https://cleantechnica.com/2019/04/05/30-fuel-savings-when-flying-utcs-hybrid-electric-regional-planes-soon/
[And we could use biofuel for the liquid fuel component. Presumably the
same biofuel-electric prop system could be used to power hybrid (dynamic
lift) airships.
images and links in online article]
30% Fuel Savings When Flying UTC’s Hybrid-Electric Regional Planes (Soon)
April 5th, 2019 by Nicolas Zart
Imagine if airlines could save 30 percent on fuel if they switched to
electric mobility? A hybrid-electric aircraft is one way to get there.
United Technologies Corp. (UTC) wants us to use such airplanes based on
hybrid electric turboprops for future regional. The company is testing
and opening the electric urban air mobility (UAM) market as we speak.
Can Hybrid Electric Regional Airliners Bring 50 People into the Air for
an Hour-Long Trip?
By now, there is enough to convince even the most skeptical people that
electric vertical take-off & landing (eVTOL) aircraft are coming
relatively soon. This UTC release is another piece of evidence.
Currently tested and soon to be seen buzzing over our heads in major
cities (within a few years in some places), these eVTOL aircraft will
take us from point A to Z in the air, bypassing road traffic.
Collins Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney have converted a Bombardier Dash 8
project 804 into a hybrid-electric powerplant mounted on one side to fly
a proof of concept. The aircraft will be used to show its technical
viability, to prove that its hybrid propulsion system not only works but
is economically viable. The obvious benefits are the massive fuel
savings and maintenance. Why call it project 804? It was named for the
straight-line distance (804 miles) between a Collins facility in
Illinois and a Pratt & Whitney facility in Quebec. Simple, no?
Technically, the 2-megawatt hybrid-electric engine should be enough to
shoulder 30 to 50 passengers between 200 and 250 nautical miles on
hour-long trips. That segment is always highly focused, efficient, and
segmented, so cutting fuel costs by 30% is nothing to sneer.
The beauty of an aircraft is that it needs its 2 MW peak power at
takeoff but then only needs half for regular cruising operations.
Batteries, thus, just need to push out large amounts of power for a
short while before hitting a more manageable cruising output. And the
better the energy density of batteries get, the sooner we will have
battery-operated regional aircraft.
In this case, efficiency means sacrificing some range. For the time
being, the Dash 8 will see its range drop by around 40% down to 600
miles for that efficiency luxury. In order to explain the logic behind
the design, Jason Chua, executive director of advanced projects at UTC,
was quoted saying:
“Given that 99 percent of the missions that these aircraft flies are
under 500 miles and the drafting fuel savings you can get, this seems
like a pretty reasonable trade-off.”
The Near-Future of Hybrid Electric Regional Airliners
No matter how you look at it, the electrification of aviation is
happening in a different way than it did for the automotive industry.
You can’t just slap on an electric motor at every turbofan and call it a
day. You can electrify what was once heavy ancillary systems, such as
pneumatics, and with the use of additive manufacturing, 3D printing, and
carbon fiber, you can have a fine platform moving close to electric
power for significant flight. Currently, tackling the propulsion
platform directly with a hybrid system, the door is opening to electricity.
--
Darryl McMahon
Freelance Project Manager (sustainable systems)
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