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1 – 10 of over 30000
Article
Publication date: 18 April 2022

Hamdi Ercan and Mustafa Akın

In more than 100 years of aviation, significant progress has been made in flight control systems. The aircrafts that have entered service for the past ten years tend towards…

Abstract

Purpose

In more than 100 years of aviation, significant progress has been made in flight control systems. The aircrafts that have entered service for the past ten years tend towards power-by-wire flight control with electrical actuators. The purpose of this study is to analyse the effects of electrical actuation on power consumption, weight and fuel consumption on a commercial transport aircraft.

Design/methodology/approach

The Airbus A321-200 aircraft was chosen as a case study for analysing the effects of electrical actuation on the flight control actuation system (FCAS) architecture, and Pacelab SysArc software was used for design, modelling and analysis. As alternatives to the existing system, hybrid and all-electric models are built to a set of design guidelines with certain limitations.

Findings

Compared to the existing FCAS architecture model, 80 kg weight savings in the hybrid FCAS architecture model and 171 kg weight savings in the all-electric FCAS architecture model were observed. In terms of fuel consumption, it has been observed that there is 0.25% fuel savings in the hybrid FCAS architecture model, and 0.48% fuel savings in the all-electric FCAS architecture model compared to the existing FCAS architecture model at 3200 NM.

Practical implications

In line with the data obtained from this study, it is predicted that electrical actuation is more preferable in aircraft, considering its positive effects on weight and fuel consumption.

Originality/value

In this study, three different models were created: the existing FCAS architecture of a commercial transport aircraft, the hybrid FCAS architecture and the all-electric FCAS architecture. Hybrid and all-electric models are built according to a set of design guidelines, with certain limitations. Then, similar flight missions consisting of the same flight conditions are defined to analyse the effects of power consumption, weight, and fuel consumption comparatively.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 94 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1748-8842

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 January 2012

Grzegorz Ombach

An electrical revolution in the automotive sector was decided on at the end of 2008, when the European Parliament passed legislation of lower CO2 emissions of new cars. This…

1138

Abstract

Purpose

An electrical revolution in the automotive sector was decided on at the end of 2008, when the European Parliament passed legislation of lower CO2 emissions of new cars. This causes and forces the development of alternative concepts of propulsion systems and alternative fuels. These new trends of propulsion technologies such as hybrid and pure electric drive will have an impact on the entire design of cars. The purpose of this paper is to present an evolution of selected fractional horsepower electrical drives used in cars. Analysis of electromechanical components can be divided into two groups: the first one contains the currently used subsystems, e.g. electric power steering system, engine cooling systems, etc.; and the second one presents the development of new components, e.g. electric air‐conditioning compressor and other by‐wire technologies. Additionally, the development and trends of new materials and technologies used in electrical drives for the automotive industry are presented.

Design/methodology/approach

Performed analysis based on a review of the literature and the author's own research and experience in the area of electromechanical systems for automotive applications. During motor design, computer numerical simulation method, CAD and experiment were used. The development perspectives in the area of electromechanical systems in automotive area are presented. Additionally, the evolution of fractional horse power electric motors, with the influence of new developments in the area of electric vehicles, are analysed and presented.

Findings

The presented analysis shows that a change of technology from brush type motors into brushless is inevitable. Additionally, further miniaturization will be conducted using a higher energy permanent magnet. Furthermore, an increase of efficiency will be achieved by increasing the voltage level from 12 V to 48 V or even higher, e.g. 120 V.

Originality/value

This is the first paper, where, in a comprehensive way, developments of fractional horse power electromechanical systems for electric and hybrid vehicles are presented. The results of this paper can be utilized during the creation of the products' road‐maps in this area.

Details

COMPEL - The international journal for computation and mathematics in electrical and electronic engineering, vol. 31 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0332-1649

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 September 2014

Michael J. Armstrong and Christine A.H. Ross

This article is aims to inform aircraft propulsion system designers of the implications which fundamental power distribution design assumptions have on the effectiveness and…

Abstract

Purpose

This article is aims to inform aircraft propulsion system designers of the implications which fundamental power distribution design assumptions have on the effectiveness and viability of turboelectric distributed propulsion (TeDP) systems. Improvements and challenges associated with selecting alternating or direct current for normal- and superconducting distribution systems are presented. Additionally, for superconducting systems, the benefits of bi-polar DC distribution are discussed, as well as the implications of operating voltage on the mass and efficiency of TeDP grid components.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach to this paper selects several high-level fundamental configuration decisions, which must be made, and it qualitatively discusses potential implications of these decisions.

Findings

Near term TeDP architectures which employ conventionally conducting systems may benefit from alternating current (AC) distribution concepts to eliminate the mass and losses associated with power conversion. Farther term TeDP concepts which employ superconducting technologies may benefit from direct current (DC) distribution to reduce the cryocooling requirements stemming from AC conduction losses. Selecting the operating voltage for superconducting concepts requires a divergence from the present day criteria employed with terrestrial superconducting transmission systems.

Practical implications

The criteria presented in the paper will assist in the early conceptual architecting of TeDP systems.

Originality/value

The governing principles behind the configuration of multi-MW airborne electrical microgrid systems are presently immature. This paper represents a unique look and the motivating principles behind fundamental electrical configuration decisions in the context of TeDP.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology: An International Journal, vol. 86 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0002-2667

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 October 2022

Eyyüp Öksüztepe, Ufuk Kaya and Hasan Kurum

More electric aircraft (MEA) is defined as the extensive usage of electric power in aircraft. The demand for electric power in new generation aircraft rises due to environmental…

Abstract

Purpose

More electric aircraft (MEA) is defined as the extensive usage of electric power in aircraft. The demand for electric power in new generation aircraft rises due to environmental and economic considerations. Hence, efficient and reliable starter/generators (SGs) are trending nowadays. The conventional main engine starting system and power generation system can be replaced with an individual SG. The constraints of the SG should be investigated to handle the aviation requirements. Even though the SG is basically an electric machine, it requires a multidisciplinary study consisting of electromagnetic, thermal and mechanical works to cope with aviation demands. This study aims to review conventional and new-generation aircraft SGs from the perspective of electric drive applications.

Design/methodology/approach

First of all, the importance of the MEA concept has been briefly explained. Also, the historical development and the need for higher electrical power in aircraft have been indicated quantitatively. Considering aviation requirements, the candidate electrical machines for aircraft SG have been determined by the method of scoring. Those machines are compared over 14 criteria, and the most predominant of them are specified as efficiency, power density, rotor thermal tolerance, high-speed capability and machine complexity. The features of the most suitable electrical machine are pointed out with data gathered from empirical studies. Finally, the trending technologies related to efficient SG design have been explained with numeric datasets.

Findings

The induction motor, switched reluctance motor and permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) are selected as the candidate machines for SGs. It has been seen that the PMSM is the most preferable machine type due to its efficient operation in a wide range of constant power and speed. It is computationally proven that the using amorphous magnetic alloys in SG cores increases the machine efficiency more. Also, the benefits of high voltage direct current (HVDC) use in aircraft have been explained by a comparison of different aircraft power generation standards. It is concluded that the HVDC use in aircraft decreases total cable weight and increases aircraft operation efficiency. The thermal and mechanical tolerance of the SG is also vital. It has been stated that the liquid cooling techniques are suitable for SGs.

Originality/value

The demand for electrical power in new generation aircraft is increasing. The SG can be used effectively and efficiently instead of conventional systems. To define requirements, constraints and suggestions, this study investigates the SGs from the perspective of electric drive applications.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 95 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1748-8842

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 4 March 2020

Marco Fioriti, Silvio Vaschetto, Sabrina Corpino and Giovanna Premoli

This paper aims to present the main results achieved in the frame of the TIVANO national-funded project which may anticipate, in a stepped approach, the evolution and the design…

1740

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to present the main results achieved in the frame of the TIVANO national-funded project which may anticipate, in a stepped approach, the evolution and the design of the enabling technologies needed for a hybrid/electric medium altitude long endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to perform persistent intelligence surveillance reconnaissance (ISR) military operations.

Design/methodology/approach

Different architectures of hybrid-propulsion system are analyzed pointing out their operating modes to select the more suitable architecture for the reference aircraft. The selected architecture is further analyzed together with its electric power plant branch focusing on electric system architecture and the selected electric machine. A final comparison between the hybrid and standard propulsion is given at aircraft level.

Findings

The use of hybrid propulsion may lead to a reduction of the total aircraft mass and an increase in safety level. However, this result comes together with a reduced performance in climb phase.

Practical implications

This study can be used as a reference for similar studies and it provides a detailed description of propulsion operating modes, power management, electric system and machine architecture.

Originality/value

This study presents a novel application of hybrid propulsion focusing on a three tons class MALE UAV for ISR missions. It provides new operating modes of the propulsion system and a detailed electric architecture of its powertrain branch and machine. Some considerations on noise emissions and infra-red traceability of this propulsion, at aircraft level.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 92 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1748-8842

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 July 2022

Oleksii V. Bialobrzheskyi and Dmytro Rod'Kin

The purpose of this paper is to identify on the instantaneous electrical power basis of a nonsinusoidal periodic current three-phase asymmetric system, active and reactive…

54

Abstract

Purposes

The purpose of this paper is to identify on the instantaneous electrical power basis of a nonsinusoidal periodic current three-phase asymmetric system, active and reactive positive, negative and zero sequence powers, taking into account higher harmonics. The main power theories, including those embodied in the IEEE 1459 standard, do not allow to evaluate some of power components.

Design/methodology/approach

A well-known fact is that the three-phase AC system total power with the symmetry of currents and voltages is constant. It corresponds to the electrical energy transfer process in a DC system. In this case, the electrical energy transmission can be taken as high quality. It has been established that the components of active and reactive powers are because of the product of current and voltage of unidirectional sequences. The orthogonal components of the oscillating power are because of the product of the voltage and current components of different sequences, with the exception of the zero sequence.

Findings

For an unbalanced nonsinusoidal mode of a three-phase system, the components of instantaneous power were defined, corresponding to the active and reactive positive and negative and zero sequences powers with the selection of the fundamental and higher harmonics. The active and reactive powers of sequences were divided into two categories – consumed and generated.

Originality/value

It is proposed to use the ratio of “interfere” power RMS value to the total power RMS value to assess the instantaneous power distortion.

Details

COMPEL - The international journal for computation and mathematics in electrical and electronic engineering , vol. 42 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0332-1649

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 November 2020

Soudamini Behera, Sasmita Behera, Ajit Kumar Barisal and Pratikhya Sahu

Dynamic economic and emission dispatch (DEED) aims to optimally set the active power generation with constraints in a power system, which should target minimum operation cost and…

Abstract

Purpose

Dynamic economic and emission dispatch (DEED) aims to optimally set the active power generation with constraints in a power system, which should target minimum operation cost and at the same time minimize the pollution in terms of emission when the load dynamically changes hour to hour. The purpose of this study is to achieve optimal economic and emission dispatch of an electrical system with a renewable generation mix, consisting of 3-unit thermal, 2-unit wind and 2-unit solar generators for dynamic load variation in a day. An improved version of a simple, easy to understand and popular optimization algorithm particle swarm optimization (PSO) referred to as a constriction factor-based particle swarm optimization (CFBPSO) algorithm is deployed to get optimal solution as compared to PSO, modified PSO and red deer algorithm (RDA).

Design/methodology/approach

Different model with and without wind and solar power generating systems; with valve point effect is analyzed. The thermal generating system (TGs) are the major green house gaseous emission producers on earth. To take up this ecological issue in addition to economic operation cost, the wind and solar energy sources are integrated with the thermal system in a phased manner for electrical power generation and optimized for dynamic load variation. This DEED being a multi-objective optimization (MO) has contradictory objectives of fuel cost and emission. To get the finest combination of the two objectives and to get a non-dominated solution the fuzzy decision-making (FDM) method is used herein, the MO problem is solved by a single objective function, including min-max price penalty factor on emission in the total cost to treat as cost. Further, the weight factor accumulation (WFA) technique normalizes the pair of objectives into a single objective by giving each objective a weightage. The weightage is decided by the FDM approach in a systematic manner from a set of non-dominated solutions. Here, the CFBPSO algorithm is applied to lessen the total generation cost and emission of the thermal power meeting the load dynamically.

Findings

The efficacy of the contribution of stochastic wind and solar power generation with the TGs in the dropping of net fuel cost and emission in a day for dynamic load vis-à-vis the case with TGs is established.

Research limitations/implications

Cost and emission are conflicting objectives and can be handled carefully by weight factors and penalty factors to find out the best solution.

Practical implications

The proposed methodology and its strategy are very useful for thermal power plants incorporating diverse sources of generations. As the execution time is very less, practical implementation can be possible.

Social implications

As the cheaper generation schedule is obtained with respect to time, cost and emission are minimized, a huge revenue can be saved over the passage of time, and therefore it has a societal impact.

Originality/value

In this work, the WFA with the FDM method is used to facilitate CFBPSO to decipher this DEED multi-objective problem. The results reveal the competence of the projected proposal to satisfy the dynamic load demand and to diminish the combined cost in contrast to the PSO algorithm, modified PSO algorithm and a newly developed meta-heuristic algorithm RDA in a similar system.

Article
Publication date: 12 September 2008

James Nutaro, Phani Teja Kuruganti, Mallikarjun Shankar, Laurie Miller and Sara Mullen

This paper aims to address a central concern in modeling and simulating electric grids and the information infrastructure that monitors and controls them. The paper discusses the…

1050

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to address a central concern in modeling and simulating electric grids and the information infrastructure that monitors and controls them. The paper discusses the need for and methods to construct simulation models that include important interactions between the physical and computational elements of a large power system.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper offers a particular approach to modeling and simulation of hybrid systems as an enabling technology for analysis (via simulation) of modern electric power grids. The approach, based on the discrete event system specification, integrates existing simulation tools into a unified simulation scheme. The paper demonstrates this approach with an integrated information and electric grid model of a distributed, automatic frequency maintenance activity.

Findings

Power grid modernization efforts need powerful modeling and simulation tools for hybrid systems.

Research limitations/implications

The main limitation of this approach is a lack of advanced simulation tools that support it. Existing commercial offerings are not designed to support integration with other simulation software products. The approach to integrating continuous and discrete event simulation models can overcome this problem by allowing specific tools to focus on continuous or discrete event dynamics. This will require, however, adjustments to the underlying simulation technology.

Originality/value

This paper demonstrates an approach to simulating complex hybrid systems that can, in principle, be supported by existing simulation tools. It also indicates how existing tools must be modified to support our approach.

Details

International Journal of Energy Sector Management, vol. 2 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-6220

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 September 2014

Christopher Perullo and Dimitri Mavris

The purpose of this study is to examine state-of-the-art in hybrid-electric propulsion system modeling and suggest new methodologies for sizing such advanced concepts. Many…

1298

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine state-of-the-art in hybrid-electric propulsion system modeling and suggest new methodologies for sizing such advanced concepts. Many entities are involved in the modelling and design of hybrid electric aircraft; however, the highly multidisciplinary nature of the problem means that most tools focus heavily on one discipline and over simplify others to keep the analysis reasonable in scope. Correctly sizing a hybrid-electric system requires knowledge of aircraft and engine performance along with a working knowledge of electrical and energy storage systems. The difficulty is compounded by the multi-timescale dynamic nature of the problem. Furthermore, the choice of energy management in a hybrid electric system presents multiple degrees of freedom, which means the aircraft sizing problem now becomes not just a root-finding exercise, but also a constrained optimization problem.

Design/methodology/approach

The hybrid electric vehicle sizing problem can be sub-divided into three areas: modelling methods/fidelity, energy management and optimization technique. The literature is reviewed to find desirable characteristics and features of each area. Subsequently, a new process for sizing a new hybrid electric aircraft is proposed by synthesizing techniques from model predictive control and detailed conceptual design modelling. Elements from model predictive control and concurrent optimization are combined to formulate a new structure for the optimization of the sizing and energy management of future aircraft.

Findings

While the example optimization formulation provided is specific to a hybrid electric concept, the proposed structure is general enough to be adapted to any vehicle concept which contains multiple degrees of control freedom that can be optimized continuously throughout a mission.

Originality/value

The proposed technique is novel in its application of model predictive control to the conceptual design phase.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology: An International Journal, vol. 86 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0002-2667

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 January 2019

Anna Maria Mazur and Roman Domanski

The presented research is carried out in reaction to the soaring costs of fuel and tight control over environmental issues such as carbon dioxide emissions and noise. The purpose…

Abstract

Purpose

The presented research is carried out in reaction to the soaring costs of fuel and tight control over environmental issues such as carbon dioxide emissions and noise. The purpose of this paper is to study the feasibility of applying the environmental-friendly energy source in an unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) propulsion system.

Design/methodology/approach

Currently, the majority of UAVs are still powered by conventional combustion engines. An electric propulsion system is most commonly found in civilian micro and mini UAVs. The UAV classification is reviewed in this study. This paper focuses mainly on application of electric propulsion systems in UAVs. Investigated hybrid energy systems consist of fuel cells, Li-ion batteries, super-capacitors and photovoltaic (PV) modules. Current applications of fuel cell systems in UAVs are also presented.

Findings

The conducted research shows that hybridization allows for better energy management and operation of every energy source onboard the UAV within its limits. The hybrid energy system design should be created to maximize system efficiency without compromising the performance of the aircraft.

Practical implications

The presented study highlights the reduction of the energy consumption, necessary to perform the mission and maximizing of the endurance with simultaneous decrease in emissions and noise level.

Originality/value

The conducted research studies the feasibility of implementing the environmental-friendly hybrid electric propulsion systems in UAVs that offers high efficiency, reliability, controllability, lack of thermal and noise signature, thus, providing quiet and clean drive with low vibration levels. This paper highlights the main challenges and current research on fuel cell in aviation and draws attention to fuel cell – electric system modeling, hybridization and energy management.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 91 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1748-8842

Keywords

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