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Fuel is the largest contributor to the operating cost of airlines. It has always been a concern for researchers to come up with ways to reduce fuel consumption and make the aviation industry more environmentally friendly. The challenge here is to reduce the drag in order to reduce fuel consumption. This research work focuses on the impact of the center of gravity on the total drag of a B747-400 aircraft, with the aim of reducing the amount of fuel consumed and increasing its range. MATLAB code was used to assess the trim conditions at the different center of gravity locations, and the stability and control derivatives were evaluated from the results using Microsoft Excel. The study concludes that as the center of gravity moves aft within the permissible range, the total drag of the aircraft decreases. The optimal center of gravity location was found at 39.5 % of the Mean Aerodynamic Chord (MAC), corresponding to a maximum range of 13,930 km. This research work is important as it provides insight into the relationship between the center of gravity and total drag, and how it affects the fuel consumption and range of an aircraft. By understanding this relationship, engineers can design aircraft with more efficient fuel consumption, thus reducing the environmental impact of the aviation industry.

The purpose of this study was to perform wet forward combustion experiments for Bati Kozluca heavy oil under different experimental conditions. In the experiments, a vertical combustion tube was packed with crushed limestone and saturated with crude oil and water. A total of five wet combustion tube runs were conducted. It was observed that peak temperatures were higher when stabilized combustion was achieved and decreased as the combustion front approached the outlet of combustion tube. In wet combustion experiments, excess carbon dioxide productions were observed due to the decomposition of carbonate minerals. The concentration of carbon dioxide increased after the injection of water while the concentration of the oxygen and carbon monoxide decreased. Atomic H/C ratio of the fuel consumed decreased as the average peak temperature increased. Fuel consumption rate also decreased as the water-air ratio increased. The oil recovery was increased with the water injection until the optimum value. After this point, a decrease in oil recovery was observed due to the decrease in peak temperatures in Bati Kozluca crude oil. The main advantage of wet combustion was to reduce air requirements and improve the sweep efficiency by expanding the steam plateau region. Since most of the oil was displaced ahead of the burning front, the steam plateau becomes the primary driving mechanism for oil production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]