z HYBRID PROPULSION AND POWER

SYSTEMS ON AIRCRAFT

GUIDED BY
Mr. RANJITH E R
ASSISTANT
PRESENTED BY   PROFESSOR
Mr. ALLAN DAVID SAJU MED,VAST
ROLL NO:15
S7 ME A
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INTRODUCTION
 Aviation contributes to climate change, as it was responsible
for approximately 2.5% of global CO2 emissions in 2016.

 All-electric aircraft offer potential opportunity for zero in-

flight emissions in the long term. Considering this more than
70 all-electric conceptual, experimental, and commercial
aircraft have been researched. 

 Moreover, it is possible that aviation will continue its

historical growth of CO2 emission until an alternative idea is
made. All-electric, hybrid-electric, and turbo- electric
architecture aircraft can change this growth.
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INTRODUCTION (CONT..)

 All-electric aircraft could eliminate direct CO2 and non-CO2 warming, in

addition to removing all air pollutants. However, the specific energy of the
Li-ion battery cells is small to meet the short-range electric aircraft
demand.
 An all-electric aircraft flight would require 0.6–1.7% of worldwide
electricity consumption in 2015. 
 The hybrid-electric aircraft require low specific energy of the battery,
compared with all-electric aircraft.
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INTRODUCTION
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(CONT..)
 Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) systems are fueled by hydrogen or
hydrocarbon fuel, which can achieve high energy density. Collins and
McLarty introduced a SOFC gas turbine hybrid system utilized
hydrogen fuel.
 Fuel cell-gas turbine hybrid aircraft can achieve energy storage
densities in excess of 7 kWh/kg, more than 20× state-of-the-art battery
technology. 
 In addition, SOFC systems have low CO2 and pollutant emissions. They
have enormous potential in the aviation sector.
 The SOFC systems can work well on an unmanned aerial vehicle
(UAV) with long endurance because it is more sensitive to the specific
fuel consumption than the power-weight ratio 
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INTRODUCTION
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(CONT..)

 The specific power of SOFCs is low compared with that of batteries.

The cruise thrust is further lower than the takeoff thrust for most of the
aircraft. The SOFC power systems can provide enough cruise power
for aircraft, but they can not provide enough takeoff power.
 The specific power and energy will be both increased if fuel cells are
hybridized with lithium-ion batteries 
 An Hybrid propulsion and power systems combining batteries,
fuel cells, jet engines are proposed. 
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Hybrid propulsion and power systems 

• This system is similar to the turbofan engine. However, the fan and

the compressor are both driven by the motors rather than the
turbines, and the motors are powered by the SOFCs. 
• The power of the SOFC is exactly equal to the total power
consumed by the fan and the compressor if fuel cells do not
provide energy for other equipment. 
6 Hybrid propulsion and power systems (CONT) 
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Fig. 1. (a) Configuration and (b) detailed diagrams of the hybrid propulsion and power systems. 
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Hybrid propulsion and power systems (CONT) 

 First, the high-speed atmosphere is compressed by an intake and a fan. 

 The internal duct air is compressed again by the compressor.
 The air entering into the cathode of the SOFC is preheated by combustor
exhaust. 
 Electrochemical and internal reforming reactions occur in the SOFC. 
 SOFC cathode exhaust mixes with part of anode exhaust. 
 The mixing gas enters into the afterburner, and the refresh fuel is added to it
once again. Afterburner exhaust expands and output propulsion power in the
nozzle.
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Hybrid
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propulsion and power systems (CONT) 

Fig. 2. Operating strategies of the HPP system in the (a) take off segment (b) climb, cruise descent
and land segments (c) battery charge segment. 

• Under the takeoff segment, some refresh fuel is ejected into the
afterburner. 
• For the climb, cruise, descent, and land segments, the SOFC provides
energy to the motors instead of the battery. 
• Under the cruise conditions, the extra power can be produced by the
fuel cells, which can charge the battery or provide energy for the
airborne equipment. 
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System modeling 
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1.  Model assumptions

 The HPP system is simulated for steady-state operation. 
 Zero leakage occurs in the HPP system. 
 Gaseous working fluids are considered as ideal gases. 
 The air contains 21% oxygen and 79% nitrogen. 
 The fuel is assumed as propane (C3H8). 
 Only hydrogen and oxygen take part in the electrochemical reaction. 
 The working temperature of the SOFC is the outlet temperature of the fuel
cell. 
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System modeling (CONT..)
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2.  Aircraft model
• The choice of suitable aircraft is important to match with the HPP system with
low specific fuel consumption. The more fuel is loaded, the more endurance
is achieved. 
• So high altitude and long endurance aircraft are chosen.
• Therefore, according to Water and Cadou the lift co- efficient (CL) can be
calculated if the aircraft weight is known;

CL= Lift/(qS) = Wg 

Drag can be acquired by ; 

Drag = CD∙(qS)  
• Where,
CD = CDmin + K(CL-CLmin)2 
• According to force balance, the engine thrust will be acquired ;
Thrust = Drag , N
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System modeling (CONT..)
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TABLE 1
AIRCRAFT SPECIFICATIONS

Parameters  Value  Units 

Wingspan 40 m 
Wing area 64  m2 
z Aspect ratio  25
Loaded airframe 7000 kg 
Fuel capacity 7500 kg 
CDmin  0.0195
K 0.01725
CLmin  0.3
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3. HPP system model

System modeling (CONT..)
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• An SOFC model is chosen in which it contains electrochemical

models, chemical reaction models, mass transport models, and
heat transfer models. 

Fig. 3. Characteristic diagram of compressors 

 System modeling (CONT..)
 
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4. Mission framework
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 Data from a real flight Mission 872–0060 of Global Hawk RQ-4A is used
as an reference.
 There are five flight segments, which is take off, climb, cruise, descent,
and land.

Fig. 4. Mach number and altitude profile after being simplified for the Global Hawk RQ-4A 
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System modeling (CONT..)
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5. Model verification

Fig. 5. Validation of the SOFC models between current calculations and previous work 
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System modeling (cont.)
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6. Calculation procedure

Calculation procedure of the

HPP system, according to the
mathematical models. The
whole procedure includes four
loops calculation, which are (a)
energy balance of the SOFC,
(b) anode exhaust
concentration, (c) power
balance between the motors
and the fuel cell, and (d) fuel
cell temperature iteration.

Fig. 6.
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Results and discussion

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1. Flight segments 
 A complete flight mission for the aircraft is typically comprised of
five different segments, take-off, climb, cruise, descent, and land. 
 The battery provides electric power for the motors under take-off
conditions (maximum thrust).
 In the cruise segment, SOFCs provide energy for the motors.
17 Results and discussion (cont..)
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2. Take-off segment 

• The performance of the HPP

system in the take-off
segment.
• With increasing mass flow of
air, the specific thrust
needed decreases in Fig.
7(a) 
• The combustion temperature
also decreases in Fig. 7(b) 
• Fig. 7(d) shows the weight
variation of the motor,
battery, and consumed fuel. 

Fig. 7. Performance of the HPP system in the take-off segment

VS air mass flow. 
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Results and discussion (cont..)
3. Cruise
z segment

Fig. 8. Performance of the HPP system under different fuel utilization and
pressure ratios in the cruise segment. 
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Results and discussion (cont..)
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4. Climb, Descent, and land segments 

Fig. 9. (a) Flight tracks and (b) performance of the HPP system in the climb segment. 
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Results and discussion (cont..)
5. HPP zsystem characteristics
Speed characteristic

Fig. 10 Speed characteristic of the HPP system 

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Results and discussion (cont..)
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Altitude characteristic

Fig. 11. Altitude characteristic of the HPP system. 

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Results and discussion (cont..)
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Throttling characteristic

Fig. 12. Throttling characteristic of the HPP system. 

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Results and discussion (cont..)
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Complete HPP system

Fig. 13 (a) Mass distribution

and (b) flight mission
demonstration of the aircraft
equipped with the HPP
system. 
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z Conclusion

 The main conclusions are as follows: 

1. Using HPP system can reduce pollution caused by aircraft emissions.

2. Under the cruise segment, the decreasing rate of the weight of fuel cells slows with
decreasing fuel utilization. Low fuel utilization can achieve high thrust and thrust
specific fuel consumption.

3. At the high altitude, the HPP system can consume less fuel and produce less thrust.

4. The components of the HPP system occupies part fuel capacity of the original
unmodified aircraft.

5. The thrust specific fuel consumption will be significantly decreased if the fuel cell
area increases.
 REFERENCE
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 Zhixing Ji, Marvin M. Rokni, Jiang Qin, Silong Zhang and Peng Dong.
“Energy and configuration management strategy for battery/fuel cell/jet
engine hybrid propulsion and power systems on aircraft”. Energy
Conversion and Management 225 (2020) 113393. 

 Gnadt AR, Speth RL, Sabnis JS, Barrett SRH. "Technical and
environmental assessment of all-electric 180-passenger commercial
aircraft". Prog Aerosp Sci 2018. 

 Collins JM, McLarty D. "All-electric commercial aviation with solid oxide

fuel cell- gas turbine-battery hybrids". Appl Energy 2020;265:114787. 

 Waters DF, Cadou CP. "Engine-integrated solid oxide fuel cells for
efficient electrical power generation on aircraft". J Power Sources
2015;284:588–605 

 Pastor E, P ́erez-Batlle M, Barrado C, Royo P, Cuadrado R. "A

macroscopic performance analysis of NASA’s Northrop Grumman RQ-
4A". Aerospace 2018;5:1–16.
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