Aircraft Systems Overview

Greening of Secondary Power Systems

Dieter Scholz
Hamburg University of Applied Sciences

SWAFEA − Sustainable Way for Alternative Fuels and Energy for Aviation
1st European Stakeholder Meeting
Brussels, Belgium, 23. - 24.04.2009 1
Content

• Secondary Power Systems

• Fuel Cells in Aviation (example: Airbus)
• Greening of Secondary Power Systems

2
Secondary Power Systems

1.) Propulsive power: aircraft engines

2.) Secondary power: onboard power
ƒ for technical loads
consumed by equipment required to
operate the aircraft safely
ƒ for commercial loads
consumed by equipment required to increase
passenger comfort and satisfaction

Consumption of secondary power systems:

about 5 % of fuel consumed for the total flight

3
Secondary Power Systems

Energy types of secondary power systems:

ƒ electric
ƒ hydraulic (special hydraulic fluid under pressure)
o 3000 psi = 206 hPa
o 5000 psi = 343 hPa
ƒ pneumatic (air under pressure)
o at about 4 hPa and 200 °C

4
Secondary Power Systems

Onboard systems and their type of

secondary power
identifier name of system secondary power
21 air conditioning pneumatic => future: electric
22 auto flight electric
23 communications electric
24 electrical power generation: electric
25 equipment / furnishings electric
26 fire protection –
27 flight controls hydraulic => future: electric
28 fuel electric
29 hydraulic power generation: hydraulic
30 ice & rain protection pneumatic / electric
=> future: electric / electric
31 indicating / recording systems electric
32 landing gear hydraulic => future: electric
33 lights electric
34 navigation electric
35 oxygen –
36 pneumatic generation: pneumatic
38 water / waste pneumatic => future: electric
49 airborne auxiliary power generation: electric / pneumatic 5
Secondary Power Systems

Original sources of aircraft secondary power:

ƒ Aircraft engines normally (e. i. during taxiing and in

flight) provide all energy needs onboard
ƒ Other power sources needed only
a) on the ground
(to make the aircraft self sufficient)
b) for additional redundancy

6
Secondary Power Systems

Aircraft engines deliver ...

ƒ mechanical energy (shaft power) for:

o electric (generator)
o hydraulic (engine driven pump)
ƒ pneumatic (bleed air)

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Secondary Power Systems

Other power sources are ...

ƒ Auxiliary Power Unit (APU)

ƒ Ram Air Turbine (RAT)
ƒ Batteries (BAT)
ƒ Future => Fuel Cell (FC)
ƒ Airport equipment. Delivery of:
o electrical power
o hydraulic power
o pressurized air
o air for air conditioning
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Secondary Power Systems

Other power sources and their application ...

• Auxiliary Power Unit (APU)
o on ground
o in flight for added redundancy
ƒ additional redundancy (non essential APU)
ƒ necessary redundancy (essential APU, e.g. ETOPS flights)
• Ram Air Turbine (RAT)
o electrical RAT: electric power => also converted into hydraulic power
o hydraulic RAT: hydraulic power => also converted into electrical power
• Batteries (BAT)
o DC => also converted into AC
• Fuel Cell (FC)
o DC => also converted into AC
• Airport Equipment
o Electricity
o Hydraulic Power
o Pressurized Air
o Air for Air Conditioning
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Secondary Power Systems

Energy conversion on board (1/2):

ƒ electric => hydraulic: electric motor driven hydraulic pump

(electric motor driven pump, EMDP)
ƒ electric => pneumatic: electric motor driven compressor

ƒ hydraulic => electric: hydraulic motor driven generator

(constant speed motor / generator – CSM/G)
ƒ hydraulic => pneumatic: hydraulic motor driven compressor

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Secondary Power Systems

Energy conversion on board (2/2):

ƒ pneumatic => electric: pneumatic motor driven

generator
ƒ pneumatic => hydraulic: pneumatic motor driven
compressor

ƒ hydraulic => hydraulic: hydraulic motor drives

hydraulic pump
(power transfer unit – PTU)

Energy conversion ... 11

should be avoided to save energy (conversion
Secondary Power Systems

Reasons for energy consumption due to onboard

systems:

ƒ direct consumption of shaft power from the engine

ƒ electric
ƒ hydraulic
ƒ bleed air (air taken from different compressor stages
in the engine)
ƒ system mass => induced drag => increased thrust
demand
ƒ ram air => added drag => increased thrust demand
ƒ additional drag
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Fuel Cells in Aviation (example: Airbus)

Greening of secondary power systems ...

... with Fuel Cells (FC)

• See Airbus public presentation at HAW Hamburg:

http://www.fzt.haw-hamburg.de/pers/Scholz/dglr/hh/text_2007_05_10_Brennstoffzelle.pdf

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 Motivation for Fuel Cell System Application

Aircraft Mission

Example: A330-300:
© AIRBUS DEUTSCHLAND GMBH. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary document.

¾ ~100 000 L per flight of ~10 000 km (Average Fuel Consumption)

¾ Fuel Use: up to 5 %* Aircraft Systems
95 - 97% Propulsion

up to 5000 L per flight for Aircraft Systems operation

DGLR Vortrag - Fuel Cell Systems for Aeronautic Applications - EYVEC - Ref. PR0705049 - Issue 1
 Fuel Cell Systems Architecture

System Architecture Overview

System Integration

Water
Kerosene System Control
m = ~60 kg/h m = ~80 kg/h

Fuel
FuelFuel
Cell
Processing Cell
© AIRBUS DEUTSCHLAND GMBH. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary document.

Air Electricity
m = ~900 kg/h Pel = ~400 kW
Heat Management

E H
X E
H A
m = ~880 kg/h A T Pth = ~160 kW
U
S
T
DGLR Vortrag - Fuel Cell Systems for Aeronautic Applications - EYVEC - Ref. PR0705049 - Issue 1
 Fuel Cell Systems Architecture
Key Challenge Fuel Processing
Fuel Processing is the Conversion of Kerosene into a hydrogen rich gas. Three Parts
are normally necessary:
Desulfurization: Removal of sulfur from kerosene.
Reforming: Conversion of kerosene into a hydrogen rich gas (Reformat).
Gas Cleaning: Cleaning of the reformat (depending on fuel cell).

Fuel Processing

Air Reforming Gas

Desulfuri- Cleaning
© AIRBUS DEUTSCHLAND GMBH. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary document.

zation Steam
reforming Shift Reactor
Kerosene Adsorption Partial Hydrogen (+ Rest)
Membrane
Oxidation
Water
Preferential
Autothermal Oxidation
Reforming

DGLR Vortrag - Fuel Cell Systems for Aeronautic Applications - EYVEC - Ref. PR0705049 - Issue 1
 Airbus Fuel Cell System Strategy

Step by Step Approach Step 5

Alternative
Step 4 ? Fuels

Kerosene
Step 3 Primary

Kerosene
Power
Fuel Cell
Step 2 Power Supply
Unit
H2 Vessel

Fuel Cell
Step 1 Emergency
Power
H2 Vessel

System
© AIRBUS DEUTSCHLAND GMBH. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary document.

Flying
Test
Bed

mid of next end of next

2007 decade decade 20XX
Time

DGLR Vortrag - Fuel Cell Systems for Aeronautic Applications - EYVEC - Ref. PR0705049 - Issue 1
 Step 3: Fuel Cell Power Unit

Tail Cone Integration Concept

© AIRBUS DEUTSCHLAND GMBH. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary document.

DGLR Vortrag - Fuel Cell Systems for Aeronautic Applications - EYVEC - Ref. PR0705049 - Issue 1
 Alternative Fuels

Overview STEP 5

Target (20XX)
Power Generation by Fuel Cell System with Alternative Fuels

CO2-Uptake = CO2-Emissions Alternative Fuels:

¾ Desulfurized Kerosene
¾ Hydrogen
¾ Ethanol/Methanol
¾ Biofuels
© AIRBUS DEUTSCHLAND GMBH. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary document.

New Aircraft Generation

Renewable New Tank ¾ Hydrogen Fuelled Aircraft
Biomass System ¾ New Tank System
¾ Fuel Cell System without
Conversion Fuel Processing
DGLR Vortrag - Fuel Cell Systems for Aeronautic Applications - EYVEC - Ref. PR0705049 - Issue 1
Greening of Secondary Power Systems

Greening of secondary power systems (1/2) ...

... with todays technology we have these options:

ƒ reduced direct consumption of shaft power (electric /

hydraulic) due to:
o better efficiency of consumers
o fewer steps of energy conversions
o better efficiency in power generation
ƒ improved / less / no bleed air usage
ƒ reduced system mass
ƒ reduced ram air
ƒ reduced amount of added drag
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Greening of Secondary Power Systems

Greening of secondary power systems (2/2) ...

... with tomorrows technology we have these options:
simple but important thought
1. keep system technology principles as is, but change
to a sustainable type of fuel (e.g. bio fuel or LH2
for engines and/or APU)
2. change system technology principles (e.g. fuel
cell) but operate with conventional fuel (kerosene)
3. change both

=> consumption of secondary power systems can be:

1. sustainable
2. about 20 % less (4 % instead of 5 % from total)
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Summary

simple but important thought

• Since all power comes from the aircraft engines, onboard systems
are "green" if the engines are "green" (e.g. with bio fuel).

• The fuel cell is a new secondary power generator:

– with high efficiency
– especially useful if LH2 is already on board for the aircraft
engines

• "Greening" secondary power systems may involve:

– evolution: being more efficient in every little detail (accepting
related costs)
– revolution: looking for optimized system configurations (less
conversions, more electric, new secondary power generators,
...)
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