Similar to the efforts to move toward electric vehicles, much research has focused on the idea of a more electric aircraft (MEA). The motivations for this research are similar to that for vehicles and include goals to reduce emissions and decrease fuel consumption. In traditional aircraft, multiple systems may use one type or a combination of types of energy, including electrical, hydraulic, mechanical, and pneumatic energy. However, all energy types have different drawbacks, including the sacrifice of total engine efficiency in the process of harvesting a particular energy, as with hydraulic and pneumatic systems. The goal for future aircraft is to replace most of the major systems currently utilizing nonelectric power, such as environmental controls and engine start, with new electrical systems to improve a variety of aircraft characteristics, such as efficiency, emissions, reliability, and maintenance costs. This paper provides an in-depth look into how the systems have—or will be—changed. Future aircraft capabilities such as electric taxi and gas–electric propulsion for aircraft are also included for discussion. Most recent commercial transport aircrafts are described as the current state-of-the-art electric aircraft system. Future goals, including those of NASA, are presented for future advances in MEA.

More Electric Aircraft: Review, Challenges, and Opportunities for Commercial Transport Aircraft

Electric, hybrid, and turboelectric fixed-wing aircraft: A review of concepts, models, and design approaches

Superconducting technology applications in electric machines have long been pursued due to their significant advantages of higher efficiency and power density over conventional technology. However, in spite of many successful technology demonstrations, commercial adoption has been slow, presumably because the threshold for value versus cost and technology risk has not yet been crossed. One likely path for disruptive superconducting technology in commercial products could be in applications where its advantages become key enablers for systems which are not practical with conventional technology. To help systems engineers assess the viability of such future solutions, we present a technology roadmap for superconducting machines. The timeline considered was ten years to attain a Technology Readiness Level of 6+, with systems demonstrated in a relevant environment. Future projections, by definition, are based on the judgment of specialists, and can be subjective. Attempts have been made to obtain input from a broad set of organizations for an inclusive opinion. This document was generated Superconductor Science and Technology Supercond. Sci. Technol. 30 (2017) 123002 (41pp) https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6668/aa833e Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI. 0953-2048/17/123002+41$33.00 © 2017 IOP Publishing Ltd Printed in the UK 1 through a series of teleconferences and in-person meetings, including meetings at the 2015 IEEE PES General meeting in Denver, CO, the 2015 ECCE in Montreal, Canada, and a final workshop in April 2016 at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign that brought together a broad group of technical experts spanning the industry, government and academia.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-6668/aa833e/pdf

High power density superconducting rotating machines—development status and technology roadmap

Challenges of future aircraft propulsion: A review of distributed propulsion technology and its potential application for the all electric commercial aircraft

The current push for Urban Air Mobility (UAM) is predicated on the feasibility of novel aircraft types, which will be enabled by the near-term availability of mature technology for high performance subsystems. A number of candidate concept aircraft are presently being designed to meet a set of UAM requirements, in order to quantify the tradeoffs and performance targets necessary for practical implementation of the UAM vision. In examining these vehicles, performance targets and recurring technology themes emerge, which may guide investments in research and development within NASA, other government agencies, academia, and industry.

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VTOL Urban Air Mobility Concept Vehicles for Technology Development

Sustainability in the aviation industry calls for aircraft that are significantly quieter and more fuel efficient than today's fleet. Achieving this will require revolutionary new concepts, in particular, electric propulsion. Superconducting machines offer the only viable path to achieve the power densities needed in airborne applications. This paper outlines the main issues involved in using superconductors for aeropropulsion. We review our investigation of the feasibility of superconducting electric propulsion, which integrate for the first time, the multiple disciplines and areas of expertise needed to design electric aircraft. It is shown that superconductivity is clearly the enabling technology for the more efficient turbo-electric aircraft of the future.

Next Generation More-Electric Aircraft: A Potential Application for HTS Superconductors

The Potential and Challenge of TurboElectric Propulsion for Subsonic Transport Aircraft

A vertical take off and landing (VTOL) aircraft (100), which may be a UAV aircraft, is disclosed. The VTOL includes a ducted fan assembly (120) that provides the capability of vertical takeoff and landing, hovering and traveling of slow speeds. In addition, a pusher fan assembly (140) of the VTOL permits high-speed forward flight, which increases the range of the aircraft.

Vtol aerial vehicle

This article introduces a new conceptual design tool for an environmentally sustainable method of aeropropulsion: a ducted fan system driven by a fully superconducting electrical machine Such a system could help mitigate aviation's contribution to global climate change by enabling the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from aircraft An electro-thermal motor sizing model was coupled with cycle analysis and weight estimation routines to create an automated environment for rapid design trade studies The resulting parametric cycle analysis and sizing outcomes revealed the system's operational boundaries for a given aspiration space

Superconducting Ducted Fan Design for Reduced Emissions Aeropropulsion

Turboelectric Distributed Propulsion (TeDP) describes a power train consisting of a turboshaft engine which is used solely to provide electrical power through a generator to electric motors driving propulsive fans which are distributed above, below, or inside a wing. Recent advancements in electronics, computers, and power distribution have made distributed propulsion feasible and the purpose of the studies described here has been to integrate this new type of propulsion with real airframes designed to specific civilian and military missions. Empirical Systems Aerospace, Inc. (ESAero) performed SBIR studies for NASA Glenn Research Center in FY09 and FY10 to determine the potential application of cryogenically cooled superconduction to distributed electrical components in regional airliner configurations in the N+3 (2035) timeframe. The results of these studies showed that cryogenically-cooled distributed turboelectric propulsion looks feasible when applied to regional airliners such as the ECO-150-16 configuration created and analyzed during these studies. FY11 work performed by the ESAero staff for NASA Ames Research Center focused on removing cryogenic cooling from the ECO-150-16 configuration in order to advance the application of TeDP to the N+2 (2025) timeframe. In addition, the ESAero staff created a dual use transport configuration as part of this study. This paper describes ESAero’s study results and highlight advantages and areas of concern. The focus of the work was to study how hybrid propulsion could improve efficiency of airport terminal area operations; in other words, what improvements could be provided by TeDP during the first and last 5% of a mission.

David W. Hall

Papers

Next Generation More-Electric Aircraft: A Potential Application for HTS Superconductors

The Potential and Challenge of TurboElectric Propulsion for Subsonic Transport Aircraft

Vtol aerial vehicle

Superconducting Ducted Fan Design for Reduced Emissions Aeropropulsion

Benefits and Concerns of Hybrid Electric Distributed Propulsion with Conventional Electric Machines