Demonstration of a Novel Alternating Current Hybrid Concept for a Fuel Cell–Battery Hybrid Electric Aircraft

Debjani Ghosh,Christiane Bauer,Caroline Willich,Josef Kallo

doi:10.3390/en14217350

Abstract

Hybrid electric aircraft offer the potential to decrease emissions from air travel. A new hybrid concept is proposed for a fuel cell-battery hybrid aircraft. In contrast to existing hybrids, the proposed concept puts a battery directly on the AC phases of the motor, which together with a suitable switching circuit superimposes the DC voltage from the battery on the AC voltage of the motor phase providing a voltage boost depending on the battery voltage, which can be used during a high-power demand flight phase. The system is also capable of recharging the battery during flight. The necessary switching architecture was developed and modeled in MATLAB/Simulink to verify the concept and an experimental setup was built for demonstrating the functionality. Simulation and experimental results showed a very good agreement which is very promising for the proposed new hybrid topology.

Highlights

Concept for a Fuel Cell–BatteryThe threat of adverse climate change is becoming a prominent issue day by day.Emissions from the burning of fossil fuels in the transportation sector is one of the main contributors to the problem [1]
Simulation and experimental results showed a very good agreement which is very promising for the proposed new hybrid topology
This paper proposes and describes a novel hybrid concept for a fuel cell–battery drivetrain, which does not connect the fuel cell and battery in parallel on the DC side of the inverter as described above

Summary

Introduction

Emissions from the burning of fossil fuels in the transportation sector is one of the main contributors to the problem [1]. CO2 is the largest emission component in the aviation sector, comprising 70% of the exhaust [2]. Emissions from the aviation sector include other pollutants and greenhouse gases, making this sector one of the top 10 global emitters [3]. Technological advances have made it possible to reduce the amount of fuel burned and emissions produced per passenger, a continued growth in air traffic outweighs the improvement. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) predicts that the international aircraft emissions can become three times higher by 2050 compared to 2015 [4]

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Results

Conclusion