AGENCY, SCIENTIST PATENT NEW FUEL-SAVING TECHNOLOGY.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

NASA Dryden Flight Research Center and one of its engineers were awarded a patent for computer software that cuts fuel consumption by jetliners - saving the airline industry as much as $140 million a year in fuel costs.

Dryden and research engineer Glenn Gilyard received patent number 5,908,176 for technology from the Adaptive Performance Optimization experiment, work aimed at improving fuel efficiency by reducing aerodynamic drag.

``It's a nice reward for a lot of hard work and a lot of endurance,'' Gilyard said.

The software program incorporates data such as speed, altitude and engine measurements to make instantaneous decisions on adjusting an aircraft's control surfaces, such as ailerons and flaps, at the optimal position to reduce drag.

NASA opted to obtain a patent on the technology as a way to give it more visibility to the airline and aircraft industry than it otherwise would receive if simply publicized through research reports.

Any royalties from the patent, which is good for 17 years, will be split between NASA and Gilyard.

``If we don't patent it the next guy will, and the taxpayer will lose out,'' Gilyard said.

Gilyard said he doesn't expect the royalties from the technology to do much for his own personal wealth.

``I'm not holding my breath,'' Gilyard said.

A modified L-1011 jetliner, used as a launch platform for Pegasus space booster launches and soon to be used for X-34 rocket plane research, was used for the flight test program. Four flights were made in 1997 and 1998, at altitudes of 37,000 to 40,000 feet and at about 600 mph.

For the flight tests, special electronic actuators driven by Gilyard's system were installed in place of standard control rods in the ailerons' control linkage. The experiment required about 16,000 feet of wiring to the aircraft, Gilyard said.

A goal of the program was to get at least a 1 percent decrease in aerodymanic drag. The annual fuel savings for the airline industry with a 1 percent improvement would be $140 million, Gilyard said.

The research identified a three-quarters of a percent to 1 percent improvement. Gilyard believes there is a potential for as much as a 3 percent improvement in some aircraft.

``That sounds very small, but these guys burn so much gas, the small numbers add up,'' Gilyard said.

For airliners facing takeoff weight restrictions, such as aircraft taking off from airports at high altitudes or on very long trips, such as Los Angeles to Toyko runs, the revenue benefits could be greater. Revenue from carrying passengers and cargo can be more than 10 times greater than the cost for an equivalent weight of fuel.

One factor hindering the NASA software's installation on jetliners is that most airplanes flying today would need modification of their control systems to use it.

The technology can be applied as a software change to fly-by-wire aircraft - aircraft in which the pilot's controls transmit electric signals to hydraulic actuators to move the control surfaces. Conventional controls use all-hydraulic systems. Right now, the only fly-by-wire jetliner is Boeing's 777.

``It seems to me this will be implemented on aircraft in the future,'' Gilyard said.

While other aircraft would require the installation of special actuators, that could be cost-effective if fuel prices climb, officials said.

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PHOTO (Color) This engineering test station forms the heart of the on-board system for NASA's flight experiment.