Results for “electrification” — Page 27

NASA NTRS2024

SUbsonic Single Aft eNgine (SUSAN) Power/Propulsion System Control Architecture Updates

The development of hybrid-electric propulsion technology for commercial transport aircraft presents opportunities for new designs that can reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions and improve safety and reliability compared to modern aircraft. The SUbsonic Single Aft eNgine (SUSAN) Electrofan is a conceptual design for a transport aircraft with a series/parallel partial hybrid-electric propulsion system being developed by NASA as a reference design for a regional transport aircraft with a high degree of electrification. The SUSAN concept incorporates multiple tightly coupled power, propulsion, and flight control systems that introduce new challenges to the control design process, requiring a hierarchical and more coordinated control approach. This report summarizes updates to the SUSAN power/propulsion system (PPS) model and control architecture made in preparation for planned flight simulator and hardware-in-the-loop testing at the NASA Glenn Research Center. These updates include a new electrical power system model developed using the NASA-developed Electrical Modeling and Thermal Analysis Toolbox (EMTAT) and a new PPS control architecture that improves the operational flexibility and responsiveness of the propulsion system. The performance of the updated controller is demonstrated and discussed.

SUSAN↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

System Health Management for a Series/Parallel Partial Hybrid Powertrain with Distributed Electric Propulsion

Electrified aircraft powertrains contain multiple interacting subsystems, making them much more complex than traditional aircraft propulsion systems in terms of integration and control. Electrification enables aircraft to have distributed thrust-producing fans that the flight control system can leverage for enhanced maneuverability, further increasing the control complexity. A NASA concept aircraft, the SUbsonic Single Aft eNgine (SUSAN) Electrofan, is such a vehicle. SUSAN is a series/parallel partial hybrid-electric single-aisle transport aircraft that takes advantage of its electrified powertrain to provide fuel burn and emissions benefits when compared to the state-of-the-art. Achieving these benefits requires an appropriately designed control architecture that coordinates the various powertrain and flight control subsystems. As such, the SUSAN aircraft is designed with a high level of automation, allowing it to properly manage coupled subsystems and react rapidly to failures and anomalies. To do this effectively, algorithms that perform component health management, fault detection, isolation, and accommodation, and continuous optimization, must be developed and implemented. This paper describes the development of some of these algorithms for system health management applied to the powertrain of the SUSAN concept aircraft.

Electrified Aircraft Propulsion↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Transient Optimization of an Electrified Gas Turbine Engine Using Machine Learning

Gas turbine engines are designed with sufficient margin to prevent stall under normal operating conditions throughout their life. This compromise ensures that during rapid accelerations, compressor operation remains stable, but at the cost of efficiency and thrust responsiveness. The design margin encompasses multiple sources of uncertainty and systematic deviances from the operating line, the largest of which is the transient allowance. This set-aside accounts for the temporary incoordination of the engine spools during an acceleration while still enabling it to meet the certification requirement to accelerate from low to high power within a specified time, and without experiencing overtemperature, surge, stall, or other detrimental factors. Electrification of the powertrain provides the opportunity to address this reserve and truly optimize the design. The addition of electric machines inherent in hybrid propulsion concepts offers a means to interact with the engine shafts such that the necessary margin can be reduced, which can positively impact the engine design. By adjusting the amount of power extracted from or injected to the engine spools by the electric machines during transient operation, excursions from the operating line can be minimized. Past work using a dynamic engine model has shown that optimization of the fuel flow schedule during acceleration can reduce the required margin while still meeting the time requirement, and results are further improved when combined with power injection and extraction. The current work uses machine learning through a genetic algorithm to address the problem holistically by concurrently optimizing the electric machine power command and fuel flow acceleration schedule using an updated, higher fidelity version of the original engine model.

Stall Margin↗

NASA NTRS2024

SUbsonic Single Aft eNgine (SUSAN) Power/Propulsion System Control Architecture Updates

The development of hybrid-electric propulsion technology for transport aircraft presents opportunities for new designs that can reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from commercial aviation and improve on safety and reliability when compared to modern aircraft. The SUbsonic Single Aft eNgine (SUSAN) Electrofan is a conceptual design for a transport aircraft with a series/parallel partial hybrid-electric propulsion system that is being developed by NASA as a reference design for a regional transport aircraft with a high degree of electrification. The SUSAN concept incorporates multiple tightly coupled power, propulsion, and flight control systems that introduce new challenges to the control design process, requiring a hierarchical and more coordinated control architecture. This paper summarizes updates to the SUSAN Power/Propulsion System (PPS) model and control architecture made in preparation for planned flight simulator and hardware-in-the-loop testing at NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC). These updates include a new electrical power system (EPS) model based on the NASA-developed Electrical Modeling and Thermal Analysis Toolbox (EMTAT), and a new PPS control architecture that improves the operational flexibility and responsiveness of the propulsion system. The performance of the upgraded control system is also demonstrated and discussed.

SUSAN↗

NASA NTRS2024

System Health Management for a Series/Parallel Partial Hybrid Powertrain with Distributed Electric Propulsion

Electrified aircraft powertrains contain multiple interacting subsystems, making them much more complex than traditional aircraft propulsion systems in terms of integration and control. Electrification enables aircraft to have distributed thrust-producing fans that the flight control system can leverage for enhanced maneuverability, further increasing the control complexity. A NASA concept aircraft, the SUbsonic Single Aft eNgine (SUSAN) Electrofan, is such a vehicle. SUSAN is a series/parallel partial hybrid-electric single-aisle transport aircraft that takes advantage of its electrified powertrain to provide fuel burn and emissions benefits when compared to the state-of-the-art. Achieving these benefits requires an appropriately designed control architecture that coordinates the various powertrain and flight control subsystems. As such, the SUSAN aircraft is designed with a high level of automation, allowing it to properly manage coupled subsystems and react rapidly to failures and anomalies. To do this effectively, algorithms that perform component health management, fault detection, isolation, and accommodation, and continuous optimization, must be developed and implemented. This paper describes the development of some of these algorithms for system health management applied to the powertrain of the SUSAN concept aircraft.

Electrified Aircraft Propulsion↗

NASA NTRS2024

Transient Optimization of an Electrified Gas Turbine Engine Using Machine Learning

Gas turbine engines are designed with sufficient margin to prevent stall under normal operating conditions throughout their life. This compromise ensures that during rapid accelerations, compressor operation remains stable, but at the cost of efficiency and thrust responsiveness. The design margin encompasses multiple sources of uncertainty and systematic deviances from the operating line, the largest of which is the transient allowance. This set-aside accounts for the temporary incoordination of the engine spools during an acceleration while still enabling it to meet the certification requirement to accelerate from low to high power within a specified time, and without experiencing overtemperature, surge, stall, or other detrimental factors. Electrification of the powertrain provides the opportunity to address this reserve and truly optimize the design. The addition of electric machines inherent in hybrid propulsion concepts offers a means to interact with the engine shafts such that the necessary margin can be reduced, which can positively impact the engine design. By adjusting the amount of power extracted from or injected to the engine spools by the electric machines during transient operation, excursions from the operating line can be minimized. Past work using a dynamic engine model has shown that optimization of the fuel flow schedule during acceleration can reduce the required margin while still meeting the time requirement, and results are further improved when combined with power injection and extraction. The current work uses machine learning through a genetic algorithm to address the problem holistically by concurrently optimizing the electric machine power command and fuel flow acceleration schedule using an updated, higher fidelity version of the original engine model.

Stall Margin↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

The Advanced Geared Turbofan 30,000 lb f – electrified (AGTF30-e): A Virtual Testbed for Electrified Aircraft Propulsion Research

Electrified Aircraft Propulsion (EAP) is a growing topic of research with the potential to shape the future of commercial air travel. Here, detailed mathematical models serve an essential role in developing understanding and evaluating different technologies and design concepts. The Advanced Geared Turbofan 30,000 lb f – electrified (AGTF30-e) is an open-source software package developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The AGTF30-e provides a realistic propulsion system model of a conceptual electrified advanced geared turbofan engine suitable for propelling a single-aisle commercial aircraft. Included with the engine model is a controller that provides representative dynamic performance across a full operating envelop. The model is meant to facilitate research studies and promote collaboration. It is envisioned for use in concept exploration studies, technology impact studies, and dynamics and controls studies. The engine model can be run in various modes of operation including boost and power extraction. It also has options for other electrification features and methods for engine shaft and electric machine integration. This paper documents the AGTF30-e and illustrates its use through various simulation scenarios.

AGTF30-e↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Multidisciplinary Optimization of a Transonic Truss Braced Wing Aircraft with Hybrid-Electric Propulsion

Next generation aircraft concepts have subsystems that are increasingly inter-connected. This necessitates advanced design tools using gradient based optimization to properly account for strong subsystem coupling in these aircraft. Additionally, these design tools require accurate modeling capability to support the increased interest in electrified propulsion. Design studies for these aircraft must consider the trade-offs between electric propulsion and turbojet engines at all points in the flight envelope to determine the optimal balance between propulsion options. This paper describes the development of an electric propulsion subsystem model designed to work within Aviary - an open source aircraft design tool. We will demonstrate the electric propulsion model operating with Aviary by showing results from an optimized Transonic Truss-Braced Wing (TTBW) concept using assisted electric propulsion during climb. First, we present results with and without electrification to show the overall system impacts of hybrid electric propulsion during climb. We also present two distinct battery models compatible with this optimization framework, and compare results using both. Next, we ran the same problem using a slightly different cell type, and demonstrate a considerable change in the result. Finally, we vary the cell energy density of the batteries, and provide an illustrative trend for the system-level impact for improving cell technology.

optimization↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Validation of the NASA Electrical Power System – Sizing and Analysis Tool (EPS-SAT)

The electrification of aircraft propulsion systems has opened the design space for engineers by allowing for unique and highly specialized propulsion system and vehicle designs. NASA developed the Electrical Power System – Sizing and Analysis Tool (EPS-SAT) to conduct high-level trade studies and sensitivity studies on the various propulsion system designs that can be implemented in electrified aircraft. The results of these studies would be used to better direct investment dollars and determine strengths and weaknesses of propulsion system designs. In this paper, the results of the EPS-SAT tool were validated with hardware data extracted from the NASA Revolutionary Vertical Lift Technology (RVLT) Advanced Reconfigurable Electric Aircraft Lab (AREAL). Updated performance maps were added to the EPS-SAT library so that high-fidelity results could be calculated.

Patrick A. Hanlon↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

The Advanced Geared Turbofan 30,000 lbf – electrified (AGTF30-e): A Virtual Testbed for Electrified Aircraft Propulsion Research

Electrified Aircraft Propulsion (EAP) is a growing topic of research with the potential to shape the future of commercial air travel. Here, detailed mathematical models serve an essential role in developing understanding and evaluating different technologies and design concepts. The Advanced Geared Turbofan 30,000 lbf – electrified (AGTF30-e) is an open-source software package developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The AGTF30-e provides a realistic propulsion system model of a conceptual electrified advanced geared turbofan engine suitable for propelling a single-aisle commercial aircraft. Included with the engine model is a controller that provides representative dynamic performance across a full operating envelop. The model is meant to facilitate research studies and promote collaboration. It is envisioned for use in concept exploration studies, technology impact studies, and dynamics and controls studies. The engine model can be run in various modes of operation including boost and power extraction. It also has options for other electrification features and methods for engine shaft and electric machine integration. This paper documents the AGTF30-e and illustrates its use through various simulation scenarios.

AGTF30-e↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Piloted Evaluation of a Fault Recovery System for an Aircraft with Distributed Electric Propulsion

Electrified aircraft powertrains contain multiple tightly coupled subsystems, making them much more complex than traditional aircraft propulsion systems, both in terms of integration and control. Electrification enables aircraft to have multiple distributed thrust-producing fans that the flight control system can utilize for enhanced maneuverability, further increasing the control complexity. The SUbsonic Single Aft eNgine (SUSAN) Electrofan is a NASA concept aircraft that leverages this technology. SUSAN is a series/parallel partial hybrid electric single-aisle transport aircraft that takes advantage of its electrified powertrain to provide fuel burn and emissions benefits when compared to the state-of-the-art. Achieving these benefits requires an appropriately designed control architecture that coordinates the various powertrain and flight control subsystems. As such, the SUSAN aircraft is designed with a high level of automation, allowing it to properly manage coupled subsystems and react rapidly to failures and anomalies. To do this effectively, algorithms that perform component health management, fault detection, isolation, and accommodation, and continuous optimization, must be developed, tested, validated, and implemented. This paper describes a piloted evaluation of such an algorithm in scenarios with multiple fan failures, performed in a flight simulator, demonstrating failure recovery and continued safe operation up to the limits of the powertrain. These scenarios are subsequently related to certification requirements.

Electrified Aircraft Propulsion↗

NASA NTRS2025

Piloted Evaluation of a Fault Recovery System for an Aircraft with Distributed Electric Propulsion

Electrified aircraft powertrains contain multiple tightly coupled subsystems, making them much more complex than traditional aircraft propulsion systems, both in terms of integration and control. Electrification enables aircraft to have multiple distributed thrust-producing fans that the flight control system can utilize for enhanced maneuverability, further increasing the control complexity. The SUbsonic Single Aft eNgine (SUSAN) Electrofan is a NASA concept aircraft that leverages this technology. SUSAN is a series/parallel partial hybrid electric single-aisle transport aircraft that takes advantage of its electrified powertrain to provide fuel burn and emissions benefits when compared to the state-of-the-art. Achieving these benefits requires an appropriately designed control architecture that coordinates the various powertrain and flight control subsystems. As such, the SUSAN aircraft is designed with a high level of automation, allowing it to properly manage coupled subsystems and react rapidly to failures and anomalies. To do this effectively, algorithms that perform component health management, fault detection, isolation, and accommodation, and continuous optimization, must be developed, tested, validated, and implemented. This paper describes a piloted evaluation of such an algorithm in scenarios with multiple fan failures, performed in a flight simulator, demonstrating failure recovery and continued safe operation up to the limits of the powertrain. These scenarios are subsequently related to certification requirements.

Electrified Aircraft Propulsion↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Piloted Evaluation of a Fault Recovery System for an Aircraft with Distributed Electric Propulsion

Electrified aircraft powertrains contain multiple tightly coupled subsystems, making them much more complex than traditional aircraft propulsion systems, both in terms of integration and control. Electrification enables aircraft to have multiple distributed thrust-producing fans that the flight control system can utilize for enhanced maneuverability, further increasing the control complexity. The SUbsonic Single Aft eNgine (SUSAN) Electrofan is a NASA concept aircraft that leverages this technology. SUSAN is a series/parallel partial hybrid electric single-aisle transport aircraft that takes advantage of its electrified powertrain to provide fuel burn and emissions benefits when compared to the state-of-the-art. Achieving these benefits requires an appropriately designed control architecture that coordinates the various powertrain and flight control subsystems. As such, the SUSAN aircraft is designed with a high level of automation, allowing it to properly manage coupled subsystems and react rapidly to failures and anomalies. To do this effectively, algorithms that perform component health management, fault detection, isolation, and accommodation, and continuous optimization, must be developed, tested, validated, and implemented. This paper describes a piloted evaluation of such an algorithm in scenarios with multiple fan failures, performed in a flight simulator, demonstrating failure recovery and continued safe operation up to the limits of the powertrain. These scenarios are subsequently related to certification requirements.

Electrified Aircraft Propulsion↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Using Optical Lightning Detection Data from the 2017 GOES-R Post Launch Test Field Campaign Flights as an Evaluation of Convective Processes

The primary mechanisms for thunderstorm electrification and lightning production are widely understood and allow connections between lightning intensity and occurrence to be used to derive storm strength and forecast the probability of related weather phenomena. However, these assumed relationships between lightning and convective properties were discovered primarily using ground-based lightning sensors and measurements, meaning the true depth of insight from space or air based detections is widely unexplored. In 2017, a field campaign was launched to validate the instrumentation aboard the GOES-16 satellite. It involved flying a NASA-ER2 aircraft over multiple storms across the continental US and it included the Fly’s Eye GLM Simulator (FEGS) as a proxy for the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM). Utilizing the data from this field campaign, one of the main goals of this project is to investigate how attributes of convection impact optical lightning detection and the subsequent assumptions that can be made in relation to convective dynamics and precipitation microphysics. Hydrometeor identification, 3D winds retrieval, and additional radar and LiDAR data analysis will be utilized alongside FEGS and interferometer data in order to observe these relationships. This presentation will be to lay out the initial conclusions from our analysis and to explore any new insights or contradictions within our findings.

Kaitlyn Wheeler↗

DOE OSTI2024

Pathways Toward Electric Mobility in Hennepin County, Minnesota

This fact sheet presents the findings from a comprehensive community engagement initiative focused on advancing equitable transportation electrification in Hennepin County. This initiative responds to the critical need for inclusive and sustainable mobility solutions in the face of rising environmental and financial challenges in the transportation sector. This project has two goals. First, to learn what each community's priorities are and share them with the city, county, and state government to inform transportation plans and projects. Second, to bridge divides between government and community, building pathways for community-guided decision making on future transportation plans.

ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS,ENERGY PLANNING, POLIC↗

DOE OSTI2024

Projecting Electric Vehicle Electricity Demands and Charging Loads

After over a century of petroleum dominance, electric vehicles are rapidly disrupting the transportation energy landscape. At the same time, the electric power systems are undergoing profound changes as variable renewables replace dispatchable fossil generators. It is critically important to understand how transportation electrification will impact electricity demand, including changes in the load shapes that characterize the system, and the value of flexible electric vehicle charging to better balance electricity demand and supply. This talk focuses on methods to project electricity demand for EV charging with high spatiotemporal fidelity to enable electricity system modeling and analysis and summarizes results from recent NREL studies in this area.

ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS,ENERGY PLANNING, POLIC↗

DOE OSTI2024

Precise Motion Control of Hybrid Hydraulic Electric Architecture (HHEA)

Off-highway heavy-duty vehicles have been long-standing users of hydraulic systems for power transmission and control. However, traditional hydraulic systems suffer from significant energy losses which lead to increased operating costs and a larger carbon footprint due to higher CO2 emissions. Improving the efficiency of these mobile machines is crucial not only for reducing their environmental impact but also for saving billions of dollars in operating costs. Currently, the state-of-the-art Load Sensing Architecture uses throttling valves for control, which significantly reduces its efficiency and does not recuperate energy from over-running loads. Researchers have developed several architectures such as Common Pressure Rail systems, Displacement Control, STEAM, and Electrohydraulic Architecture to improve the efficiency of off-road mobile machines. However, each of these architectures has its drawbacks. To increase system efficiency and take advantage of electrification benefits, our research group has developed a novel Hybrid Hydraulic-Electric Architecture (HHEA). The HHEA can significantly improve efficiency, decrease the size of electrical components, and maintain control performance. This new architecture has the potential to revolutionize the off-highway mobile machine industry and lead to a more sustainable future. The HHEA uses a set of common pressure rails to provide the majority of power to the actuators via power-dense hydraulics and uses electric motors for precise control and power modulation. In the context of off-road mobile machines, energy savings are undoubtedly important but it is equally important to consider the machines’ ability to perform tasks with precision and accuracy according to given commands. Therefore, precise motion control is of utmost importance to maintain the utility of Hybrid Hydraulic-Electric Architecture (HHEA). The HHEA presents a unique challenge to motion control due to the discrete pressure changes that occur when the system switches between selected pressure rails. These changes are made to minimize system inefficiencies or to keep the system within the torque capability of the electric motor. Hence, it is important to solve the motion control challenges for HHEA. This thesis aims at developing an effective motion control strategy for HHEA. The dissertation presents a two-tiered control strategy for HHEA, comprising a high-level and a low-level controller. The primary responsibility of the high- level controller is to optimize energy efficiency by making informed pressure rail selections. On the other hand, the low-level controller is focused on achieving precise motion control of the HHEA, which is crucial for realizing the desired reference trajectories. To achieve this, the low-level controller utilizes a passivity-based backstepping integral controller as the nominal control, which handles the motion control between two pressure rail switches. Additionally, a separate least norm controller is utilized as a transition controller to manage motion control during pressure rail transitions. The effectiveness of the combined control strategy is demonstrated through experiments conducted on two hardware-in-the-loop testbeds. Furthermore, the HHEA is installed on the boom and stick actuators of a backhoe arm to build a Human-in-the-Loop system that a human operator can control. A real-time rail switching algorithm is developed to determine pressure rail switching based on present duty cycle information from the operator. Modifications have been made to the human-machine interface to achieve more intuitive control. Modifications include performing control in the task-oriented coordinates, incorporating pressure feedback to enhance control with physical interaction, and using velocity field control to simplify multi-degree-of-freedom tasks and to enable novice operators to perform them with reduced risk, improved efficiency, and productivity. The research in this dissertation makes significant contributions to the field of off-road mobile machine control, providing a novel and effective control strategy for the HHEA, and demonstrating the potential for simplified machine operation.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

DOE OSTI2024

Energy Efficiency Analysis for Residents of North Birmingham, Alabama

The community of North Birmingham, Alabama, participated in the Communities LEAP pilot program. As part of this technical assistance pilot, residential buildings, energy efficiency, and electrification were analyzed. This factsheet has a summary of the results.

building envelope↗