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Electric and Hybrid-Electric Aircraft (HEA) propulsion system designs shall bring challenges at aircraft and systems level, mainly in propulsion, electric and thermal management systems (TMS). The electrification of the propulsion system relies on large and high-power electrical equipment (e.g., electrical motors, converters, power electronics, batteries, and others) that dissipate heat at a rate at least one order of magnitude higher than conventional propulsion aircraft systems. As a result, high impacts on weight, drag and power consumption of the TMS/cooling systems at the aircraft level are expected. This paper proposes potential technologies to perform the thermal management of future electric and HEA, in the context of FUTPRINT50 project. For each technology, relevant aspects such as its integration to aircraft, safety, operational and maintenance impacts, certification, technologies readiness level (TRL) and the latest research works are analysed. A quantitative comparison of the several technologies is also proposed considering weight, volume, electric power consumption, pneumatic air flow and cooling air flow per cooling effect. Lastly, we present a set of potential TMS architectures for HEA. ; European Union funding: 875551

Future aircraft and rotorcraft propulsion systems should be able to meet ambitious targets and severe limitations set by governments and organizations. These targets cannot be achieved through marginal improvements in turbine technology or vehicle design. Hybrid-electric propulsion is being widely considered as a revolutionary concept to further improve the environmental impact of air travel. One of the most important challenges and barriers in the development phase of hybrid-electric propulsion systems is the Thermal Management System (TMS) design, sizing and optimization for addressing the increased thermal loads due to the electric power train. The aim of this paper is to establish an integrated simulation framework including the vehicle, the propulsion system and the fuel-oil system (FOS) for assessing the cooling capability of the FOS for the more electric era of rotorcrafts. The framework consists of a helicopter model, propulsion system models, both conventional and hybrid-electric, and a FOS model. The test case is a twin-engine medium (TEM) helicopter flying a representative Passenger Air Transport (PAT) mission. The conventional power plant heat loads are calculated and the cooling capacity of the FOS is quantified for different operating conditions. Having established the baseline, three different Power Management Strategies (PMS) are considered and the integrated simulation framework is utilized for evaluating FOS temperatures. The results highlight the limitations of existing rotorcraft FOS to cope with the high values of thermal loads associated with hybridization for the cases examined. Hence, new ideas and embodiments should be identified and assessed. The case of exploiting the fuel tank as a heat sink is investigated and the results indicate that recirculating fuel to the fuel tank can enhance the cooling capacity of conventional FOS.

Active thermal management systems offer a potential for small improvements in fuel consumption that will contribute to upcoming legislation on carbon dioxide emissions. These systems offer new degrees of freedom for engine calibration; however, their full potential will only be exploited if a systems approach to their calibration is adopted, in conjunction with other engine controls. In this work, a design-of-experiments approach is extended to allow its application to transient drive cycles performed on a dynamic test stand. Experimental precision is of crucial importance in this technique since even small errors would obscure the effects of interest. The dynamic behaviour of the engine was represented mathematically in a manner that enabled conventional steady state modelling approaches to be employed in order to predict the thermal state of critical parts of the engine as a function of the actuator settings. A 17-point test matrix was undertaken, and subsequent modelling and optimisation procedures indicated potential 2–3% fuel consumption benefits under iso-nitrogen oxide conditions. Reductions in the thermal inertia appeared to be the most effective approach for reducing the engine warm-up time, which translated approximately to a 1.3% reduction in the fuel consumption per kilogram of coolant. A novel oil-cooled exhaust gas recirculation system showed the significant benefits of cooling the exhaust gases, thereby reducing the inlet gas temperature by 5 C and subsequently the nitrogen oxide emissions by 6%, in addition to increasing the warm-up rate of the oil. This suggested that optimising the thermal management system for cooling the gases in the exhaust gas recirculation system can offer significant improvements. For the first time this paper presents a technique that allows simple predictive models of the thermal state of the engine to be integrated into the calibration process in order to deliver the optimum benefit. In particular, it is shown how the effect of the thermal management system on the nitrogen oxides can be traded off, by advancing the injection timing, to give significant improvements in the fuel consumption.

The provision of adequate thermal management is becoming increasingly challenging on both military and civil aircraft. This is due to significant growth in the magnitude of onboard heat loads, but also because of their changing nature, such as the presence of more low-grade, high heat flux heat sources and the inability of some waste heat to be expelled as part of engine exhaust gases. The increase in the use of composites presents a further issue to address, as these materials are not as effective as metallic materials in transferring waste heat from the aircraft to the surrounding atmosphere. These thermal management challenges are so severe that they are becoming one of the major impediments to improving aircraft performance and efficiency. In this review, these challenges are expounded upon, along with possible solutions and opportunities from the literature. After introducing relevant factors from the ambient environment, the discussion of the challenges and opportunities is guided by a simple classification of the elements involved in thermal management systems. These elements comprise heat sources, heat acquisition mechanisms, thermal transport systems, heat rejection to sinks, and energy conversion and storage. Heat sources include both those from propulsion and airframe systems. Heat acquisition mechanisms are the means by which thermal energy is acquired from the sources. Thermal transport systems comprise cooling loops and thermodynamic cycles, along with their associated components and fluids, which move the heat from the source to the sinks over potentially large distances. The terminal aircraft heat sinks include atmospheric air, fuel, and the aircraft structure. In addition to the discussions on these different elements of thermal management systems, several topics of particular priority in aircraft thermal management research are deliberated upon in detail. These are thermal management for electrified propulsion aircraft, ultra-high bypass ratio geared turbofans, and high power airborne military systems; environmental control systems; power and thermal management systems; thermal management on supersonic transport aircraft; and novel modelling and simulation processes and tools for thermal management.

Many technological advances are expected to increase the capabilities of the future aircraft, both civilian and military. These improvements come in many forms such as new wing or fuselage shapes to improve lift or decrease drag. Other improvements are internal. One of these areas is the inclusion of advanced electronic systems for various roles. These changes affect a wide range of aircraft systems including, but not limited to avionics, power generation and thermal management. While these modifications promise to increase aircraft capabilities such as its range, payload or other key performance parameters, there are some significant drawbacks. One drawback is the thermal and power requirements needed to meet these needs. This problem will only be amplified by the addition of a High Energy Pulsed System (HEPS). This improvement, along with existing electronic systems that could be featured on next generation aircraft could cause a significant thermal load on an aircraft, where heat dissipation is already a problem. HEPS of this sort generate excessive amounts of heat during operation, creating an aircraft integration problem that might overwhelm the vehicles thermal management systems. Using the innovative solution of cryogenically cooling the HEPS, the proposed system would use Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) as the system's primary coolant. In order to accomplish this, preliminary studies were carried out which indicated that the cryogenic cooling system for a HEPS could possibly be of a reasonable size for an aircraft application. Following this, detailed MatLab/Simulink models were made of the required cryogenic components so that they could be integrated into a T2T model to analyze the vehicle level effects of the LNG system. An initial aircraft integrated LNG HEPS system was designed and the results showed the HEPS was cooled and the rest of the aircraft also received a cooling effect. Further studies have enhanced that effect and attempted to accomplish the same cooling capability as the baseline aircraft, while using the LNG more efficiently. These studies show that LNG is indeed capable of thermally managing the entire aircraft effectively with a reasonable amount of LNG. Additionally, the designed architecture that cooled the entire aircraft with LNG showed that it could cope with the anticipated increase in thermal demands over time by simply adding additional LNG capacity. Finally, an architecture was designed that would take full advantage of LNG as a fuel. This palletized system uses the LNG to fuel a micro gas-turbine which in turn provides electricity to the HEPS and other systems directly connected to the LNG system. This proposed architecture is a good platform to investigate the transient concerns of startup, shutdown and other operating points of the system for various missions. In summary, LNG has shown itself to be an effective coolant and a distinct possibility as a solution to rapidly increasing power and thermal demands aboard aircraft, which deserves further in depth experimentation and study to develop a viable system.