Manufacturer’s tech helps tackle aviation emissions
A Greater Manchester manufacturer has helped create a piece of technology that could make a significant reduction to pollution in the aviation industry.
One of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gases is when planes taxi around airport runways before and after landing.
Rochdale-headquartered NEMA has played a crucial role in building a new generation starter motor for a turbo prop light aircraft.
The motor provides the power to rotate the propeller to taxi the aircraft around the airport rather than using fuel, and also generates energy and charges the batteries during flight.
NEMA’s managing director Andrew Wilding said if the technology can be applied to bigger planes it could massively reduce pollution levels in the aviation sector.
The project forms part of the CleanSky 2 (CS2) programme, which is a European public-private partnership designed to deliver significantly quieter and more environmentally friendly aircraft.
NEMA collaborated with the University of Nottingham and French aerospace giant Safran on the four-and-a-half-year ACHIEVE project, which stands for Advanced meCHatronIcs dEVices for a novel turboprop Electric starter-generator and health monitoring system.
NEMA specialise in making electrical motors and generators for aircraft.
Andrew said: “There’s a big push to reduce pollution in the aviation industry. One of the biggest contributors of pollution is when aircraft are taxiing.
“The idea behind ACHIEVE was to build a mechatronic device to deliver mechanical power to drive the propeller when the aircraft is taxiing between the airport and the runway or vice versa, reducing the need to use fuel, and to generate electricity that charges the batteries and powers the on-board electrical equipment during flight.”
He added: “I’m really proud of the expertise of the NEMA team in making it happen and playing a part in helping the environment.
“As far as I know this is a first. This motor was for a small aircraft but hopefully the technology can be used in bigger planes.
“It’s just another example of the cutting-edge technology coming out of Rochdale.”
NEMA has over 60 years’ experience, operating primarily within the aerospace and defence industries.
The motor has now been delivered to Safran for engine integration.
