Fuel is one of the highest cost items of an airline operation. From the distance an aircraft can fly, the amount of cargo it can carry, to its environmental performance, fuel efficiency is a leading consideration. A major contributor to fuel consumption is an aircraft’s surface characteristics. Paint, age, and condition weigh heavily on aerodynamic efficiencies. Enter NUVITE with products specifically engineered to maintain / restore a wide variety of exterior surfaces for optimal aerodynamics.
As an aircraft moves through the air, air resists motion and a resistance force, called drag develops, which impedes velocity and increases fuel consumption. One source of drag is skin-friction created by the viscosity of the air and resulting friction against the aircraft surface. As air moves past, molecules next to the surface “stick”, collide, and slow down the molecules above them. Air flowing in this thin .02” – 1” deep layer, a.k.a. the boundary layer, travels in one of two states: laminar or turbulent flow. Laminar flow is supported closest to the aircraft surface. Assuming a flat, waxed, solid surface, air will flow smoothly, streamlines move parallel, and change is uniform.
The turbulent layer is thicker, with an unsteady, swirling air flow generating more skin-friction drag. While speed increases evenly in a laminar layer, most of the airflow’s speed reduction occurs right above the surface where air molecules are in direct contact with the aircraft surface. Any disturbances along this surface including erosion, oxidation, abrasion, parasitic deposits, no matter how microscopic, can turn laminar flow turbulent. “Surface roughness is a major factor in generating friction-drag. Carbon deposits and other debris that remain or embed the surface increase roughness,” says Radara Elkins, NUVITE Field Applications Engineer, “Think peaks and valleys. Irregular terrain obstructs, randomly channeling flow. To restore smooth, constant flow, you must have a level field.”
Engineered to level irregular surfaces, products like NuPower II, NuPol, and Citricut Extra for painted surfaces and NuShine II, the graded system for metal polishing, actively lift dirt, remove debris, deoxidize, and fill and coat with protective sealants. In addition to delivering a “showroom shine”, NUVITE’s unique polishing formulations restore and maintain the right surface conditions for extended laminar flow, thereby decreasing turbulence and improving fuel efficiency.