Technological Feasibility of a Full-Electric Aircraft Considering Weight, Volume, and Reliability Restrictions

Igor Bolvashenkov, Jörg Kammermann, Alexander Rubinraut, Hans Georg Herzog, Ilia Frenkel

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

The chapter presents a feasibility study for full-electric aircraft in terms of a conversion design. The advancement of energy storage technologies has given the potential to fully electrify future transport systems. The means of electrifying aircraft are to reduce carbon emission and increase efficiency in air transport. This chapter studies the feasibility of developing an all-electric short to midrange aircraft. The study investigates the possibility of replacing the aircraft’s conventional system with an all-electric drive train. Using the current conventional aircraft model, different types of electrical systems are compared to examine their advantages and limitations. The parameters of the turboprop-powered regional airliner De Havilland Canada Dash 8 (DH8D) and the average flight are used to analyze the feasibility of completing a desired range. Additionally, a reliability analysis is conducted for both the conventional and the electrified version of aircraft, including different electrified topologies. The results show that the electrification of aircraft with the studied propulsion system is not feasible for the conventional range, but producing an all-electric aircraft is possible when the technology allows for it. Furthermore, it could be shown that the increase of the number of fuel pumps in the conventional system in order to produce redundancy does not have a significant impact. The availability of the electric system results to be slightly lower compared to the conventional system. This fact arises due to the missing redundancy path for the electrical power supply subsystem.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationSpringerBriefs in Applied Sciences and Technology
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Pages21-39
Number of pages19
DOIs
StatePublished - 2022

Publication series

NameSpringerBriefs in Applied Sciences and Technology
ISSN (Print)2191-530X
ISSN (Electronic)2191-5318

Keywords

  • Aircraft electrification
  • Availability
  • DH8D
  • Fault tolerance
  • Fuel cell
  • Multi-phase electrical machines
  • Reliability

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