Boeing 787 | Dreamliner

boeing 787 | dreamliner

The boring 787 Dreamliner is a commercial jet from Boeing, it’s the most fuel-efficient airliner in the planet and is with composite materials—specifically, carbon fiber reinforcement plastic. According to Boeing, it’s made of 80% composite by volume, making it the lightest aeroairplane in its class. It also includes “nice” passenger favorable like: bigger windows, noise reduction (quieter), and oh, more space. So, I don’t see how this is a revolutionary aircraft, rather, I see it as an evolutionary aircraft.

So what’s the problem? Well, this is the thing: the Dreamliner has been plagued with accreting problems. In layman’s term, its battery can easily catch on fire. So axiomatically you know this is serious; hence, this is why the FAA grounded all 787s late last year (2012) shortly after service by many airlines around the world.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner completely relies on electrical power than any other previous plane. Commercial jet airlines – other than the 787 – uses bleed air, which is super-hot, super-pressurized air taken from within the engine, and used it for all kinds of functions, from de-icing to pressurizing the cabin itself. However, this greatly reduces the efficiency of the engine. In order to prevent this loss in efficiency, the Dreamliner relies solely on electrical power, from some hyper-high-capacity lithium ion batteries. So, the problem is – these batteries have a rapture catching on fire and create angst in Boeing employees.

The famous lithium ion is chosen because it's got a super-high energy content for its size and weight – like, twice that of the batteries  (lead-acid battery) used in electric cars – but it also has one huge problem. That would be heat. Although there are different kinds of lithium ion batteries, the Dreamliner uses cobalt oxide batteries, the same kind as what's used in smartphones, laptops, and tablets. So, obviously the batteries on your phone don’t catch on fire; this is because they are small. However, the batteries on the 787s are huge and have the tendency to catch on fire.

I was pondering like you too on why Boeing engineers didn’t find this issue during the preliminary testing stage.  So here is why: The Dreamliner has had a very, very long and tumultuous birthing process, with multiple redesigns over the years. The 787 has been several years, yes years, behind schedule for deliveries. But theses delays were not directly related to the batteries catching fire. According to Boeing, nobody knowshow this problem got by.

A good guess for this – “just got by” – would be that with such a newfangled electrical power system, nobody really knew how the Dreamliner would respond with repeated use.

Anyway, after three months, today (Apr 19, 2013) FAA approved the Boeing’s plans to fix the 787’s batteries, a decision that could allow the planes to return to service within weeks. The decision was a major milestone for Boeing and its innovative jet.

This post is already long enough, so, I’m not writing what the Boeing’s fix is for 787’s power system.