Hybrid electric and universally electric aircraft concepts

AccessScience ◽  
2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Electric Aircraft ◽  
Hybrid Electric

scholarly journals Conceptual Design of Operation Strategies for Hybrid Electric Aircraft

Energies ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian Hoelzen ◽  
Yaolong Liu ◽  
Boris Bensmann ◽  
Christopher Winnefeld ◽  
Ali Elham ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Design ◽  
Electric Aircraft ◽  
Hybrid Electric

scholarly journals Optimal energy management for hybrid-electric aircraft

2020 ◽  
Vol 92 (6) ◽  
pp. 851-861 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Pedro Soares Pinto Leite ◽  
Mark Voskuijl
Keyword(s):  
Power Systems ◽  
Energy Management ◽  
Gas Turbines ◽  
Weight System ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Optimal Energy ◽  
Variable Weight ◽  
Electric Aircraft ◽  
Optimal Energy Management ◽  
Hybrid Electric

Purpose In recent years, increased awareness on global warming effects led to a renewed interest in all kinds of green technologies. Among them, some attention has been devoted to hybrid-electric aircraft – aircraft where the propulsion system contains power systems driven by electricity and power systems driven by hydrocarbon-based fuel. Examples of these systems include electric motors and gas turbines, respectively. Despite the fact that several research groups have tried to design such aircraft, in a way, it can actually save fuel with respect to conventional designs, the results hardly approach the required fuel savings to justify a new design. One possible path to improve these designs is to optimize the onboard energy management, in other words, when to use fuel and when to use stored electricity during a mission. The purpose of this paper is to address the topic of energy management applied to hybrid-electric aircraft, including its relevance for the conceptual design of aircraft and present a practical example of optimal energy management. Design/methodology/approach To address this problem the dynamic programming (DP) method for optimal control problems was used and, together with an aircraft performance model, an optimal energy management was obtained for a given aircraft flying a given trajectory. Findings The results show how the energy onboard a hybrid fuel-battery aircraft can be optimally managed during the mission. The optimal results were compared with non-optimal result, and small differences were found. A large sensitivity of the results to the battery charging efficiency was also found. Originality/value The novelty of this work comes from the application of DP for energy management to a variable weight system which includes energy recovery via a propeller.

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