3735. Weight and Balance Challenges for Hybrid Electric Propulsion System

Paper

Abstract

In the last years electric propulsion systems became increasingly interesting and thanks to many of the technological breakthroughs from automotive companies this technological change is now entering the aviation industry and raises questions about the feasibility, advantages and challenges of the new technologies. In this context, the HEPS weight receives a special attention. The HEPS takes advantage of both electric motor and internal combustion engine and enables the system to be switched on the electrical component of the propulsion for specific flight phases (takeoff and landing).This proposed system has not only the benefit in fuel saving but also a reduction in takeoff noise, emission levels and cost. It also enables to open spaces and can contribute for safety increase, depending on application. This potential benefits are explored by manufacturers for future aircrafts, helicopters, drones and Urban Air Mobility vehicles.In that way, the main objective of this paper is to discuss and analyze HEPS architectures, considering the electric propulsion unit (e-motor and inverter), electric transmission (electrical protections and harness), electric energy source (battery/ fuel cell system and genset power generation) and thermal management (cooling system) from a weight and balance perspective. The aim is basically to answer the questions: which are the main relevant subsystems and components contributing for the weight of the HEPS and which are the challenges associated to it? In order to reach this goal a synthesis of bibliographic review is presented and a description research is proposed for a system with an aircraft application. The outcome of this work is a weight and balance perspective assessment of HEPS subsystem, which contributes to the understanding of this new technology and learning objectives for future aircraft design.