For Airlines, Silence Really is Golden
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Jet engine technology has come a long way since the beginnings of the Jet Age, with noise levels being reduced by up to 90 percent from the initial levels of the 1970s. Even with such significant reductions, airplane-associated noise remains an important environmental issue for airlines, flight passengers and bystanders alike: Airports can be subject to hefty fines for failing to respect noise bylaws, and passengers and bystanders can experience health problems from prolonged exposure to jet noise.
Until the holy grail of the silent jet engine becomes a reality, airlines must incorporate noise abatement measures into their operational strategy to avoid fines and maintain a healthy living standard for employees, customers and nearby residents. There are many variables taken into account when a noise abatement plan is drafted. Factors can include an airport’s total departures and arrivals per day, the facility’s proximity to populated areas, the specific noise bylaws of a particular region, or even considerations of how noise pollution might negatively affect local wildlife.
As one of the world’s busiest flight hubs, London’s Heathrow Airport is constantly working to reduce its noise footprint: The airport is widely regarded to have the most significant impact on a surrounding population of any airport in the European Union. Heathrow has taken steps to address this problematic position with the Heathrow Airport Environmental Noise Directive Action Plan. This plan sees Heathrow working with surrounding communities to better understand and address their needs in order to tackle the problem of noise pollution most effectively.
One significant result of the Heathrow’s noise action plan is over 40,000 homes surrounding the airport being made eligible for special noise insulation, with installation costs to be funded by Heathrow.
Heathrow has also pledged to invest in the quietest jet engine technology available moving forward, and to continue innovating quieter operating procedures on-site.
The airport’s strategy has been successful so far, with measurable reductions in noise even after overall increases in air traffic, but Heathrow has acknowledged that there is still plenty of room for improvement.
Heathrow is just one airport working to improve its relationship with the public regarding noise pollution. Because of the number of variables involved, every airline’s plan to address this problem is different, but the final goal of any noise abatement strategy remains the same: Minimize the environmental impacts of noise pollution while maintaining the highest standard of passenger safety.
Sound Science
Of course, ongoing improvements in airliner technology and engineering will also help to reduce aircraft noise. Researchers at the German Aerospace Center, in collaboration with Airbus, have recently performed tests on the movement of air over airplane wings – the results of which may be used to develop future wings that will make landings much quieter. The tests, performed at night, used optically diverged lasers to illuminate water droplets streaming over the wing. The airflow around the wing was captured by cameras and is being rendered into precise 3-D animations so that analysts can study the aerodynamic flow.
At the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champlain, a research team led by Dr. Daniel Bodony is currently investigating the aeroacoustic properties of turbulent airflows produced by jet engine nozzles. Read more about his work in “Sound Science” in The Education Issue.