Cesare Angeloni is Business Unit Manager at OCEM Airfield Technology, a division of Energy Technology Srl.
"It is the excellence of operations that increases the safety of airports and makes them more environmentally friendly."
OCEM has almost a century of experience in track lighting. How has this market evolved over this time and how has OCEM changed to adapt to this evolution?
We have been operating in the global market for exactly 100 years - Multi Electric Mfg. was incorporated in Chicago in 1917 - which has given us a deep understanding of how the industry has evolved over time, from customer experience to technological changes and from system operations to new installation techniques.
In the beginning, the pilot's needs and limitations were the most important thing. It was the pilot's perception - his view from the cockpit - that drove us to develop excellent visual landing aids, both on military and civil airfields.
Over time, and especially from the 1980s onwards, the increase in air traffic and the consequent focus on safety progressively increased the importance of standard setting and design requirements in ground operations. In the field of landing, technology evolved such that we were able to use lighting devices such as xenon discharge lamps for sequential approach flashing light systems. The need to reinforce aircraft movement control during taxiing paved the way for the installation of stop bars, guidance signs and a wide range of specific products and systems.
In recent decades, there has been an enormous increase in the attention paid to the availability of airside infrastructure due to the increase in air traffic associated with the constraints imposed by urban space. This has led manufacturers to study and bring to the market technologies and systems with longer lifetimes on which preventive maintenance can be performed. These requirements inspired the production of LED and individual lamp monitoring systems, which became a reality at the beginning of the 21st century. OCEM was an early pioneer in the application of LED technology to runway lighting and continues to develop new LED products. The individual lamp monitoring systems used technology that had already been proven in light control, which, some time later, allowed seamless integration with taxiway sensors. This led to ground-based vehicle routing techniques such as "green light tracking" applications.
With the introduction of electronic systems underground, such as LED technology and individual light control and monitoring systems (ILCMS), runway lighting systems can now provide an unprecedented array of data, detecting noise, vibration, speed - and even foreign object damage (FOD).
These disruptive technologies have been introduced by a niche and highly dynamic runway lighting market that is eager and able to develop new technologies for the benefit of airport ground and landing operations. The only real limitation is imagination.
How does OCEM leverage its history and experience to help airports meet the demands of sustainability, security and reduced energy consumption?
Safety remains the overriding factor for aviation authorities when making any kind of decision. However, aviation authorities must also meet growing traffic demand and improve congestion in critical operational areas. This means that sustainability and energy consumption are also important priorities.
In the area of safety, compliance with international standards is obviously paramount, as these standards determine the photometric values that visually assist pilots during landing and taxiing. Other less obvious considerations may be the mechanical reliability of airside parts and the installation and maintenance of equipment.
One of the most important measures airports can take to reduce energy consumption and address these security issues is to switch to LED lighting.
LED lighting allows a drastic cut in maintenance on the runways, which in turn represents a dramatic reduction in interventions on the runways. This reduces the exposure of staff to potential electrical hazards during lamp replacement and reduces the likelihood of human error, such as vehicles driving in or forgetting tools on the airside.
In terms of consumption, the magazine Airports International has recently published a study by OCEM and international airport operator SEA showing that considerable savings could be achieved by introducing a new technology that modulates the brightness of runway lighting between 0.9 and 2.2 amps. No disruption to the airport infrastructure was detected. We are convinced that looking for innovative ways to work sustainably and reduce the airside carbon footprint is not only a moral obligation, but also a way to optimise the existing infrastructure.
In short: sustainability is fashionable, but safety is still king.
Indeed, many airports are currently switching from halogen to LED lighting technology. In your experience, how should they make this transition?
LED-ification" allows first and foremost to optimise the maintenance cycle, which means minimising maintenance interventions and air-side incursions. This makes it possible to increase safety, as explained above, and at the same time to minimise costs. OCEM's goal when helping an airport make the transition from halogen to LED lighting is to do so without disrupting the existing infrastructure of ducts, cabling, manholes, transformer pits and substations.
The most important asset at any airport is the runway, so even the slightest disruption to runway availability brings all activity to a halt. For decades, runway lighting manufacturers have worked with standards bodies to identify, specify and develop best practices and technologies that enable airports to maximise the availability of their key asset.
OCEM's latest innovation, utilising the existing infrastructure, has enabled further optimisation by powering the light with ultra-low current. This technique set a new record for minimum electricity consumption on an existing airside without any disruption to the dimmers, primary and secondary wiring.
The most important thing for airports considering a switch to LED is that OCEM's LED technology allows them to complete the transition while maximising current infrastructure and minimising runway lighting system maintenance costs and operating expenses. There is no reason to delay any longer.
We have already seen that LEDs represent one of the most important technological revolutions of the last two decades in the runway lighting industry and that there are both cost and environmental benefits to switching to this technology. Once airports have made the switch to LEDs, what do they need to do to reap the full benefits of LEDs and achieve their performance targets?
Track lighting systems based on LED technology are large networks of electronic devices potentially connected by some form of communication network. Clearly, this brings new challenges and opportunities, but at present it is often not possible to take advantage of all the benefits they offer due to the limitations of existing infrastructure or the obligation to respect the regulations that were developed for halogens.
There are several ways to remedy this situation:
- Instantaneous control in multiphase current regulators. OCEM has been manufacturing three-phase regulators using basic optical networks for pure sine wave generation. This base technology has been developed with the objective of obtaining critical high voltage systems that are capable of nanosecond switching speeds. These regulators offer the best balance of current consumption in the different phases of medium voltage distribution equipment, reducing losses caused by power imbalances from the main power supply.
- Ultra-low current power supply. As already mentioned, OCEM lights not only operate with a power supply in the standard range, but can also handle 0.9 to 2.2 amps without compromising optical performance. This solution was developed with the specific aim of making use of the existing infrastructure without any modifications and ensuring the lowest possible power consumption. Of course, not all regulatory bodies will allow a deviation from the 6.6 amp standard, but we have found that standards bodies are very responsive to this type of innovation.
- Digitisation of tracks. OCEM has developed and brought to market, based on an open industry standard, an LED runway lighting network that operates with a parallel supply at a long-range safety extra-low voltage (SELV). SELV indications often cannot be used with products designed to International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) or Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) standards, which means that such systems can only be installed in a limited number of countries or in specific applications. This network allows the device in the middle of the runway - or even a device on one of the long-range approach lighting poles - not only to control and monitor the light, but also to provide several different types of information, such as vibrations and temperature. The speed of the open network architecture enables air-side operational functions that are currently only possible with complex and expensive systems. The control interface in this type of network is also an open standard and can be fully integrated into an air traffic control system with the highest level of safety.
These solutions only represent the "visible" part of LED runway lighting. Our dedication to LED technology and continuous improvement brings us to the challenge of supporting night vision augmentation systems. Considering the extremely low power consumption and minimal visual environmental impact of LED technology, it is possible that this technology represents one of the most promising leaps in the development of runway lighting systems that OCEM makes available for both civil and military applications.
OCEM has developed this knowledge through work at more than 1100 airports around the world. While each project must present different challenges and opportunities, can you describe any factors or conditions that have been particularly difficult?
Indeed, our long history and our work at over 1100 airports has given us a wealth of experience. Many of the regions in which we work have been exposed to political and social instability, which pose challenges beyond our control, but which we must take into account so that we can provide our clients with appropriate plans to avoid and mitigate the risks.
From a technical point of view, what we have learned in the work we have done over the years is that there is no miracle solution for the design of runway lighting systems. There is no one-size-fits-all solution for our customers' needs because existing infrastructures, equipment installation schedules and integration with air traffic control software vary from airport to airport.
Fortunately, the experience we have accumulated in implementing projects at so many airports also allows us to determine the best solution for each customer's unique needs. We can help our customers choose the most appropriate products and match the right design and specifications. OCEM has always differentiated itself by offering a broad portfolio of products targeted to different customer needs.
In recent years, two distinct revolutionary trends have emerged in the installation of runway lighting infrastructure: the speed of construction technology and the complete integration of systems. Recent construction technologies, including trenching and drilling methods, have advanced at an incredible speed and the installation of recessed and elevated runway lighting for runway lighting should not lag behind. To help install runway lighting systems at these unprecedented speeds, we provide detailed manuals and technical training for airport electrical teams. We also liaise with the teams responsible for the installation process to offer tailored assistance and facilitate their work.
If we leave the runway behind and move closer to the tower, we see that new software tools are available to support control tower operators. These tools are often designed to meet specific requirements that vary considerably from one installation to another.
In order that the integration of air traffic control software packages - often from several different manufacturers - can be carried out smoothly, OCEM supplies its ALCMS system with an open source interface in order to facilitate the work of developing and integrating the systems. For all these reasons, we believe that the biggest challenges in runway lighting are yet to come.
Investment in cutting-edge technology is necessary to remain a leader. OCEM has been pioneering LEDs since the early 2000s, how will you continue to help airports mitigate their environmental impact given the continued growth in global air traffic?
OCEM's commitment to the environment is part of everything we do, from our ISO certifications (ISO 14000 environmental management) to our disciplined design optimisation.
OCEM has also been involved in "macroscience" projects since 1943: we helped, for example, to develop fusion energy technology (JET in the UK, JAEA in Japan, ENEA in Italy) and to power particle accelerators (SLAC in the USA, CERN in Switzerland).
The standards and knowledge derived from these projects have been used by OCEM in its runway lighting projects - a perspective and an advantage not available to most players in the sector.
Finally, how do you imagine the airport of the future?
It is operational excellence that makes airports safer and more environmentally friendly. We envisage that in the future airports will network to develop and adopt best practices and then develop international standards that reflect this excellence.
After all, it is not enough to take off from an excellent airport. Passengers also want to land at a fantastic airport.
