Institution news
Only a few years ago the idea of carrying commercial passengers on working routes such as London to Paris on an all-electrically powered aircraft would have been considered an impossibility. We can now see the rapid progress of electric aircraft propulsion systems that is starting to make this a reality.
The rate of technology progression in this field recently has been phenomenal. Already Airbus have appeared to abandon the idea of putting a small electric training aircraft into production, the E-fan, in favour of moving forward towards a hybrid demonstrator with a view to development towards a commercial passenger carrying role. December 2017 saw the signing of a landmark agreement between Rolls-Royce, Siemens and Airbus towards the development of the technology demonstrator, the E-Fan X. This apparently will be based on a re-equipping of a BAe 146 aircraft with an electrically-powered propulsion fan in place of one of the existing turbofan engines, with the power coming from a fuselage mounted gas turbine driven generator. It would seem that rather as in the motor industry, a first step into hybrid drive is part way to an eventual envisaged goal of an all-electric aircraft to carry out a full-on commercial task. One can muse on the possible premiums that would go with an all-electric solution, but it would seem that the prospect of ‘zero-carbon’ air travel could potentially attract a premium with a green-loving population. Would passengers be prepared to pay extra for such a ticket rather than on a kerosene-burning conventional aircraft? It remains to be seen.
Moving up from the small electrically powered aircraft presently to a 2 MW power set clearly has many risks that need to be thoroughly assessed and solutions developed. Airbus have invested in a dedicated facility at Munich in Germany which is due to be commissioned soon.
Some might say there is a parallel with the dawn of manned flight just over 100 years ago. The progression from designs such as the Bristol Boxkite in 2010, to the Bristol Scout in 2014 and then to the Bristol Fighter over a period of only six years demonstrated a remarkable progression in capability over a very short time. In effect, the technology progression was so fast, new solutions appeared so quickly that the market moved on far faster than most expected, albeit in that case driven by the demands of war.
The key enabling technologies for commercial electric flight include battery storage energy density, compact low weight high-power motors and low-weight power distribution. These are all moving forward apace, of particular note in the UK is the technology bubble in and around Oxford on battery technology. Lithium sulphur and other emerging technologies greatly enhance the possibility. We can see that players such as Airbus are actively pursuing an ATR (Avion de Transport Regional) sized solution, perhaps initially hybrid drive.
The Aerospace Board of the Institution are sponsoring a lecture on this subject, 22
nd May 2018 at HQ Birdcage Walk. Professor Andreas Schafer from UCL is a key player in the EPSRC-funded work that has been underway in UK research institutions in recent years. A great opportunity to find out more about the evolution of enabling technologies and the potential paths forward. To register go to
http://events.imeche.org/ViewEvent?e=6640