TY - JOUR

T1 - Conceptual design of operation strategies for hybrid electric aircraft

AU - Hoelzen, Julian

AU - Liu, Yaolong

AU - Bensmann, Boris

AU - Winnefeld, Christopher

AU - Elham, Ali

AU - Friedrichs, Jens

AU - Hanke-Rauschenbach, Richard

N1 - Funding information: Acknowledgments: We would like to acknowledge the support of the Ministry for Science and Culture of Lower Saxony (Grant No. VWZN3177) for funding the research project “Energy System Transformation in Aviation” in the initiative “Niedersächsisches Vorab”. Furthermore, the work was supported by Airbus Operations. We are grateful for the fruitful discussions with Daniel Reckzeh, Lars Joergensen, Peter Rostek, Detlev Konigorski, Kristof Risse and Giorgio Bona. They provided important input in workshops to understand the scope of hybrid electric propulsion in aviation and the relevance of hybrid strategies. The publication of this article was funded by the Open Access Fund of the Leibniz Universität Hannover.

PY - 2018/1

Y1 - 2018/1

N2 - Ambitious targets to reduce emissions caused by aviation in the light of an expected ongoing rise of the air transport demand in the future drive the research of propulsion systems with lower CO2 emissions. Regional hybrid electric aircraft (HEA) powered by conventional gas turbines and battery powered electric motors are investigated to test hybrid propulsion operation strategies. Especially the role of the battery within environmentally friendly concepts with significantly reduced carbon footprint is analyzed. Thus, a new simulation approach for HEA is introduced. The main findings underline the importance of choosing the right power-to-energy-ratio of a battery according to the flight mission. The gravimetric energy and power density of the electric storages determine the technologically feasibility of hybrid concepts. Cost competitive HEA configurations are found, but do not promise the targeted CO2 emission savings, when the well-to-wheel system is regarded with its actual costs. Sensitivity studies are used to determine external levers that favor the profitability of HEA.

AB - Ambitious targets to reduce emissions caused by aviation in the light of an expected ongoing rise of the air transport demand in the future drive the research of propulsion systems with lower CO2 emissions. Regional hybrid electric aircraft (HEA) powered by conventional gas turbines and battery powered electric motors are investigated to test hybrid propulsion operation strategies. Especially the role of the battery within environmentally friendly concepts with significantly reduced carbon footprint is analyzed. Thus, a new simulation approach for HEA is introduced. The main findings underline the importance of choosing the right power-to-energy-ratio of a battery according to the flight mission. The gravimetric energy and power density of the electric storages determine the technologically feasibility of hybrid concepts. Cost competitive HEA configurations are found, but do not promise the targeted CO2 emission savings, when the well-to-wheel system is regarded with its actual costs. Sensitivity studies are used to determine external levers that favor the profitability of HEA.

KW - Battery strategy

KW - Hybrid electric aircraft

KW - Overall aircraft design

KW - Propulsion design

KW - Regional aircraft

KW - Wingtip propellers

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85045284508&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3390/en11010217

DO - 10.3390/en11010217

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85045284508

VL - 11

JO - ENERGIES

JF - ENERGIES

SN - 1996-1073

IS - 1

M1 - 217

ER -