of materials, processes and resources, and advancing that science in areas of performance across the entire lifespan of those elements. The treatment of production waste and elimination of hazards and harmful substances is also included to maximise ecological readiness for tomorrow's air transport system and its footprint in environmental and societal terms.
Aircraft components are expected to be able to withstand great demands, especially those caused by environmental influences (cold, heat, moisture, dust), by means of appropriate corrosion protection and other measures. Corrosion protection in particular plays a relevant role in the chrome-VI ban by REACh, where the industry has undergone major developments to find alternatives that deliver comparable corrosion protection performance.
However, unintentional events such as fires also require flame-retardant products that can withstand the event for a certain period of time without developing toxic vapours; but other components such as insulating mats, heat protection elements in hot areas (e.g. near engines) must also meet certain requirements. It is therefore particularly challenging to replace high-performance materials with a high hazard potential when there is no alternative. The workshop "REACh in Aviation" dealt with many of these topics against the background of how good alternative systems are and where collaborative research is still needed.
The presentations in the "Recycling in Aviation" workshop are showing increased circularity and less material consumption as well as strategies to increase the Re-use and Recycling quota of the European Aviation Industry. For decades, aircraft reaching the end of their operational life have been stripped down for parts, and some components refurbished and recertified. But with the increasing use of composite material in today’s airliners, it’s environmentally essential to find a solution for recycling of aircraft composites. Additional challenges will arise for hybrid electric aircraft for recycling of high-power electronics full cells and batteries.
The Workshop "Additive Manufacturing in Aviation" (AM) delivered information from material supplier, industrial applications, and research institutions to increase the maturity of AM and to decrease the buy-to-fly-ratio for metals.
Fraunhofer would like to thank all host organizations and participants for their outstanding support to the workshops. It was a fruitful collaboration between the institutions and industries, which creates the ideal conditions and options for aviation specific conclusions and results.