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MIT team designs fuel-efficient aircrafts for NASA

mit aircraft 1

Eco Factor: Eco-friendly airplanes designed to consume less fuel and emit less NOx.

A team at MIT has designed fuel-efficient airplanes that are expected to consume 70 percent less fuel than conventional models and also reduce the emission of nitrogen oxides. The team presented the designs to NASA to develop environmental and performance concepts that will help guide the agency’s aeronautics research over the next 25 years.

MIT was the only university to lead one of the six U.S. teams that won the contract from NASA in October 2008. The MIT team studies concepts for subsonic commercial airplanes. Apart from consuming less fuel, the aircrafts will also be able to take off from shorter runways.

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MIT team has come up with two designs – the 180-passenger D “Double Bubble” series to replace the Boeing 737 class aircraft and the 350-passenger H “Hybrid Wing Body” series to replace the 777 class aircrafts used for international flights.

Not only does the D series meet NASA’s long-term fuel burn, emissions reduction and runway length objectives, but it could also offers large benefits in the near future because the MIT team designed two versions: a higher technology version with 70 percent fuel-burn reduction, and a version that could be built with conventional aluminum and current jet technology that would burn 50 percent less fuel and might be more attractive as a lower risk, near-term alternative.

Via: MIT

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