Georgiatech - Blog Posts

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.

Sound I like (also known as music)

Before you start to read this post, listen to this music as you read through.

My taste in music is “eclectic”*. I like all of the music I listen to, so obviously I have really good taste in music.

There is nothing quite so magical or moving as an powerful orchestral piece played by a full symphony orchestra. I have nothing against poppy music, nor do I have anything against wild bashing and screaming music (except that I mostly hate it), but if I were stuck in Antarctic for the rest of my life, I would die quickly of Hypothermia listen to epic soundtracks like:

“Imagine the Fire”, Hans Zimmer, The Dark Knight Rises

“The Promise”, Michael Nyman

“Extraction Point” , Hans Zimmer, Modern Warfare 2 (a video game with epic score?)

“Escape”, Craig Armstrong

 London Philharmonic’s finest.

 Or simply instrumental.

If you’re still listening to the music, I hope so, right? Imagine you’re sitting in that room, as a group of 50 people playing a song – using violins, bass drums, cellos, and a touch of piano – it precisely melds together into a beautiful, powerful, multifaceted sound…  and it’s just magical as the conductor keeps the whole thing together..  

As you might have seen in movies (like Harry Potter), a wand is portrayed as an instrument for magical occurrence. If you realize, a conductor’s baton (wand) also produces magical waves. I mean, with the flick of a wrist, a conductor can shape music like a painter with his paint brush. He can create striking thunders from the bass drums to the electrifying sharp pitch of the violins.

*I really do have a weird (wide spectrum) taste in music.

By the time I finished writing this, I realized that music is an expression, as it can only be played or heard (its really hard to ‘talk’ about music).