TY - GEN
T1 - Electrified aircraft trade-space exploration
AU - Kruger, Michael
AU - Byahut, Saakar
AU - Uranga, Alejandra
AU - Dowdle, Aidan
AU - Gonzalez, Jonas
AU - Hall, David K.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by NASA under a Leading Edge Aeronautics Research for NASA (LEARN3) Project, through NASA/MIT Collaborative Agreement NNX16AK25A. We are thankful for the support and guidance provided by Ralph Jansen and Raymond Beach from NASA Glenn Research Center. The research benefited from the collaboration with Aurora Flight Sciences as a partner in the project, and from the direction provided by Edward Greitzer of MIT as the Principal Investigator.
Funding Information:
This work was supported by NASA under a Leading Edge Aeronautics Research for NASA (LEARN3) Project, throughNASA/MIT Collaborative Agreement NNX16AK25A. We are thankful for the support and guidance provided by Ralph Jansen and Raymond Beach from NASA Glenn Research Center. The research benefited from the collaboration with Aurora Flight Sciences as a partner in the project, and from the direction provided by Edward Greitzer of MIT as the Principal Investigator.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Inc, AIAA. All rights reserved.
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - This work presents a design space exploration for electrified aircraft that use electrical components for propulsion, and identifies configurations and missions for which electrification can provide an energy-usage advantage relative to hydrocarbon-based propulsion. A framework was developed to capture the major trade-offs of electrification at cruise condition, as well as the effects of distributed propulsion and boundary layer ingestion. The analysis is based on a parametric exploration of the trade-space with focus on mission size (payload and range) and technology level. It considers aircraft classes ranging from a 20-passenger thin-haul up to a twin-aisle intercontinental transport. All-electric aircraft are found to be best at low ranges (200–500 nmi), requiring the lowest amount of on-board energy but with a limited feasibility region. Turbo-electric architectures can be beneficial even with current technology, and are best for long missions. Adding a turbo-generator to an electric aircraft, for a hybrid-electric propulsion system, acts as a range extender and is optimal for intermediate-size missions. Finally, leveraging distributed propulsion and boundary layer ingestion improves energy efficiency and expands the range of feasible missions for highly electrified aircraft.
AB - This work presents a design space exploration for electrified aircraft that use electrical components for propulsion, and identifies configurations and missions for which electrification can provide an energy-usage advantage relative to hydrocarbon-based propulsion. A framework was developed to capture the major trade-offs of electrification at cruise condition, as well as the effects of distributed propulsion and boundary layer ingestion. The analysis is based on a parametric exploration of the trade-space with focus on mission size (payload and range) and technology level. It considers aircraft classes ranging from a 20-passenger thin-haul up to a twin-aisle intercontinental transport. All-electric aircraft are found to be best at low ranges (200–500 nmi), requiring the lowest amount of on-board energy but with a limited feasibility region. Turbo-electric architectures can be beneficial even with current technology, and are best for long missions. Adding a turbo-generator to an electric aircraft, for a hybrid-electric propulsion system, acts as a range extender and is optimal for intermediate-size missions. Finally, leveraging distributed propulsion and boundary layer ingestion improves energy efficiency and expands the range of feasible missions for highly electrified aircraft.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85051660402&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85051660402&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.2514/6.2018-4227
DO - 10.2514/6.2018-4227
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85051660402
SN - 9781624105562
T3 - 2018 Aviation Technology, Integration, and Operations Conference
BT - 2018 Aviation Technology, Integration, and Operations Conference
PB - American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Inc, AIAA
T2 - 18th AIAA Aviation Technology, Integration, and Operations Conference, 2018
Y2 - 25 June 2018 through 29 June 2018
ER -