Report
Teaser, summary, work performed and final results
Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ENERGIZE (Efficient Energy Management for Greener Aviation)
Teaser
The trend towards More Electric Aircraft with higher integration of different sub-systems into a common energy network requires innovative approaches for the energy management. First, a well-designed energy management saves energy by optimizing power split. Second and more...
Summary
The trend towards More Electric Aircraft with higher integration of different sub-systems into a common energy network requires innovative approaches for the energy management. First, a well-designed energy management saves energy by optimizing power split. Second and more important, it allows by ist improved handling of loads to reduce the conservatism of the architectural design and hence weight and emissions. Therefore, energy management functions are a key enabling technology that needs to be available in early architectural design. They shall be of limited complexity in order to be quickly developed and potentially certifiable for on-board implementation.
The project Energize will create innovative model-based algorithms tailored to exactly meet these demands. The approach is based on the extensive model-base from DLR and NLR. From here, the vital non-linearities are concentrated into cost functions. The logic of supply and demand is then used to generate model-based algorithms for the energy management. This approach will provide a common solution for the electric and thermal domain while taking the domain-specific aspects into account.
The maturity and industry acceptance of this proposal has been demonstrated by preceding Research activities. Hence, bringing this methodology up to TRL5 in cooperation with the topic manager, will optimize the design of future aircraft and contribute to Flightpath 2050 goals. Energize’s exploitation plan will improve the competitiveness of the European aviation industry but also ensure that vital methodological know-how reaches the scientific community and other European industry sectors. In addition, the use of model-based assessment and algorithms within aviation shall be facilitated as longterm impact.
Work performed
The main goal was to reach a first demonstration of an energy management for thermal, electrical and combined system on the basis of computer simulation.
Due to significant delays in specifying the requirements, this goal has not yet been reached. Work performed so far consist in:
- Setting up the project
- Specification of these requirements
- Start with the mathematical modeling of thermal and electric architectures.
- Start with the modeling of flight mission evaluation including gas turbine.
All deliverables regarding WP1 could be delivered, although the specification had a significant delay.
All deliverables of WP2, WP3 and WP4 with the corresponding milestone TRL3 gate have been missed so far due to a non-recoverable delay.
A project amendment is planned in order to cope with the occurred delay. Underspending of DLR\'s efforts is a consequence of the delay and will enable a cost-neutral Extension of the project duration.
Final results
Project is in a too early stage to have significantly contributed beyond the state of the art.
Regarding the expected impact:
Energy Management Functions are a key-enabler for the More-Electric Aircraft. Intelligent Model-Based Algorithms shall contribute to an improved system sizing and an optimal Distribution of on-board energy. The potential is regarded as up to 1.7% of total Mission fuel for an A320-like MEA.
Furthermore, the integration of model-based design methods and control aspects shall help to shorten the development cycle of future civil aircraft.