MOSCOW. March 25 (Interfax-AVN) - The Tupolev JSO is planning to certify the TU-204K medium-range passenger aircraft running on liquefied natural gas by 2015, Tupolev Chief Constructor Vladimir Andreyev said on Monday.
The plane will be capable of transporting 210 people to distances of up to 5,500km, Andreyev told Interfax-Military News Agency. It will differ from the baseline model in having the new PS-90AK engine and an improved fuel system. The fuel tank containing liquefied natural gas will be positioned over the fuselage under a special fairing. Wind-tunnel tests of TU-204K models have shown that such configuration will provide for only a five-percent decrease in aerodynamic efficiency.
According to early calculations, the price of the aircraft will be 15 percent higher than that of the baseline TU-204 model. However, the expenses will pay off in full through a 30 percent reduction of maintenance costs.
Andreyev recalled that the federal purpose-oriented program of Russian civil aircraft development for 2002-2010 and up to 2015 allocated RUB3.14bn (USD100.73m) for construction of an aircraft with engines running on liquefied natural gas. The total cost of research and tests covering use of cryogenic fuel in aviation is estimated at RUB14.27bn (USD457.8m). Lacking funds are planned to be raised from extra-budget sources, including the gas giant Gazprom that will cover 25 to 30 percent of the program's financing.
Asked about the economic effect of the program "Development of Cryogenic, Aerospace and Other Transport Equipment", Andreyev said that up to RUB11bn (USD352.9m) would be saved on the first stage that envisages development of prototypes of TU-204K and TU- 136 short-range and medium-range planes, as well as of the TU- 330K transport and helicopters. When cryogenic aircraft running on liquefied natural gas are be introduced in operation on a larger scale, the economic effect will reach RUB200bn (USD6.42bn). On the first stage liquid hydrogen will be introduced as a fuel, which promises a true transport revolution. It is difficult to estimate its economic efficiency at present, Andreyev said.