ELECTRIC AIRCRAFT
“It is future-proofed in terms of capability
– fi rst testing hybrid electric architecture and
then fully-electric architecture.
“The building has a lot of hard points
concerning the installation of the heavy
equipment needed to test up to 20MW and we
have a special thermal and ventilation system
that is built in to manage the specifi c heat
losses that come from hybrid-electric
propulsion. We have also got electromagnetic
screening – it is a facility that allows us to
easily test up to 3,000V and even beyond,”
Llewellyn says.
The Grid
Following a similar pathway, Collins
Aerospace, which is now part of the USA’s
United Technologies Corporation has invested
US$50million into building a high-power,
high voltage laboratory to design and test
more electric aircraft (MEA) systems it has
called The Grid. Currently being built in
Rockford, Illinois, USA, The Grid is expected
to be fully operational in two years’ time and
will be 25,000ft2 in size.
“The Grid is our response to the
development of aircraft like the MEA Boeing
787,” says Todd Eckstaine, Collins Aerospace’s
director of business development for electric
power systems. “We see the industry heading
2
Lab view
1
Outside east
104 // July 2019 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com
based on a Bombardier Dash
8-100. The goal of this project is
to re-engine and fl y a regional
turboprop aircraft powered
by a 2MW-class hybridelectric
propulsion system.
The Grid will be used to
design and test a 1MW motor,
a motor controller and battery
system which will be used to
assist the demonstrator’s
fuel-burning engine as part of its
hybrid-electric propulsion system.
E-Fan X
Back in Germany, one of the fi rst testing
projects at Airbus’s E-Aircraft Systems Test
House this year will be for the E-Fan X
hybrid-electric fl ight demonstrator. This project
is integrating a 2MW hybrid-electric propulsion
system onto a BAE 146 aircraft. The program,
which also involves Rolls-Royce and Siemens,
was launched in 2017 and aims to demonstrate
technology for hybrid-electric single aisle
airliners. Its fi rst fl ight is targeted for 2021.
towards more-electric, hybrid-electric
propulsion and all-electric propulsion.
“When fi nished, The Grid is going to be
a highly fl exible platform where we will be able
to test many diff erent electric power ratings
and voltage levels.”
Collins’s current largest laboratory has 3,000
horsepower of drive stand capability and can
handle systems of up to 540V. The Grid is being
designed to have around 8,000 horsepower
drive stand capability and run up to the order
of 3,000V.
“It’s a two-times step up from the integration
labs we’ve had to date. We’re putting in the
square footage and the cooling capabilities to
future-proof the lab,” says Todd Spierling, chief
engineer for advanced technology, United
Technologies Advanced Projects (UTAP).
3
“We’re trying to build
a lab to serve the
industry for the next 20,
30 years, not just the next
two or three.
“We’re not just going to test
electrical propulsion systems, we will
be testing all of the systems that need
to be integrated.
“The lab is being confi gured to run as one
and as separate units that can interconnect.
We’ll be able to have half a dozen independent
activities going on if that’s the most
appropriate use at a given time and
connect them together when necessary.”
One of the fi rst projects to take place at The
Grid will be work on the UTAP hybrid-electric
fl ight demonstrator, Project 804, which will be
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