Aviation Emission Testing

Emission measurement systems for aviation and aerospace applications
Get in touch
Aviation Testing

Since the 1980s, there have been regulations in the aviation sector aiming at environmental protection. The regulations consider keeping the air clean (emissions) and reducing noise and are issued by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Initially, regulations for nitrogen oxides (NOx), hydrocarbons (HC), carbon monoxide (CO) and smoke came into force in 1981. In 1996, 2004 and 2008, the NOx limits were further reduced. Since 2016, non-volatile particulate matter (PM) and the number of particles (PN) have also been limited.

The gaseous emissions are described in ICAO Annex 16 - Aircraft Engine Emissions. Typically, the LTO Takeoff Test Cycle is used for this purpose, which simulates local emissions in the vicinity of airports during takeoff and up to an altitude of 3,000 feet.

Discover how AVL supports aviation applications.  


 

Environmental Protection in the Aviation Industry

With the advancement of technology, there are new challenges in emissions measurement in the aviation industry today:

  • More stringent emission regulations
  • Testing of alternative aviation fuels
  • Taking representative samples from turbo fan engines
  • Meeting response factors for HC measurement

If you want to determine low emissions precisely, robust gas analytical solutions and the knowledge of AVL experts will help you to overcome these challenges. 
Environmental Protection Aviation

Aircraft Engine Emission Testing

Gaseous Emission Measurement

International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Annex 16 regulates the emissions certification of aircraft engines regarding gaseous emissions and smoke. Beside the fact that taking representative samples from jet engines is a challenging task, Annex 16 specifies different and hard to meet response factors for the Flame Ionization Detector (FID) that are very different from those used in automotive applications. In addition, gaseous emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide have to be determined. 

AVL offers a wide range of accurate gas analytical solutions for single and multi-component emission analysis e.g.:

  • Portable and rack-mounted FID analyzers for THC measurement
  • Portable and rack-mounted CLD analyzers for NO/NOx measurement
  • NDIR analyzers for CO and CO2 measurement
  • AMA exhaust gas measurement systems hosting multiple analyzers
  • Stationary and portable FTIR-based multi-component exhaust gas measurement systems
  • Calibration equipment like a gas divider for analyzer verifications
  • Calibration services to ensure the quality and reliability
AV AMA SL with AVL PRE-FILTER SL

Particulate Matter Measurement

In addition to gaseous emissions, the ICAO also introduced non-volatile particulate matter (nvPM) mass and number standards. AIR6241 (Aircraft Information Report) requires manufacturers of turbojet and turbofan engines with >26.7 kN thrust to report the nvPM mass and number emission indices (EI) and describes the instrumentation and the measurement protocol.

To keep testing efforts consistent with previous requirements, the standard facilitates simultaneous measurement of the nvPM number and mass with the Gas Transfer System (GTS) for the measurement of the smoke number and gaseous emissions as specified in Annex16.

An AIR6241 compliant nvPM Measurement System consists of a customer specific collection section comprising of the sample probe and a connection line and a tansfer section. The AVL Particle Measurement System (PMS) Aviation consists of:

  • AVL Particle Sampling System Aviation (PSS Aviation)
  • AVL Micro Soot Sensor Aviation (MSS-Aviation)
  • AVL Particle Counter Aviation (APC-Aviation)
  • AVL System Control Software Aviation (SCS Aviation)
PM measurement aircraft

Get Ready for Take-off with AVL’s Analytical Solutions

Flexible Analytical Solutions

  • Portable and rack-mounted versions of analyzers for THC and NOX measurements
  • Most compact AMA SL exhaust measurement systems that fit even in the smallest spaces
  • Versatile FTIR-based analyzers that may be equipped with additional analyzers 
Aviation Cockpit

Benefits
Compliance

Meeting the stringent response factors for HC measurements according to ICAO Annex 16.
Low Cost of Ownership

Avoiding operation gases like synthetic air for FID, pure O2 for CLD, and no liquid N2 for FTIR analyzers.
Maximized Usability 

Easy setup and handling of portable analyzers in even most challenging and hard-to-reach locations.
Easy Operation

Stay connected anywhere & anytime thanks to web-interface operation.

Portfolio
AVL PA-FID C50
AVL PA-FID C50™

The AVL PA-FID C50 is a portable FID analyzer for continuous total organic carbon measurement in the process and aviation industry as well as in laboratories.
AVL SA-CLD C50
AVL CLD C50™

The AVL CLD C50™ is a light-weight Chemiluminescence Detector for stand-alone use in indoor areas or as a stack analyzer in emission measurement systems.
AVL iCAL GDU gas divider
AVL iCAL GDU SL™

The AVL iCAL GDU SL™ is a portable gas divider for linearity verification of gas analyzers.
AMA SL

 

AVL AMA SL

The AVL AMA SL is a exhaust measurement system that is revolutionizing emission testing. It is ideally suited to both research and development applications and certification for all types of engines and fuels.
AVL SESAM i60

 

AVL SESAM i60 FT SII

The AVL SESAM i60 FT SII is a Fourier-Transform Infra-Red exhaust gas measurement system offering evaluation methods optimized for different fuels and applications.
UFPM

 

AVL UltraFine Particle Monitor

The AVL UltraFine Particle Monitor™ is designed to measure the particle number concentration of ultrafine particles for air quality monitoring by using condensation particle counter technology.