Modelling of a Hybrid-Electric Light Aircraft

Abstract

The European Research and Innovation Agenda as well as the NASA long-term programs have set ambitious targets in terms of emission reduction for the aviation industry.Continuous improvements of conventional technologies will not be enough to fulfil these ambitious requirements; there is a need for revolutionary aircraft concepts and/or radical innovative systems. One such concept is to use a hybrid-electric propulsion system.The CIRA and the Department of Industrial Engineering of the University of Naples “Federico II” have started a joint program in order to develop models and technologies related to the electrification of propulsive system in aviation.The aim of this work is, then, the exploration of possible benefits of hybrid-electric propulsion with a focus on general aviation and selecting appropriate missions.The hybrid-electric system has been designed assembling elements/systems all commercially available, realizing a very simple parallel layout, classifiable as “minimal hybrid”. Furthermore, such hybrid-electric system, -inclusive of energy storage system, transmission system, power management system, etc.- has been conceived to fit the original ICE requirements in term of weight, volume and max power at take-off.In this study, a simple model to evaluate the performances of a light aircraft equipped with a hybrid-electric propulsive system has been developed. The approach adopted combine the so-called 0D/1D simulation to evaluate the “single” ICE performances with a simple engineering modeling which allows the performances evaluation of the integrated power plant. The application of model for a simple transfer mission leads to fuel saving up to 20% while for classical training mission, where pilots make numerous run(lap) “touch –and-go”, the fuel saving can reach a significative 30%.