| Project Detail |
Small regional aircraft operations are challenged by high fuel cost, noise restrictions associated with small regional airports, and high maintenance cost of twin gas turbines. A battery/gas turbine hybrid series small regional aircraft, enabled by ULTRA COMPACT driven propulsors, addresses these issues, and could reduce passenger mile energy consumption. The Raytheon Technologies Research Center proposes ULTRA-COMPACT to improve the electric-to-shaft power electric drive train and demonstrate feasibility of a turbo-electric distributed propulsion-based electrified aircraft propulsion (EAP) system. The ULTRA-COMPACT electric propulsion system leverages: (1) a novel high-speed permanent magnet machine, (2) a series-parallel, multi-level silicon carbide (SiC) based motor drive topology, (3) a high-power density gearbox using lightweight composite, and (4) an integrated and actively controlled thermal management system that provides coolant directly to the motor, gearbox and power converter.
Potential Impact:
The ASCEND program has the potential to accelerate innovations and cause disruptive changes in the emerging electric aviation field. |
