Design method and performance analysis of a hybrid-electric power-train applied in a 30-passenger aircraft

Abstract

Design methods to transform actual aircraft propulsion systems into hybrid, and to analyze the performance must be developed. Present work details the first approach of a preliminary design method and evaluation of a hybrid-electric power-train for a conventional airplane. High fidelity models of the components are developed based on the physical relations of the involved variables. The main characteristics of the chosen aircraft with conventional propulsion on a typical mission are the inputs of an application developed in SUAVE, which renders aerodynamic variables for the design process. The turboprop engines of the conventional and hybrid (in parallel architecture) systems are modeled in GasTurb. The propeller is modeled using blade element momentum theory (BEMT) on the software JBlade. The first simulation results are used to calculate the initial power-train electrical components characteristics. Modeling results in steady state conditions are inputs of a code developed in MatLab, a design optimization algorithm that calculates the base characteristics of the optimal hybrid motor components. The method was tested employing the gas turbine TR5000 on turbo-prop configuration as the engine of the hybrid set. The aircraft EMB–120 ‘Brasilia’ was the airplane of this application, aiming to characterize the most important outcomes from this multidisciplinary approach.