The C929 aircraft has entered the detailed design stage to reduce carbon emissions by 60%

On November 3, the first CATA Aviation Conference hosted by the China Air Transport Association opened in Beijing. At the meeting, Qi Xuefeng, deputy general manager of COMAC, revealed the latest progress in the research and development of C929 aircraft, which attracted attention from all walks of life. Qi Xuefeng introduced that the C929 aircraft has entered the detailed design stage. What kind of expectations will this aircraft with a green design concept bring us?

Yangtze Evening News/Purple Cow News reporter Yang Tianzi

C929 Update

Move on to the detailed design phase and strive for greater comfort

According to the WeChat official account of the "China Aviation Association", at the first CATA Aviation Conference, Qi Xuefeng, deputy general manager of COMAC, said that the high-quality development of the civil aviation industry is an important support for the construction of a transportation power. The C919 aircraft has been successfully certified and delivered, and the smooth operation has exceeded 1,000 hours. With a total of 116 deliveries and a passenger capacity of more than 9.6 million, the ARJ21 has become a staple in China's regional aviation market. Accelerate the large-scale and serialized development process of large aircraft, the first batch of 2 cargo aircraft of the ARJ21 model were successfully delivered, and the business jet and medical aircraft completed the certification. The C929 aircraft has entered the detailed design. At the same time, it will make efforts in the field of hybrid, electric, hydrogen and other new energy aircraft to provide more economical, comfortable and environmentally friendly products.

In addition, COMAC will continue to improve its customer service capabilities and operation support system to enhance its economic operation capabilities. Demonstration flights such as "Flying Around the Clouds" and "Flying Around Xinjiang" have been carried out successively to further explore the application scenarios of domestic aircraft and help the construction of the air transport network of China's civil aviation "trunk branch and full network".

As soon as the news came out, it aroused expectations from all walks of life. On major social platforms, netizens have a very heated discussion about the C929 aircraft. "The Cat Who Picks the Stars" said, "I'm so proud, I'm really getting stronger!" "star" is full of expectations, "In my lifetime, I will definitely see the C929 soaring into the blue sky." ”

Low fuel consumption, low noise, C929 carbon emissions to reduce by 60%

Previously, at the International Green Aviation Development Forum held on October 22, Wu Guanghui, chief designer of COMAC C919 and academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, shared the practical achievements of China's first domestic large aircraft C919 in the field of green aviation, as well as the green design concept of C929 aircraft.

The aviation industry has always been a "difficult household" to reduce emissions and carbon emissions. The relevant United Nations report predicts that by 2050, the aviation industry will account for 25% of the world's total carbon emissions, and the situation of carbon reduction and carbon reduction is severe.

COMAC has applied a number of emission reduction technologies in the ARJ21, C919 and other models currently under development. Weight reduction is an important means for aircraft to save fuel consumption and reduce carbon emissions. "On the ARJ21-700 model, we continue to lose more than 600 kilograms, and now the lightest seat weighs only 7 kilograms, and the international average is 12-14 kilograms." According to Wu Guanghui, the overall carbon emissions of ARJ21-700 have been reduced by 5.9%.

In the early stage of C919 design, Wu Guanghui and his team put forward the design concept of weight reduction, drag reduction and emission reduction, using advanced aerodynamic design to improve aerodynamic efficiency, widely using advanced composite materials to reduce the weight of the fuselage, and purchasing a new generation of aero engines. "It can be said that the C919 is the world's first large aircraft to incorporate the concept of emission reduction into the top-level design." Wu Guanghui said.

"The C919 can reduce carbon emissions by 12 to 15 percent compared to its predecessor, while the C929 has a higher design target of reducing carbon emissions by 60 percent," Wu said. ”

Wu Guanghui introduced that C929 adopts the green design concept of low fuel consumption, low noise and low emission, and will take a series of measures to reduce carbon emissions. For example, the use of integrated modular avionics technology to reduce the weight of on-board equipment; Advanced aerodynamic technologies such as a new generation of supercritical wings and variable curvature wings are adopted to improve aerodynamic efficiency; Increase the amount of advanced composite materials to more than 50% and reduce the weight of aircraft structures; Turbofan engines with high bypass ratios and low noise, as well as the extensive use of biofuels, have achieved lower fuel consumption in the cruising range.

Further reading:

The Exploration of the "Flower of Modern Industry" Scientific research workers have never stopped

Large passenger aircraft are known as the "flower of modern industry", and their R&D and manufacturing capabilities are an important indicator of a country's overall strength.

For China, large aircraft carry the "aviation dream" of several generations of Chinese, and scientific research workers have never stopped exploring and developing large aircraft. From the approval of the project in 2007 to the first test flight in 2017, from the first delivery at the end of 2022 to the successful commercial flight, the C919 has experienced countless challenges of extreme test flights, and has handed over a report card that has impressed its peers, and behind it is the sweat, wisdom and efforts of countless aviation people.

On May 28 this year, the first commercial flight of the domestic C919 large aircraft was successfully completed, opening the era of large aircraft belonging to Chinese. In the view of Wu Guanghui, chief designer of C919 and academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, there is still a long way to go, "Our goal is to work together to build a Chinese large passenger aircraft brand that passengers love to sit, pilots love to fly, and airlines love to use, and to form a Chinese civil aircraft industry that can drive the reform and development of the times and national innovation and progress as soon as possible, and we still have a lot to do." ”

The reporter learned from Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics that China Southern Airlines participated in more than 140 scientific research projects in the development stage of C919 and achieved nearly 20 important scientific research achievements, providing important technical support for the development of COMAC C919. At present, more than 1,900 alumni of China Southern Airlines have worked in COMAC, accounting for 12% of the total number of employees of the company, among them, Luo Ronghuai, Shi Jianzhong, Cheng Fubo, Wu Guanghui, Shen Bo and other company leaders have emerged, and more than 300 people have served as leaders of subordinate units, deputy chief engineer of models, heads of headquarters departments and heads of relevant departments, heads of departments of subordinate units, directors and above, etc., to serve the development and construction of the company and model development.

Students of China Southern Airlines choose to devote themselves to the large aircraft industry "I want to climb the sky with the large aircraft industry of the motherland!"

The vigorous development of the large aircraft industry has greatly encouraged college students. On September 6 this year, COMAC came to Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics to carry out a campus recruitment lecture, which aroused enthusiastic responses from students. The students of China Southern Airlines have chosen to devote themselves to the aviation industry of the motherland and realize the ideal of "serving the country by aviation".

Xiao Jia, a 2024 master's graduate of the School of Aeronautics, is about to become a mechanical engineer serving large aircraft. She said that in the hottest recruitment season, as a graduate of China Southern Airlines, she did not hesitate to take the large aircraft career of her motherland as her first choice. "I want to grow up in the front line of the model, I want to climb the sky with the motherland's large aircraft industry, and I want to feel the strength and feelings of sticking to the great cause with my brothers and sisters!"

According to the relevant person in charge, the large aircraft project will continue to drive the rapid development of China's commercial aircraft industry and further expand the urgent demand for aerospace talents. Since the establishment of COMAC in 2008, China Southern Airlines and COMAC have maintained in-depth cooperation in key technology research, innovation platform co-construction, and joint talent training. Students of China Southern Airlines took the opportunity of activities such as "face-to-face with national defense enterprises" and "military memory" to visit COMAC and gain an in-depth understanding of COMAC. In the hottest recruitment season in September every year, COMAC will carry out special recruitment activities at China Southern Airlines.

According to statistics, since 2008, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics has sent a large number of outstanding graduates to COMAC every year, ranking first among similar universities, and is one of the strategic cooperation units that send the most graduates to COMAC. (Yangtze Evening News)