Title :
New technology for traveling with less energy
Author_Institution :
19221 Normandy Park Drive SW, Seattle, WA 98166
fDate :
27 Jul-1 Aug 1997
Abstract :
Better airplane performance came from jet engines with turbine blades that operate in a 1426°C (2600°F) inlet-gas temperature. An important by-product of this development is the aeroderivative gas turbine, which when installed in a combined-cycle power plant, converts natural-gas energy to electric power with 60-percent efficiency. Independent power producers are selling this power for 3 cents per kWh. Another new and pertinent development has been computer simulation which predicts the aerodynamic performance of a given design. The “Raven,” a human-powered airplane with a 100-mile nonstop range, illustrates the usefulness of modeling. It uses a carbon-fiber reinforced structure. The resulting airplane, with a 35-meter (115-foot) wingspan, weighs only 34 kg (75 pounds). Ten years ago, the author calculated the cost of traveling 1609 km (1000 miles) in 12 different vehicles. The cost energy for this travel ranged from $127.40 to $3.29. Now a battery-powered electric bicycle offers the lowest energy cost for the trip-$2.12
Keywords :
aircraft; automobiles; electric vehicles; energy conservation; power consumption; 100 mile; 115 feet; 1426 C; 2600 F; 34 kg; 35 m; 60 percent; 75 lb; Raven human-powered airplane; aeroderivative gas turbine; aerodynamic performance; airplane performance; battery-powered electric bicycle; computer simulation; cost energy; energy efficiency; jet engines; Aerodynamics; Airplanes; Blades; Computer simulation; Costs; Jet engines; Power generation; Temperature; Turbines; Vehicles;
Conference_Titel :
Energy Conversion Engineering Conference, 1997. IECEC-97., Proceedings of the 32nd Intersociety
Conference_Location :
Honolulu, HI
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-4515-0
DOI :
10.1109/IECEC.1997.659271
