company, be the aerospace industry’s most
power-dense and ef cient to date. It and the
associated motor controller will be used to
assist the demonstrator’s fuel-burning engine
as part of its hybrid-electric propulsion system.
UTC has this to say overall about electric/
electric-hybrid propulsion: “Our internal UTC
studies indicate that commercial electric and
hybrid-electric propulsion could reduce aircraft
noise by up to 85%, improve fuel consumption
by up to 40%, reduce carbon dioxide emissions
by more than 20% and reduce airline operating
and maintenance costs by up to 20%.”
This project follows an ambitious one that
was backed by Boeing but which was aborted in
July this year, following America’s Zunum
Aero’s demise. The company was developing a
hybrid-to-electric aircraft that seats up to 12
passengers and was to have been available for
delivery in 2022. It was to have been a 700-
mile commercial aircraft, but the company had
1,000-mile range aircraft in its sights for 2030.
Zunum didn’t just have a change of motor
technology in mind though, it was also about
changing how airlines operate. Said Ashish
Kumar, CEO and founder, Zunum Aero: “The
shift of the industry to large aircraft and long
ranges driven by gas turbines has concentrated
almost all air traf c to just two percent of our
airports, creating a massive transport gap over
regional distances where there is no high
speed alternative. As a result, door-to-door
times for most journeys are no better than they
were 50 years ago. Hybrid propulsion is an
industry-changing solution, enabling mid-sized
aircraft on regional routes to have better cost
ef ciencies than airliners.”
10
AEROSPACE SUPPLEMENT
ELECTRIC DREAMS BECOMING REALITY
October 2019 www.machinery.co.uk @MachineryTweets
He may still be right on that, but how
airlines operate is not a prominent discussion.
Behind all this activity, though, is the fact
that the Global Aviation Industry (ATAG) has
committed to achieving carbon-neutral growth
as a whole from 2020 onwards, cutting aviation
net emissions by 50% by 2050 (versus 2005).
In the Europe, there are the technical
environmental goals of the European
Commission’s Flightpath 2050 Vision for
Aviation (reductions in: CO2 by 75%; NOx by
90%; noise by 65%).
In Europe and in a plane size category
similar to UTC’s effort, Rolls-Royce has just
announced it is to work with Norwegian ailrline
Widerøe to electrify its eet. It is part of the
airline’s aim to replace and electrify its regional
eet of 30+ aircraft by 2030. (The Norwegian
government has set a goal of achieving
emission-free domestic aviation by 2040.)
Widerøe operates a eet of 43 aircraft, mainly
DeHavilland Dash 8 models, but has recently
added four Embraer E2-190 regional jets
Moving to slightly larger aircraft, back in
November 2017, Rolls-Royce, Airbus and
Siemens announced their E-Fan X project. The
hybrid-electric technology demonstrator was
anticipated as ying in 2020 (now 2021),
provisionally on a BAe 146 ying testbed, with
one of the aircraft’s four gas turbine engines
replaced by a 2 MW electric motor (BAe 146
models have seat capacity from 70 to 112).
Provisions will be made to replace a second
gas turbine with an electric motor, once system
maturity has been proven.
The 2 MW motors and their power electronic
control unit, as well as the inverter, DC/DC
converter and power distribution system, will
come from Siemens. Airbus and Siemens had
already started collaborating in 2016, through
the so-called E-Aircraft Systems House
Kyal Machine Tools Limited.
The Settling Rooms, Springfield Street.
MARKET HARBOROUGH
Leicestershire LE16 8BD
Tel No. 01858 467182
e-mail: simon@kyalmachinetools.co.uk
Collins Aerospace will use The Grid
to help design and test a 1 MW
motor, motor controller and battery
system in support of Project 804
UTC
/www.machinery.co.uk
link