Fly the (Environmentally) Friendly Skies

Research into hybrid cars, fuel cells, and wind or solar energy sources are all underway to help reduce harm to the environment. NSERC researcher Dr. David Zingg hopes that when we take to the skies in the future that airplanes will also be environmentally safer.

The implications of Dr. Zingg’s research could help revolutionize airplane design. Over the next few years, the aircraft industry will likely increase its emphasis on reducing greenhouse gas emissions at which point they will begin to consider unconventional aircraft designs. The University of Toronto researcher’s work is poised to provide some answers and some direction as to which avenues merit further exploration. “In the long term I hope that my research can make a positive contribution to the important issue of global warming,” he says.

As the Canada Research Chair in Computational Aerodynamics, Dr. Zingg works in the field of advanced computational fluid dynamics (CFD) where he and his research team develop, examine and apply intricate computer algorithms to tackle problems such as turbulent air flow over aircraft. Dr. Zingg’s current research is aimed at developing efficient algorithms for aerodynamic optimization and applying them to the design of low-drag, environmentally-sound aircraft configurations. His research emphasizes optimization, which allows the computer to determine how to alter the form of aircraft components to improve air flow. This technology is a vital part of aerodynamic design with benefits that include greater efficiency and safety as well as reduced design cycle time and cost, particularly in the design of wings and engines.

While Dr. Zingg recognizes that, through decades of experience, an optimal aircraft layout has been developed, he explains that this layout was designed with limited consideration of environmental impacts such as noise, effect on local air quality or contributions to global warming. “If growth in air travel continues as projected and other contributions to global warming are reduced, then civil aviation will become a principal contributor of greenhouse gas emissions,” he explains. “One way to reduce the impact of aircraft on global warming is to reduce drag. By considering more radical aircraft concepts, it’s possible that significant drag reduction can be achieved.”

Dr. Zingg is the recipient of a 2004 Guggenheim Fellowship for his design of environmentally-friendly aircraft, putting him in the company of past recipients such as Ansel Adams and Henry Kissinger. He is presently a visiting researcher at the world-renowned CFD branch of the NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California.