Clean-Aero Environmental Research Project

Citation

(2004), "Clean-Aero Environmental Research Project", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 76 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.2004.12776bab.006

Clean-Aero Environmental Research Project

Clean-Aero Environmental Research Project

Keywords: Environment, Materials, Aerospace industry

Boeing, through its Research and Technology Centre in Madrid, and the Inasmet Foundation have signed an agreement to work on environmentally friendly materials in the manufacturing process of aeronautical elements.

The objective of the project, known as Clean- Aero, is to develop alternative technologies to reduce the use of some metals which may be environmentally harmful and that are widely used in the aerospace industry. The focus will specifically be on two of the challenges that can be considered as the most critical from the environmental perspective in the aerospace industry: identifying chromium hexavalent-free processes that can replace the current surface coatings and finding lead-free options for the high-reliability electronic system welding process.

The importance of this research area is related to the environmental impact of chromium and lead, including the problems with recycling these metals. The EU directive 2000/53 limits the use of heavy metals in industrial applications, and in the case of chromium, envisions a more dramatic ban from July 2007. The chromium exposure limit will likewise be reduced in the United States from 2004 onwards. It is therefore essential to study alternative materials in the international sphere.

“One of the aircraft industry's greatest challenges over the coming years is its commitment with the environment, both from the point of view of using production technologies that are increasingly cleaner and less noisy, and of using recyclable materials or reducing contaminants in the fuel,” stated Fortunato Ortí, Chief Scientist at the Boeing Research and Technology Centre. “Boeing's commitment has always been very clear in this field and clean technologies stand out among the priority areas of activity of our centre.”

“Our company is an acknowledged leader in this field of research,” stressed Mr José Manuel Giral, General Manager of the Inasmet Foundation, “Inasmet's involvement with strategic sectors, such as the aircraft industry, has always been an objective where we have placed great internal emphasis and requirements”.

The Clean-Aero project is aimed at combining the use of materials and processes that are compatible with environmental quality, but without losing the performance of the conventional materials.

Boeing's Research and Technology Centre in Madrid, which belongs to the Phantom Works advanced R&D unit, is the first of this type that the company has established outside the United States. The centre opened in July 2002, as part of an initiative to find the best technologies and the best talent worldwide to contribute in improving the performance, quality and cost of the Boeing products and services. Its objective is to become a centre of excellence in areas related to the environment, safety and air-traffic control technologies. This centre will collaborate with the industry, academia and other European research institutions.

Founded in 1962, Inasmet is a private, non- profit technological centre, whose vocation is to serve industry, by means of technological transfer. Its mission is “to contribute actively to social and economic development by encouraging and facilitating technological development and innovation process as a competitive strategy”. Inasmet focuses its activity in materiel technologies, industrial process and the environment, and has two manufacturing and research plants in San Sebastián and Irun, as well as an office in Cadiz.