AeroSHARK Shrinking the carbon footprint and improving the bottom line Close to 5 million tons of kerosene per year. That’s the fuel savings the global fleet of aircraft could achieve with AeroSHARK coating technology. And we’re well past proof of concept. AeroSHARK mproving fuel efficiency - and the other applied to the aircraft body depending on directly related key benefit: lower the type and function of the surface - wings, Iemissions - starts with anything that fuselage or control surfaces. When aligned helps the aircraft cut through the air with with the airflow, the riblets achieve the least drag and the most lift - in addition efficiency gains, i.e. reduced friction and to less weight, of course. Just like a shark improved lift, similar to their counterparts in cuts through the water. nature, the denticles on sharkskin. Nature makes it look so easy More than a cost-effective It’s not just a streamlined body, optimal fin and scalable solution configuration and quite a few pounds of Combining BASF’s advances in coating pure muscle that make sharks the most technologies and application processes energy-efficient swimmers in the history of LIKE with data gathered through Lufthansa the planet. Technik’s extensive experience, research and testing resulted in a winning solution, What 450 million years of evolution also A SHARK one that is unique because it checks all the gave the shark is great skin. It consists key boxes: cost-effectiveness, scalability, almost entirely of small placoid scales that retrofittability and sustainability. And the shift independently to reduce friction. They CUTTING latter not only because of its impact on fuel increase buoyancy while generating low- savings and emissions reduction, but also profile vortices that reduce hydrodynamic its lower manufacturing and application drag and even add a thrust component. The THROUGH footprint compared to other technologies. faster the shark moves through the water, the more efficiently it does so. Leveraging the certification advantage After an extensive evaluation phase to Theory shows that replicating this skin WATER validate the initial test results, Lufthansa structure on the fuselage of an aircraft can Technik gave the go-ahead for a series of reduce friction by more than 2%. application tests on a decommissioned Extrapolated to the global fleet of aircraft, aircraft in August 2019. By October, the this translates into just under 5 million team was up to speed and expertly applied metric tons of fuel that could be saved each 500 square meters of riblet film to the lower year. fuselage of a Boeing 747-400 from the Lufthansa fleet. In early November 2019, the Biomimetics meets aeronautics and European Union Aviation Safety Agency chemical engineering (EASA) granted the Supplemental Type In partnership with BASF, the world’s Certificate (STC) required for flight trials leading chemical and coatings and the first AeroSHARK jumbo jet reported manufacturer, Lufthansa Technik has for active service. The key to fast-tracking developed a functional biomimetic the project to test flights in record time was technology: a film with a barely perceptible Lufthansa Technik’s EASA Part 21 ribbed texture made up of small elevations – certification as an aircraft design so-called riblets. The film has millions of organization. This ensured compliance for these prism-shaped riblets, each 50 the entire scope of work, from specifying micrometers high, making it easy to apply in the materials for the riblet film to stipulating a targeted way. The film is selectively the application method. AeroSHARK Just as importantly, it allowed BASF to focus its And cost savings of approximately 225,000 resources on the riblets, the film and its euros, including 25,000 euros saved by avoiding properties. the purchase of emission certificates. And that’s just for one aircraft No hype. Results. By late November 2019, it was clear that the Ready to tap the full potential of riblet film riblet film, developed jointly with BASF’s technology Coatings division, was delivering what it Lufthansa Technik is always committed to promised under real-world operating conditions. providing real added value to its airline The AVIATAR Fuel Analytics solution developed The detailed images show the customers and continues to develop innovative by Lufthansa Technik was used to measure microstructure of the riblets on a and viable solutions to reduce the impact of shark’s skin (top image) and the variations in fuel consumption before and after AeroSHARK riblet film (bottom aviation on the environment. the modification to within 0.1%, accurately image). This first trial of riblet film on one of our proven factoring in external factors such as weather Boeing 747-400s is just the first successful conditions, the flight profile and even minor milestone. We have already shifted into a higher impacts on the fuselage. Initial results for the gear to accelerate the certification of a riblet film Boeing 747- 400 with a lower fuselage package for wings and control surfaces as well. modification showed a friction reduction of 0.8% due to the effect of AeroSHARK, equivalent to an This will increase the total friction reduction from annual fuel saving of approximately 300 metric the current 0.8% (lower fuselage) to 2.5% on the tons of kerosene. This corresponds to a aircraft’s outer skin, effectively tripling the reduction in C02 emissions of more than 900 benefits. Development for other Boeing and metric tons per year. Airbus aircraft types is currently underway. The AeroSHARK effect 0.8% friction reduction confirmation on approx. 300t >900t >€200,000 Boeing 747-400 p.a. fuel savings emission reduction cost savings 0.8 to 2.5% friction reduction 180 g / m2 4+ years <2 years weight durability ROI Estimated fuel burn reduction for global fleet at 2 m. t 6.3 m. t approx. €1 bn 1% friction reduction p.a. fuel savings emission reduction cost savings AeroSHARK 3 QUESTIONS TO ... Jens-Uwe Müller, AeroSHARK project leader at Lufthansa Technik’s main base at Hamburg Airport. 1 Why a Boeing 747-400 for the real-world For one thing, the certification requirements validation tests? Wouldn’t a newer for modifying this section were less aircraft have greater potential for fuel complex. More importantly, however, this savings and lower emissions? area is subject to higher stresses from dirt and liquids. If the riblet film survives there, The main reason for selecting the Boeing it will survive anywhere. The wing and tail 747-400 is that it is the perfect platform to units remain a primary target because of demonstrate that significant savings are their large surface areas and the resulting possible with tried and tested aircraft, so potential for fuel savings. airline customers can see the benefits of retrofitting aircraft already in service. We We were delighted to acquire Lufthansa also have decades of experience with this Cargo as our next customer and look type, which was crucial to accelerating the forward to making this innovative testing and certification process. The fact is technology available to more and more that our riblet technology can be applied to airlines as quickly as possible. To realize the any aircraft. We are already conducting greatest possible savings potential with the further validation on other types and greatest possible market penetration, we discovering that the savings are all in a are now looking for more airlines to similar range. participate in the success of the AeroSHARK effect. The fact is that our riblet technology can be applied to any aircraft with a similar effect. 3 How do you measure fuel savings before 2 and after the modification? Does a 1% change even move the needle? The tests have proven the effectiveness of the riblet film. What are the rollout A multitude of factors can skew the result. plans? We use AVIATAR Fuel Analytics for accurate before and after comparisons. Using real- The riblet film technology was supposed to world consumption data from the flow rate be rolled out to the rest of Lufthansa’s sensors on all four engines of the test Boeing 747-400 fleet (13 aircraft) in March Boeing 747-400, the software algorithm can 2020, but unfortunately, COVID-19 made filter out various potentially distorting major rescheduling necessary in the Group’s factors. Starting from a savings potential as aircraft planning. For the time being, low as 0.5%, AVIATAR delivers precise installation of the riblet film on the Boeing measurements to within +/– 0.1%, so that 747-400 is limited to the lower half of the the effect of AeroSHARK is clearly visible. fuselage. .