IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v140y2017ip1p436-443.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A method to improve the efficiency of an electric aircraft propulsion system

Author

Listed:
  • Ma, Shaohua
  • Wang, Shuli
  • Zhang, Chengning
  • Zhang, Shuo

Abstract

An electric aircraft propulsion system utilizes a high efficiency motor to generate thrust for electric aircraft. However, it can be challenging to maintain high efficiency for the fixed pitch propeller, which is commonly used in electric aircraft, through all phases of the flight. This paper investigates the power demands of the electric aircraft during the climb and the cruise phases according to the flight profile, and presents a model to estimate the energy consumption per flight. Simulation results suggest that the efficiency in the climb and the cruise phases can affect the energy consumption of an electric aircraft. Efficiency during the climb phase can have a significant effect on the capacity of the electric aircraft propulsion system. Based on the aforementioned results, this paper proposes a novel approach to achieve high efficiency, in which the optimal efficiency points of the electric aircraft propulsion system in the climb and the cruise phases can be obtained by solving an optimization problem with minimizing the energy consumption per flight as the object function and under the constraints that the climb and cruise phases must be successful. For testing purposes, the proposed method is adopted to the design of the electric aircraft propulsion system on a specific two-seater electric aircraft. Experimental results obtained from real flights suggest that the proposed method can reduce the energy consumption of the electric aircraft by over 10%, while reducing the capacity demand for the electric aircraft propulsion system.

Suggested Citation

  • Ma, Shaohua & Wang, Shuli & Zhang, Chengning & Zhang, Shuo, 2017. "A method to improve the efficiency of an electric aircraft propulsion system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 140(P1), pages 436-443.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:140:y:2017:i:p1:p:436-443
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2017.08.095
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544217314706
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2017.08.095?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hu, Xiaosong & Zou, Yuan & Yang, Yalian, 2016. "Greener plug-in hybrid electric vehicles incorporating renewable energy and rapid system optimization," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 971-980.
    2. Zhang, Shuo & Xiong, Rui & Zhang, Chengning & Sun, Fengchun, 2016. "An optimal structure selection and parameter design approach for a dual-motor-driven system used in an electric bus," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 437-448.
    3. Hassanpour Isfahani, Arash & Vaez-Zadeh, Sadegh, 2009. "Line start permanent magnet synchronous motors: Challenges and opportunities," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(11), pages 1755-1763.
    4. Chung, Cheng-Ta & Hung, Yi-Hsuan, 2015. "Performance and energy management of a novel full hybrid electric powertrain system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 626-636.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mao, Yufeng & Zhong, Mingliang & Wang, Ji X., 2023. "Dimensionless study of phase-change-based thermal protection for pulsed electromagnetic machines: Towards heat absorption-dissipation matching," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 352(C).
    2. Aydın, Emre & Turan, Onder, 2023. "Performance models of passenger aircraft and propulsion systems based on particle swarm and Spotted Hyena Optimization methods," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 268(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ming Foong Soong & Rahizar Ramli & Ahmad Saifizul, 2017. "Between simplicity and accuracy: Effect of adding modeling details on quarter vehicle model accuracy," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(6), pages 1-23, June.
    2. Jing Li & Tong Wu & Tianxin Fan & Yan He & Lingshuai Meng & Zuoyue Han, 2020. "Clamping force control of electro–mechanical brakes based on driver intentions," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(9), pages 1-30, September.
    3. Shaobo Xie & Xiaosong Hu & Kun Lang & Shanwei Qi & Tong Liu, 2018. "Powering Mode-Integrated Energy Management Strategy for a Plug-In Hybrid Electric Truck with an Automatic Mechanical Transmission Based on Pontryagin’s Minimum Principle," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-23, October.
    4. Liu, Hui & Duan, Zhu & Chen, Chao, 2020. "Wind speed big data forecasting using time-variant multi-resolution ensemble model with clustering auto-encoder," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 280(C).
    5. Yang, Jibin & Xu, Xiaohui & Peng, Yiqiang & Zhang, Jiye & Song, Pengyun, 2019. "Modeling and optimal energy management strategy for a catenary-battery-ultracapacitor based hybrid tramway," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 1123-1135.
    6. Ibrahem Hussein & Zakariya Al-Hamouz & M. A. Abido & Abdulaziz Milhem, 2018. "On the Mathematical Modeling of Line-Start Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors under Static Eccentricity," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-17, January.
    7. Hegazy, Omar & Barrero, Ricardo & Van den Bossche, Peter & El Baghdadi, Mohamed & Smekens, Jelle & Van Mierlo, Joeri & Vriens, Wouter & Bogaerts, Bruno, 2016. "Modeling, analysis and feasibility study of new drivetrain architectures for off-highway vehicles," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 1056-1074.
    8. Li, Hai & Zheng, Peng & Zhang, Tingsheng & Zou, Yingquan & Pan, Yajia & Zhang, Zutao & Azam, Ali, 2021. "A high-efficiency energy regenerative shock absorber for powering auxiliary devices of new energy driverless buses," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 295(C).
    9. Lei, Fei & Bai, Yingchun & Zhu, Wenhao & Liu, Jinhong, 2019. "A novel approach for electric powertrain optimization considering vehicle power performance, energy consumption and ride comfort," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 1040-1050.
    10. Hung, Yi-Hsuan & Tung, Yu-Ming & Chang, Chun-Hsin, 2016. "Optimal control of integrated energy management/mode switch timing in a three-power-source hybrid powertrain," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 184-196.
    11. García-Vázquez, Carlos A. & Llorens-Iborra, Francisco & Fernández-Ramírez, Luis M. & Sánchez-Sainz, Higinio & Jurado, Francisco, 2017. "Comparative study of dynamic wireless charging of electric vehicles in motorway, highway and urban stretches," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 42-57.
    12. Wu, Xiaohua & Hu, Xiaosong & Yin, Xiaofeng & Zhang, Caiping & Qian, Shide, 2017. "Optimal battery sizing of smart home via convex programming," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 140(P1), pages 444-453.
    13. Colmenar-Santos, A. & de Palacio-Rodriguez, Carlos & Rosales-Asensio, Enrique & Borge-Diez, David, 2017. "Estimating the benefits of vehicle-to-home in islands: The case of the Canary Islands," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 311-322.
    14. Gustav Mörée & Mats Leijon, 2022. "Overview of Hybrid Excitation in Electrical Machines," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-38, October.
    15. Fei Liu & Zhiyuan Zeng & Rong Jiang, 2017. "A video-based real-time adaptive vehicle-counting system for urban roads," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(11), pages 1-16, November.
    16. Li-Qiang Jin & Mingze Ling & Weiqiang Yue, 2017. "Tire-road friction estimation and traction control strategy for motorized electric vehicle," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(6), pages 1-18, June.
    17. Yang, Yalian & Li, Pengshuai & Pei, Huanxin & Zou, Yunge, 2022. "Design of all-wheel-drive power-split hybrid configuration schemes based on hierarchical topology graph theory," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 242(C).
    18. Zhuang, Weichao & Zhang, Xiaowu & Li, Daofei & Wang, Liangmo & Yin, Guodong, 2017. "Mode shift map design and integrated energy management control of a multi-mode hybrid electric vehicle," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 476-488.
    19. Chattopadhyay, Kabitri & Kies, Alexander & Lorenz, Elke & von Bremen, Lüder & Heinemann, Detlev, 2017. "The impact of different PV module configurations on storage and additional balancing needs for a fully renewable European power system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 176-189.
    20. Xie, Shaobo & Hu, Xiaosong & Qi, Shanwei & Lang, Kun, 2018. "An artificial neural network-enhanced energy management strategy for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 837-848.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:140:y:2017:i:p1:p:436-443. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.