Series-hybridisation, distributed electric propulsion and boundary layer ingestion in long-endurance, small remotely piloted aircraft: Fuel consumption improvements

Abstract

Series hybridisation, distributed electric propulsion (DEP) and boundary layer ingestion (BLI) are some of the most promising approaches for fuel consumption reductions in general aviation and commercial air transport. While these technologies can be also adapted for long endurance and long range, propeller-driven, small remotely piloted aircraft, their beneficial effects are not so clear due to the relatively high increase in propulsion system weight and the reduction in efficiency of the lower Reynolds number propellers. Using weights and efficiencies of off-the-shelf components, this work studies the impact of series hybridisation with and without DEP and BLI in a long endurance, 25 kg of maximum takeoff mass fixed wing aircraft, showing promising results with fuel consumption reductions of more than 15%.