Avaliação dos benefícios econômicos, operacionais e ambientais da adoção do blue economy na mudança do processo de lavagem de motores aeronáuticos: um estudo de caso

Abstract

Aviation is a sector that contributes to the degradation of the environment, studies show that air transport is responsible for approximately 13% of annual consumption of fossil fuels and 2% of carbon dioxide emissions. The increase in an aircraft's fuel consumption is mainly due to engine degradation. Engine performance is compromised by the encrustation of dirt deposited on the compressor blades and discs. To recover performance, a maintenance action called compressor washing is necessary, which requires the use of water resources. This research aimed to evaluate the operational, economic and environmental benefits of improvements in the process of washing the compressor of aeronautical engines through a case study in an international airline as a contribution to the Blue Economy. For the operational evaluation, the RTM (Revenue Ton Miles) was used as a metric to estimate the fuel efficiency, for the economic evaluation the ROI was used to verify the economic viability of a new equipment and for the environmental evaluation the MIF (Mass Intensity Factor) was employed. The operating gain showed an improvement of 1.8% in fuel efficiency. As an economic gain, an annual net cost reduction of approximately R$952,000.00; and as an environmental gain, it presented a 6.9% reduction in environmental impact. As a contribution to the Blue Economy, it reduced the use of water resources by 50%. It also sought to relate the concepts of Blue Economy to operational, economic and environmental assessment in the compressor washing process. This work is justified for the theory by the results of published research that relate the operational, economic and environmental aspects inherent to aircraft maintenance, with the adoption of the Blue Economy concepts. As a practical contribution, it provides managers and decision makers with the possibility of obtaining economic benefits through the implementation of sustainable process improvements. The contribution to society is the preservation of natural resources and the reuse of water used in the compressor washing process.