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Компания Daher-Socata объявила о подписании контракта в качестве ведущего партнера компании VoltAir (подразделение группы Airbus) по разработке и сертификации самолета на электрической тяге, анонсированного под именем E-Fan 2.0 в начале этого года.
Электрический двухместный самолет будет первым полноразмерным самолетом, создаваемым по программе электросамолетов Airbus Group. Учебно-тренировочный E-Fan 2.0 станет первым в мире серийным электрическим самолетом в мире.
Согласно контракту Daher-Socata отвечает за весь цикл разработки, включая создание электромотора и аккумуляторных батарей для нового самолета, а также проведет испытания и сертификацию в рамках EASA. Кроме того, компании предстоит совместная работа с авиационным департаментом Франции по отработке нормативной базы по эксплуатации электросамолетов и проведению первоначального обучения на них.
По сообщению официальных представителей компании, контракт стал результатом 18-месячной подготовительной работы, а его начало - очень своевременным для Daher-Socata, поскольку несколько месяцев назад компания выполнила программу по одномоторному турбовинтовому самолету TBM-900, что освободило инженерные ресурсы компании и позволило сфокусироваться на новом проекте. Предполагается, что первые продажи самолета E-Fan 2.0 будут нацелены на США, хотя ориентировочные цены еще не назывались.
В послужном списке компании Daher-Socata - выпуск более 700 турбовинтовых самолетов TBM и нескольких тысяч поршневых самолетов серий Rallye и TB.
When NASA unveiled its new vision for aeronautics research in 2013, part of the strategy was to get back to flying X-planes and enable its researchers to “learn by doing”—a culture eroded over the decades as budgets became smaller and risks less tolerable.
As a flagship for the return-to-flight research, NASA’s distributed electric propulsion testbed, the Scalable Convergent Electric Propulsion Technology Operations Research (Sceptor) program, is tackling the hurdles that have emerged over the years to prevent NASA building X-planes.
NASA
Sceptor is a three-year, $15 million program to fly a small electric-propulsion demonstrator based on a Tecnam P2006T light aircraft. “We face the challenges of a fixed time, a fixed budget and a smaller team,” says Starr Ginn, deputy aeronautics research director at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center. “We are working with two small businesses to bring down costs and increase flexibility.”
The 3,000-lb., 300-kW Sceptor is just a first step on NASA’s road map to megawatt-class electric propulsion for commercial aircraft. “We are trying to bring down the airworthiness processes to get through flight test quickly,” Ginn told the AIAA SciTech conference in San Diego on Jan. 6. “An independent review team will follow us through the design reviews.” This has met resistance from those in NASA who would prefer a more formal process to reduce risk.
The X-plane is planned to fly by early 2018, but many of the challenges have been tackled first on a ground-based testbed called LEAPTech—a wing with 18 electrically powered propellers on its leading edge, mounted above a truck driven along the dry lakebed at Edwards AFB in California. The aim of LEAPTech is to show the distributed electric props can increase lift by up to five times at low speed and allow use of a smaller, more efficient wing optimized for cruise.
“LEAPTech was not quite as straightforward as we thought. It has taken about a year longer than expected. But the initial results look like they are lining up with predictions,” says Ginn. Sceptor grew out of a proposal to add funding to put the LEAPTech wing onto an aircraft, but the limited budget meant the team had to use commercial off-the-shelf equipment. This has posed its own challenges.
With an aspect ratio of 17, the slender LEAPTech wing had little room inside for the motors, controllers, wiring and instrumentation. Packaging was difficult. “The motor controller was not the best, did not fit in the pod and was not fast enough,” Ginn says. For Sceptor, wing aspect ratio has had to be reduced to make packaging easier. Its area is now about half that of the standard P2006T wing. The redesign “is an opportunity to make the wing better,” she says.
Overcoming electromagnetic interference (EMI) in the tightly packed wing proved a black art. “EMI created havoc on the communications bus. At high power, the whole prop system would turn off,” she says. “We had to do a lot of workarounds on LEAPTech to get data. We learned 10 times more by having many, many failures. They informed us faster.”
The team had hoped to use proven motors and controllers for Sceptor from an offshore supplier, but the requirement to use U.S. companies led to the selection of Joby Aviation for the motor and Joby and LaunchPoint Technologies for the controller. “We end up doing a development effort for the motor and controller, which brings risk into the aircraft,” says Ginn.
Sceptor is proceeding in phases, beginning with flight tests of the baseline P2006T, now complete. Phase 2 involves installing the electric motors in place of the piston engines on the aircraft. In Phase 3, the new smaller wing will be fitted and the motors moved out to the wingtips, to demonstrate a fivefold reduction in energy consumption over the baseline aircraft. Phase 4, not yet funded, involves installing 12 smaller electric props along the leading edge to demonstrate the low-speed lift augmentation.
Recognizing that flight software development is costly and time-consuming, “We had to figure out how to do this with no software,” says Ginn. “So we use hard electronics to sense and cut off for emergencies. If one wingtip motor goes out, it will automatically cut off the other one. . . . The pilots are comfortable with this.”
In Phase 3, the new wing will not have distributed electric propulsion, so takeoff and landing will be at much higher speed—a trade-off the program has to accept. “It’s a constant give and take to fit within the budget and time,” says Ginn.
This column was originally published on January 22, 2016.
ну если они еще и крутятся в разные стороны - чтобы компенсировать сходящий с крыла вихрь и увеличивать эффективное удлинение. Похоже на это - так как крыло и так с большим удлинением, явно борьба за качество. Остальные насколько могли равномерно размазали по крылу - чтобы меньше изгибающих моментов было.
Если в одну - то это просто бессмысленно - будет асимметрия ненужная, но это очень вряд ли.
First flight of hydrogen-powered drone with water vapour exhaust
Fixed-wing drone flying against a snowy backdrop
Flying hydrogen
SAMS
It only lasted 10 minutes and the guys in woolly hats and high-vis jackets looked like any other drone enthusiasts. But this short flight was the first by an aircraft wholly powered by solid hydrogen.
The experimental drone runs on pellets that emit only water vapour when they burn. The drone’s fuel is also three times as light as a comparable lithium battery. One day the technology could help make commercial aircraft lighter and cleaner.
“The idea was simple: stick solid state hydrogen fuel into a drone and fly it – but it’s tricky to do,” says Phil Anderson, head of Marine Technology at the Scottish Association for Marine Science in Argyll, UK, where the flight took place.
Just as hydrogen fuel-cell cars have been eclipsed by electric vehicles, the idea never really took off with aircraft either. Previous efforts such as the Cryoplane project from Airbus used large tanks of liquid hydrogen kept at super-low temperatures. But these tanks proved too big and cumbersome to be practical. Storing hydrogen as a pressurised gas is also not very efficient.
Drone on and on
The new system, designed by UK firm Cella, uses around 100 solid pellets packed into a cartridge. The 1-centimetre-squared pellets are made from a chemical compound that produces a steady stream of hydrogen as they are gently heated.. This gas is then converted into electricity in a fuel cell that runs the drone’s rotor. The inclusion of a polymer stops the compound melting and helps it release hydrogen at a lower temperature.
The test flight lasted for 10 minutes and flew at an altitude of 80 metres – although it could have gone for two hours with the fuel it had on board, says Anderson. “Unlike with a battery, if you put in twice as much fuel you can go twice as far.”
A team prepares the drone in the middle of a field
Preparing for take-off
SAMS
Anderson thinks a future version of the drone would be perfect for the environmental and climate monitoring that his team carries out in the Arctic and north Atlantic. Because it is lighter than battery-powered drones it can fly for longer– plus it’s cleaner.
“The main thing is it just produces water vapour,” says Anderson. “A lot of the science we want to do is looking at trace gases so we can’t have contamination.”
Drones first, planes next
Because the drone’s propeller is its only moving part, it is also not susceptible to an effect called carburettor icing that can prevent petrol drones from operating in extreme cold, he says. He hopes to have a hydrogen drone carrying out research science in the next couple of years.
But, tantalisingly, the technology might not just be for drones. Longer term, it could be used in city cars and eventually provide hydrogen power for commercial aircraft, Anderson says.
“It’s a first step,” agrees Cella managing director Stephen Bennington. Cella is already working with French aviation firm Safran to produce pellet-powered fuel cells that can produce auxiliary power for planes – such as for in-flight entertainment and galley lighting. Another version of their technology for high-power applications dispenses with cartridges altogether and uses millimetre-sized pellets that can be pumped like a liquid fuel.
“If they can do what they claim, then they have a much bigger commercial space than just drones,” says Missy Cummings at the Humans and Autonomy lab at Duke University, North Carolina. “But the real answer will come in their next steps.”
Seerndv, в 2009 г. уже летали самолёты на топливных элементах: немецкий DLR-H2 и итальянский SkySPARK.
Проверьте, пожалуйста, нижнюю ссылку: она ведёт на ваш диск.
На картинке - гондола с генератором и топливными элементами самолёта DLR-H2
Seerndv, в 2009 г. уже летали самолёты на топливных элементах: немецкий DLR-H2 и итальянский SkySPARK.
Проверьте, пожалуйста, нижнюю ссылку: она ведёт на ваш диск.
- ссылку исправил. Там вся фишка в методе хранения водорода. Не жидкого и не сжатого
А с водородными ТЭ много чего летало уже.
Вопрос удешевления хранения и улучшение мер безопасности.
Pentagon researchers order plane that takes off and lands vertically with 24 ducted fans
The experimental unmanned plane is powered by a hybrid electric engine system
(CNN)No one has ever seen any airplane like this, except on computer animation. Now, some of the world's top aeronautical engineers are going to build it for real.
The plan calls for constructing a six-ton unmanned, remote controlled plane the size of a business jet with 24 spinning propellers embedded in its huge moveable wings that allow it to magically hover in midair.
It's an experimental airplane they call LightningStrike.
The design — by Aurora Flight Sciences Corporation — may look pretty strange, but on Thursday, it beat big-name companies Sikorsky and Boeing to win a contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, the Pentagon's research arm.
DARPA is trying to develop vertical takeoff and landing planes, called VTOLs, that fly faster and burn less fuel than current VTOLs, like the V-22 and MV-22 Osprey. You may have seen the Osprey, which is noticeable by its two big tilt-rotors on each side. These aircraft escort President Obama's Marine One helicopters.
Why VTOLs matter
War planners place high value on nimble aircraft that can land and take off virtually anywhere — no runway required.
But traditionally, helicopters can't pack much speed without using a lot of fuel.
LightningStrike's propulsion system is hybrid electric, which is designed to be more efficient. Engineers said they've designed it to be faster than the Osprey.
"Instead of taking two big powerful thrusters, we have 24 of them," said Aurora Chairman and CEO Dr. John Langford. "We distribute that same energy over 24 fans ... has less blast, less heat, is quieter and less disruptive, which means it can get into places that the V-22 can't. Part of the idea of this is to make it more practical."
Related story: Flying cross-country without airports
The V-22 is in no danger of being replaced by the LightningStrike, which will be built as a technology demonstration experimental aircraft. But DARPA hopes to learn from it and extrapolate data that might be used to develop future military aircraft, said Dr. Ashish Bagai, program manager of DARPA's Tactical Technology Office.
It's possible that someday ducted fan electric hybrid propulsion VTOL aircraft might be used as troop transports or even in combat situations, he said.
Hurdles ahead
Aurora expects to start test flying its new plane sometime around 2018. But building a successful prototype of LightningStrike will come with big challenges.
Engineering VTOLs to smoothly switch flying vertically to flying horizontally is always a difficult hurdle, said Bagai.
Unique challenges to building LightningStrike, he said, will include how to apply electric flight to VTOLs and how to push the plane's speed capability to their goal of 300 knots (345 mph).
Aurora's plans call for the plane's power plant to be the Rolls-Royce AE 1107C turboshaft engine, the same model used in the Osprey. The engine will turn three Honeywell electric generators.
Then those generators will power 18 fans that each will live inside ducts along the wings.
Toward the front of the plane, embedded inside two stubby wing-like protrusions called canards, are six additional fans. These fans thrust the plane into the air. The plane's wings twist forward as the aircraft shifts from vertical to horizontal flight.
"What you're starting to see here are designs and configurations and applications of technologies that have never been done before," Bagai said. "I think we have our work cut out for us."
Most powerful hybrid electric powertrain powers up A major step towards electric powered air travel was achieved on 9th February 2016 in the project HYPSTAIR, with the power-up of the world’s most powerful hybrid electric powertrain for aviation.
A major step towards electric powered air travel was achieved on 9th February 2016 with the power-up of the world’s most powerful hybrid electric powertrain for aviation in a project led by Pipistrel. Hybrid-electric powertrains are a new breed of aviation propulsion, which extend the range of all-electric aircraft while being environmentally friendly and quiet. The 200 kW propulsor developed during the project HYPSTAIR delivers the power equivalent to a typical general aviation piston engine and can run in three modalities: electric-only mode using batteries, generator-only mode or hybrid mode combining both power sources.
All powertrain components developed by Siemens during the project represent the state of the art of electric flight propulsion. The drive motor, delivering 200 kW take off power and 150 kW continuous, and the generator, delivering 100 kW feature a power density exceeding 5 kW/kg and dual windings with four power controllers to provide unprecedented reliability. Further element of innovation is the Human-Machine-Interface designed to simplify the operation of a complex powertrain. A single lever with haptic feedback is used to apply power and a new integrated cockpit display to monitor the powertrain status and performance.
Following the extensive laboratory testing of components and the integration on a representative airframe at the Pipistrel aviation factory in Slovenia, the successful power up trialled all propulsion modes at low and high powers, driving a specially developed five blade low rpm, low noise propeller. Tests of take-off power were performed using combined output of the generator driven by a turbonormalised engine and the high-performance battery custom developed to support high discharge rates.
Pipistrel CEO, Ivo Boscarol, says: “We are proud of what HYPSTAIR represents for the development of electric flight. It demonstrates the possibility for general aviation class aircraft to be electrically powered and it confirms the vision of Pipistrel – we were the first to design a four seat aircraft, the Panthera, than can be alternatively equipped with three different propulsion types: piston engine, electric motor or hybrid powertrain. Project HYPSTAIR represents a major step in the direction of a hybrid aircraft and an opportunity for Pipistrel and other general aviation aircraft manufacturers.”
Frank Anton, Head of eAircraft and the initiator of electric aircraft development at Siemens AG: “Siemens is developing electric drive systems with highest power-to-weight ratio for aircraft propulsion. Only with innovation we can solve the problems of rising fuel costs, rising passenger demand and rising environmental regulation. Innovations developed for the HYPSTAIR hybrid-electric powertrain will be instrumental in making aviation more sustainable in the long run. As electric drives are scalable, we can expect, that in the future also larger aircraft will use electric propulsion. The world is becoming electric, whether in the air, on land or at sea.”
Max Pinucci, CEO of MBVision: “In technical progress, there have always been small steps that demonstrated how reality can be even more creative of imagination. This success opens the way not only to the future hybrid/electric flight, but to endless opportunities of research in technology and design, representing the true patrimony in which we must invest”.
Prof. Aldo Frediani from University of Pisa: “The electric flying allows not only reduction of the environmental impact of aviation but also the opportunity to investigate different aircraft configurations, innovative architectures for integration of the motors, new design tools and methods. In HYPSTAIR project, our team has focused on the performance estimation of the hybrid electric aircraft and has developed a simulator with the capability of taking into account the behaviours of all the components, including the pilot. Piloting strategy, in fact, has a big influence on energy management; moreover a new generation of hybrid airplane pilots may once be required for the future affirmation of this technology.”
“The HYPSTAIR project is an excellent example of fruitful cooperation between stakeholders of industry, science and research. With power-up of the world’s most powerful hybrid electric powertrain for aviation significant milestone was achieved, to be followed by further laboratory testing of components under the leadership of University of Maribor. During the project, our team delivered also a pioneer work on haptic power lever providing much easier operation of the complex hybrid system. We believe that further development of alternative propulsion systems is essential. Hopefully, its importance will be recognized and continually supported by the European Commission.” says assoc. prof. dr. Stane Božičnik from University of Maribor.
In the upcoming months, extensive testing will continue to simulate typical mission profiles covered in the performance study and to validate the hybrid drive concept and performance. This pioneering achievement was first unveiled at the E2 Fliegen Symposium 2016 in Stuttgart, Germany.
Project HYPSTAIR has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no. 605305. Project partners are Pipistrel d.o.o. Ajdovščina, Siemens AG, MBVision, University of Pisa and University of Maribor. http://www.hypstair.eu/most-powerful-hybrid-electric-powertrain-powers-up/
- не знаю зачем, вроде NASA курировало работы по эффективности пропеллеров на высотах до 100 000 футов.
Двигатель предусматривался электрический. Там упоминалось что это в т.ч. и для марсианских зондов.
Four Research Benefits Of The Perlan II Flight
May 13, 2016 Regina Kenney| AviationWeek.com The Airbus Perlan Mission II glider will attempt to break the record for high altitude flight by reaching 90,000 ft. this summer in Argentina. This mission will gather research on greenhouse gases, ozone, high altitude flight and climate change. Last weekend, Airbus CEO Tom Enders flew in the Perlan II glider for a test flight in Minden, Nevada. In interviews with Enders, Perlan CEO Ed Warnock, Chief Meteorologist Elizabeth Austin, and Board Member Stephane Fymat, the group explained the many research benefits that will come from flying the glider.
High Altitude Flight
Currently, commercial aircraft fly at 35,000-40,000 ft. With the expansion of air travel, this height has the potential for congestion. The Perlan II glider will gather information on the dynamics of flying at high altitude. This research could potentially be used to design future high-altitude commercial aircraft. Meteorological Research
In contrast to balloons sent up to the stratosphere to gather data, the Perlan II can direct its flight, which allows for a more accurate measurement. Also, balloons go toabout 50,000 ft., whereas the Perlan II aims to hit 90,000 ft.—greatly increasing the amount and type of data gathered. The glider will be equipped with many scientific measuring instruments to collect air data including winds, air temperatures, electric and magnetic fields, and water vapor and methane which will contribute to our understanding of weather patterns.
Flying on Mars
When we think about colonizing Mars, much of the focus is on the vehicles for exploring the terrain—but what about using aircraft as a means to travel across the Martian surface? Mars’s atmosphere is similar to flying at 90,000 ft. on Earth, so the glider's functionality in this space could provide tips on how to design an aircraft for Mars. One focus is to learn whether the Perlan II’s wingspan is optimal for flying in Mars's atmosphereat 2% of the pressure of Earth’s.
Ozone Layer
Many of the chemicals in air are volatile, so an aircraft’s engine could skew data whereas the Perlan II is engineless and will not affect the chemical research the team plans to perform on the ozone layer. The glider will be able to take uncontaminated air samples to see if we are slowing or reversing the ozone layer. The formation of nitric acid crystals that come in contact with chlorofluororocarbons in the atmosphere cause the release of chlorine that catalyzes ozone destruction. In real time, the Perlan II will be able to study the chemistry of ozone depletion.
- что ему в будущем в качестве движителя? 90000 ft = 27432 m
Только электропривод с с пропеллером.
Электрички готовы летать на Марсе, напомним, давление атмосферы там эквивалентно земному выше 30 000 м.
NASA Helicopter Could Fly on Mars
by Mark Huber
- June 23, 2016, 4:19 AM
NASA is developing a 2.2-pound unmanned helicopter to fly on Mars. (Photo: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory)
The U.S. House of Representatives has approved $15 million to continue development of a 2.2-pound NASAunmanned helicopter with twin contra-rotating blades designed to fly on Mars. The autonomous helicopter is slated to be included on a 2020 mission to the Red Planet and is designed to fly ahead of a surface rover for two to three minutes per day as a scout vehicle, before returning to the rover to recharge its solar batteries. Accounting for the low atmospheric pressure on Mars, the rotor disc of the proposed prototype spans 3.6 feet and supports a body that resembles a medium-sized tissue box and is hardened against solar radiation. The current design has been tested at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
NASA says the Mars Helicopter could triple a rover’s daily range by delivering visual information that will help engineers on Earth plan the best driving route. The rover will be specially instrumented to detect scientific indications of past or present life on the plan
Airbus: Hybrid-Power Helicopters Not Practical Yet
Jul 12, 2016Graham Warwick| Aviation Week & Space Technology
Hybrid-electric propulsion could improve the safety of helicopters, but to become practical it demands even more dramatic improvements in energy storage than required for fixed-wing applications because of the need for light weight.
That is the conclusion of studies conducted by Airbus Helicopters, which has already test-flown a single-turbine AS350/H125 with a backup battery-powered electric motor to assist with autorotation after engine failure.
The 2011 test put AHC ahead of other rotorcraft manufacturers also exploring hybrid propulsion. But the studies, presented at AHS International’s Forum 72 convention in May, concluded that an emergency electric power source to increase safety was not ready for use because of the additional cost and weight.
HOW HYBRID POWER COULD BE USED—AND WHAT AIRBUS HELICOPTERS THINKS Help turbine meet 30-sec. one-engine inoperative rating—Feasible now
Provide autorotation assistance if turbine fails—Payload penalty too high
Provide emergency power if engine fails in a twin—Cost too high
Enable all-electric variable-rpm tail rotor—Too heavy
Full hybrid and full electric propulsion—Batteries nowhere near ready
Airbus studied architectures ranging from mild hybridization to back up the turbine powerplant to a full electric-powered helicopter, but concluded: “Very significant progress is still needed . . . especially for the storage device, the battery being the best fit but still far away from the weight/power ratio required for the helicopter, which is the most demanding aircraft in terms of lightness.”
Airbus is not the first to study electric propulsion. In 2010, Sikorsky modified an S-300C light helicopter as the all-electric Firefly, replacing the piston engine with a 140-kW (190-hp) electric motor and mounting lithium-ion battery packs in external panniers. But the aircraft was never flown.
Under Project Zero, AgustaWestland, now Leonardo’s helicopter division, in 2012 flew an unmanned, all-electric, vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) aircraft with tilting ducted rotors. Germany’s e-Volo is flight testing a VTOL two-seat model with a fixed overhead array of 18 battery-powered propellers.
Bell Helicopter has begun studying hybrid propulsion, while Boeing in February received a U.S. patent (9,248,908) for a hybrid electric helicopter in which a diesel engine-driven generator and batteries provide power to motors on the main and tail rotor to provide the safety of a twin-engine design.
Architectures studied by Airbus Helicopters include a microhybrid with up to 50 kW of electric power to provide transient assistance to the turbine engine. This would provide electric power to the turbine’s gas generator to boost output at the power turbine to meet the 30-sec. one-engine-inoperative rating. Such an application is possible with available technology, the study concludes.
A mild hybrid architecture, meanwhile, would provide up to 300 kW of electric power, either to the main gearbox for emergency power in the event of engine failure or the tail rotor to make it fully electric, says Christian Mercier, chief engineer, research and technology, for innovative power systems at Airbus Helicopters.
Providing 15-30 sec. of power after engine failure in a single-turbine light helicopter, an automatic electric backup system would reduce reaction time and rotor-speed droop, preventing too high a descent rate and improving controllability and safety in an autorotation landing.
“Available motors and power electronics, and one-shot-specific batteries, are close to enabling a complete [backup] system weighing less than 50 kg [110 lb.],” he says. But the development and recurring costs would not provide customer value “because of the loss in payload near to one passenger in the absence of a regulatory constraint that would impose it on all manufacturers.”
In a twin-turbine helicopter, an electric backup system could increase one-engine-inoperative takeoff performance where it is limited by the emergency power rating of the surviving engine, and the study says that Airbus tested such a system on a midsize helicopter demonstrator in 2015.
“The outcome can be a payload benefit equivalent to up to 2-3 passengers in takeoff performance on confined or ground helipad configurations,” the study says, but it concludes the recurring and high-development cost for such systems prevent their near-term application.
Airbus is also experimenting with idling or shutting down one engine in the cruise on twin-turbine helicopters, to reduce fuel consumption, and flight tested the concept in 2015 on its Bluecopter technology demonstrator, a modified EC145 light twin.
A mild hybrid could help in so-called super-idle or single-engine operations by providing the extra power required to sustain level flight on one turbine without a significant reduction in cruise speed. When the batteries are drained, the second engine would restart to sustain cruise and recharge them.
But this architecture would reduce fuel burn by only a few percent, increase system complexity, add about 250 kg in batteries, motor and electronics, and “is not promising yet,” Mercier concludes.
Several manufacturers are looking at potentially powering the anti-torque tail rotor electrically, to decouple it from main-rotor rpm and optimize the design for increased performance and reduced noise.
But Airbus’s study concludes that a redundant, variable-rpm tail-rotor drive system, at about 70 kg, incurs an unacceptable weight penalty roughly equivalent to one passenger. Motor weight will have to reduce by a factor of five before an electric tail-rotor can be feasible, the study finds.
The team also studied a full hybrid architecture for an H125 light helicopter, where the single turbine engine is reduced in size and operated to minimize its fuel burn, and batteries are used to meet peak power demand, such as on takeoff.
In this serial hybrid example, the downsized turbine drives a 500 kW-class generator that supplies electric power, along with that from batteries, to a 450-kW motor driving the main rotor at 350 rpm and a 70-kW motor driving the tail rotor at 4,200 rpm.
The fuel-burn reduction from running a smaller turbine at its optimum specific fuel consumption could be almost 10%, but losses in the electric system could approach 20%, the study says. And the electric system would weigh more than 300 kg.
Battery power density will have to increase by a factor of at least seven and, even then, downsizing the turbine will not be sufficient to offset the empty-weight penalty. “This architecture has no future with the electrical component characteristics currently forecast,” the study concludes.
While small electric multirotor unmanned aircraft that fly for short durations are now common, AHC determined all-electric propulsion for full-size rotorcraft is impractical because the power and energy required to fly a 3,000-kg helicopter for 2 hr. “are way too much with current battery technology.”
Because of volume constraints, current technology would provide only 10 min. of cruise flight and the batteries and motors would weigh roughly 1,000 kg. Battery energy density would have to improve by a factor of 14 for an all-electric helicopter to become practical, the study concludes.
The study also highlights that the electric motors, power electronics and batteries would need cooling, adding weight, unless used for only short durations, such as the emergency backup system. Battery system volume is also an issue in helicopters, where it could eat into baggage and passenger volumes. http://aviationweek.com/technology/airbus-hybrid-power-helicopters-not-practical-yet
Airbus considering 19-seat hybrid-electric aircraft for general aviation market
21 JULY, 2016
BY: STEPHEN TRIMBLE
WASHINGTON DC
Airbus is now considering general aviation designs with up to 19 seats with hybrid-electric power after meeting with potential development partners among a small group of traditional US small aircraft manufacturers, a senior executive tells Flightglobal.
The new studies replace plans to develop a smaller, four-seat, hybrid-electric general aviation aircraft after demonstrating the propulsion technology in a future two-seat trainer and current two-seat prototype.
But the larger aircraft concept, if launched, would still serve its primary purpose as a stepping-stone towards Airbus’ long-term ambition, which is to develop a 90-seat airliner with a distributed, hybrid-electric propulsion system.
Airbus flew the prototype, battery-powered E-Fan 1.0 across the English Channel last year. A new E-Fan 1.2 with a hybrid-electric motor, including an avgas-powered “range extender," will appear at the Experimental Aircraft Association’s annual fly-in next week in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. And Airbus is developing a two-seat E-Fan 2.0 trainer for subsidiary VoltAir to operate commercially after 2017.
The next step in the E-Fan plan called for developing a four-seat version to serve the same market as the Cessna 172, except using electric power. Acknowledging a lack of experience in the general aviation market, Airbus decided to seek partnerships with US manufacturers already serving the general aviation market, says Ken McKenzie, deputy chairman and senior-vice-president of strategy and corporate development.
Airbus’s original concept for the four-seat E-Fan 4.0 was quickly deemed too small by the potential partners. “They said, ‘We think you should be thinking bigger than that,” McKenzie says. Aircraft configurations are now being considered with up to 19 seats, the maximum currently allowed under the US Federal Aviation Administration’s Part 23 category for general aviation.
Время полёта на двигателях с установленной батареей - 40-60 минут ориентировочно, в зависимости от режима, пока не проверяли.
Данный экземпляр АС-4-ДУ с двумя неубирающимися электромоторами - экспериментальный, для отработки технических решений.
Мощность двигателей по 10 КВт каждый. В настоящие время подбираем винты для реализации максимального КПД двигателей. Заряда батарей хватает на взлет с набором высоты до 1000 метров и на долет в 70-80 км при прямолинейном полете.
Все комплектующие , кроме батарей ОТЕЧЕСТВЕННОГО производства. Стоимость будет очень адекватной , по сравнению с импортными аналогами.
Серийная модель АС4ДУ полностью выполнена из углепластика. размах 13,5 метров ,крылья с флаперонами. Качество 41
Максимальная скороподьемность, без значительного увеличения стоимости электроустановки, не более 3 м/с.
Стоимость серийной мотоустановки, с контроллером и батареями планируется в диапазоне 500-600 т.р. в зависимости от мощности и емкости батарей, с работой по монтажу .
Производитель компания Авиастроитель из Пензы.
