Distributed propulsion systems reduce emissions in aviation

Simulation Distributed propulsion systems reduce emissions in aviation

2024-12-04 Source: Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Monika Zwettler TU Berlin |Translated by AI 2 min Reading Time

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Normally, there is an engine or a propeller on an airplane wing. But now, a team led by aerodynamicist Julien Weiss has installed three propellers on one wing. The goal: low-emission takeoff. For the development, the researchers rely on simulation.

Airplanes with three propellers mounted on each wing could make short and medium-haul flights lower in emissions.(Image: TU Berlin/Tobias_Rosenberg) — Airplanes with three propellers mounted on each wing could make short and medium-haul flights lower in emissions.
(Image: TU Berlin/Tobias_Rosenberg)

"Even air travel faces the problem of needing to reduce its CO2 and other pollutant emissions. Our approach, to no longer equip aircraft with two large jet engines or two large propellers but rather with several small ones spread across the entire wingspan, aims precisely at this goal," says Prof. Dr.-Ing. Julien Weiss, who leads the Aerodynamics department at TU Berlin.

Searching for aerodynamic optimum

"Aircraft with distributed propulsion" is what the engineers call their technology, and the idea behind it is to configure and align the propellers and the wing so that the vortices generated by the propeller and the flows over the wing interact positively. In short, this creates an aerodynamic optimum that can reduce fuel consumption. The use of small propellers instead of large ones or large jet engines also opens up the option of powering the propellers with small electric motors. And electric motor means no CO₂ emissions.

Simulation must be developed first too

However, to design such an aircraft with distributed propulsion, numerical simulation tools are needed to calculate and thus better predict the aerodynamic interactions between propeller and wing, aiming to derive the optimal geometry for example, for the wings. Julien Weiss: "Since this idea is new, these numerical simulation tools first need to be developed. We did this in the research project Disprop and experimentally verified the tools using our wing with three propellers in the wind tunnel." Besides TU Berlin, the University of Stuttgart, TU Braunschweig, the non-profit foundation German-Dutch Wind Tunnels, and the industry partner Leichtwerk AG were involved.

Conceivable for short and medium-haul flights

The technology would be suitable for short and medium-haul flights. Should some aircraft manufacturers decide to use this technology to make flying more environmentally friendly, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Julien Weiss considers it quite realistic that the first airplanes with distributed propulsion systems could take off in about ten years.

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Date: 08.12.2025

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