Exergetic sustainability assessment of a HALE UAV using dodecene fuel

Abstract

Exergetic sustainability performances of a high altitude long endurance (HALE) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), having a single turbofan engine and using dodecene as its fuel were investigated all along its flight profile, taking place in between 0-16 km altitudes. The maximum instant exergy efficiency was obtained as similar to 31.30% at the beginning of level flight; the maximum cumulative exergy efficiency was obtained as similar to 27.58% at similar to 30.5 h of flight; the maximum instant environmental effect factor was obtained as 138.12 at the beginning of take-off run; the minimum cumulative environmental effect factor was obtained between similar to 25 h and similar to 32 h as 1.17; the maximum instant exergetic sustainability index was obtained at the beginning of level flight as 1.015 and the maximum cumulative exergetic sustainability index was obtained as similar to 0.855 in between similar to 25 h and similar to 27 h of flight.