Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Author
James Domone
Senior Engineer
June 2018
About us
SNC-Lavalin’s Atkins business is one of the world’s
most respected design, engineering and project
management consultancies. Together, SNC-Lavalin, a
global fully integrated professional services and project
management company, and Atkins help our clients
plan, design and enable major capital projects, and
provide expert consultancy that covers the full
lifecycle of projects.
Author
James Domone
Senior Engineer, Atkins
Introduction
The earth’s climate is changing and our behaviour
must also change. That means moving towards
cleaner, more efficient, forms of transport.
As road and rail travel shift towards electric,
is now the time for aviation to join them?
Each day we see the electric car industry particulate matter, PM2.5, and ozone, O3. This
growing apace. In the UK, hybrid and electric is documented widely by scientific evidence;
cars are becoming a more common sight on and as a serious risk to public health it must be
our roads, as are electric charging points in tackled. The other complaint from residents
car parks. Their price is falling, too. Railway near airports is noise. More recent aircraft
electrification is on the renewal agenda across designs have reduced noise levels, but there are
the UK, because it offers better performance still improvements needed.
and protection of the environment than diesel
Anyone taking a return trip from London to New
trains, as well as reducing noise pollution for
York today will generate roughly the same level
people living along busy train lines. So, when will
of emissions as it takes to heat the average
other forms of transport, like shipping, and air
European household for a whole year. By
travel, join them?
introducing electric battery powered aircraft, the
There’s no doubt that aircraft emissions cause potential exists for charging the batteries using
pollution. The European Union says direct power generated via more sustainable means
emissions from aviation account for about – such as nuclear, wind, hydro, solar and tidal
three per cent of the EU’s total greenhouse generation. However, if non-sustainable means
gas emissions, and more than two per cent of of power generation for battery charging are
global emissions. Figures suggest that if current used, then at least potentially harmful emissions
technology isn’t advanced, then CO2 output from are released away from areas with denser
aircraft will likely increase by two and a half populations and the upper atmosphere.
times. This is due mostly to the growing middle
There’s also the economic argument. Reducing
classes of China, India, and African and South
the quantity of fuel needed reduces the costs
American countries, who increasingly want to
of operating an aircraft. This will become more
fly. Even when offset by countries seeking to
apparent over time if the predicted reduced
reduce CO2 output, that still means an overall
availability of oil materialises and drives costs
global rise of CO2 emissions from aircraft of
ever higher.
somewhere in the region of five per cent.
So, there’s the target for cleaner air travel: the
But that’s only part of the story. Increased
reduction of CO2, NOX, PM2.5 and O3 emissions,
aircraft operations activity in or around where
noise and fuel costs. But how can we achieve
an airport is located also produces emissions
this when faced with so many technological
that degrade the air quality. The risk comes
challenges?
from the production of nitrous oxides, NOX, fine
3
The challenges and benefits of the electrification of aircraft
1960s
100
Fuel burn at specified range (1960+100)
1970s
Seat-km 1980s
75
1990s
Post-2000
50
25
1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010
Average fuel burn for new jet aircraft, 1960-2010.* Large reductions in fuel burn are seen from 1960
up to the 1990s; however, since then any decrease has been modest, despite the development
costs of new aircraft continuing to rise.
*www.theicct.org/blogs/staff/overturning-conventional-wisdom-aircraft-efficiency-trends
4
The challenges and benefits of the electrification of aircraft
2040s +
All electric
airliners?
2030s
In-service for
hybrid electric
airliners?
2018
E Fan X, Zunum,
Wright Electric
all working on
new projects
2016
Solar Impulse
2 completes
circumnavigation
of the globe
1998
NASA Pathfinder
Plus sets
1973
altitude record
Brditschka HB-3
– first full-sized,
1952
manned aircraft
de Havilland to be solely
Comet – first electrically powered
commercial
jet airliner
While it’s still early days, key research and The 787 also exhibits greater use of electric
development in this area is preparing for power from engine installed generators. This
take-off, as major players in the aviation approach is described as the ‘more-electric
sector start to roll-out prototypes and test aircraft’. Future progression to electric
concepts. Finding an alternative to kerosene, propulsion is increasingly being proposed; first,
and identifying a sustainable power source, by considering a hybrid option with energy still
suggests electric power is the first answer. provided by hydrocarbon fuel but powering
As such, aircraft programmes such as the electric propulsion – then, progressing to a fully
Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 have increasingly electric system with batteries providing the
used batteries to power on-board systems. energy. In which case, we would start to see
reductions in emissions even at the earliest,
hybrid, stage, with further gains from a move
to full electric systems.
5
The challenges and benefits of the electrification of aircraft
www.theguardian.com/business/2017/dec/28/electric-passenger-jet-revolution-looms-e-fan-x-air-taxis-hybrid-planes
6
The challenges and benefits of the electrification of aircraft
Power
Turboshaft Power
Turboshaft electronics Motor(s)
ELECTRIC
electronics Motor(s)
HYBRID
MORE
Generator Electric
Generator Electric
Bus
Fuel Bus
Fuel Battery
Battery
Aircraft systems
Aircraft systems
Motor(s)
Motor(s)
Turboshaft Power
Turboshaft Power
electronics
HYBRID
electronics
FULL
Electric
Electric
Bus
Generator Bus
Generator
Fuel
Fuel Battery
Battery Aircraft systems
Aircraft systems
Battery Motor(s)
ELECTRIC
Electric
Electric
Bus
Bus
Aircraft systems
Aircraft systems
Three potential system architectures are shown with a progression from the ‘More Electric – Hybrid’ to ‘Full Hybrid’
to ‘All Electric’. There are varying development needs for each system component and a large integration
challenge for the complete systems. While other proposals for hybrid systems exist,
those presented here are considered the most feasible at present.
7
The challenges and benefits of the electrification of aircraft
A hybrid-powered solution is much more likely power an electrical generator that drives the
to be available sooner. This could deliver real conversion systems needed to give
benefit through reduced emissions. It would electrical energy.
also allow for the development of electric
propulsion motors and power electronics so A risk to this approach would be the reliance
that these would be ready for the switch to on unproven power distribution systems and
full electric operation. Let’s look at the system high power electric motors – but this is one of
level integration of a hybrid-powered solution the issues being addressed through prototype
within an aircraft. development, such as with the Airbus E-Fan
X, which does so initially by switching one, of
The gas turbine and the electrical generator, four, engines to be powered in this way. This
which are existing and understood solutions, system could then be developed by changing
are put together. Jet fuel – kerosene, the energy source from a kerosene powered
which could include biofuels for further gas turbine and generator to the use of
environmental benefit – powers the gas batteries in an ‘All Electric’ system. If suitable
turbine, which drives the electrical generator. battery technology does not emerge, the
A new power electronics system is likely to be system also presents the option of switching
required to then transfer this electrical energy the kerosene for hydrogen. This is not without
to new electric motors to provide thrust. A its own challenges, including the supporting
‘More Electric-Hybrid’ system could extend infrastructure, but moves towards the same
the use of batteries to power all remaining goal of (harmful) emission free flight, with
systems on the aircraft. A ‘Full Hybrid’ solution water vapour as the by-product. With an
would combine the power available from the ‘All Electric’ system, the initial conversion
generator and batteries to power all aircraft electronics may then need to be adjusted
systems, with each means of energy supply from the hybrid solutions, but the propulsive
augmenting the other in different ratios during element of the system wouldn’t have to
different flight phases. Both architectures can be changed.
collectively be described as hybrid solutions,
with a high likelihood that prototype testing
will enable the jump straight to the Full Hybrid
solution with electrical energy being combined
from both sources to power all systems. So,
where does the emission reduction come from
if kerosene is still providing the energy?
8
The challenges and benefits of the electrification of aircraft
9
The challenges and benefits of the electrification of aircraft
*www.atslab.org
10
The challenges and benefits of the electrification of aircraft
11
About the author
James Domone
Senior Engineer
Image sources
Pg 4:
https://www.quartoknows.com/blog/quartodrives/the-de-havilland-comet
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brditschka_HB-3#/media/File:HB_Brditschka_HB_23_2400-1.JPG
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Pathfinder_Plus_solar_aircraft_over_Hawaii.jpg
https://mfgtalkradio.com/solar-power-continues-impress-solar-impulse-2-crosses-pacific/
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f9/E-FanX-3D-graphic.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f0/Zunum-midsize-airplane.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a6/Easyjet_-_Wright_electric_concept.png
Pg 5:
www.theguardian.com/business/2017/dec/28/electric-passenger-jet-revolution-looms-e-fan -x-air-taxis-hybrid-planes
Pg 8:
www.siemens.com/press