Trade-Space Analysis of Liquid Hydrogen Propulsion Systems for Electrified Aircraft
Name
white_aswhite_sm_AeroAstro_2022_thesis.pdf
Description
Thesis PDF
Size
2.76 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
8185a2d6d2da94b66d11bf7db165845e
Author(s)
White, Andrew Scott
Advisor(s)
Greitzer, Edward M.
Date Issued
September 2022
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
This thesis assesses the feasibility of turbo-, hybrid-, and fully-electric aircraft propulsion systems to enable more efficient air transport. A modular optimization framework was developed to quantify system performance for single-aisle transport aircraft with a mission similar to a Boeing 737 MAX 8. Various propulsion systems leveraging superconducting motors, boundary layer ingestion, high-temperature PEM fuel cells, and liquid hydrogen fuel were examined. Aviation turbine fuel (ATF) and liquid hydrogen were compared using the payload-fuel energy intensity (PFEI), defined as the fuel energy required per product of range and payload.
For a given mission, it was found that a hydrogen-fueled fully-electric configuration required similar fuel energy compared to an ATF-burning turbo-fan propulsion system (PFEI = 5.0). Relative to these systems, a hydrogen-fueled turbo-fan had 14% lower PFEI, an ATF-burning turbo-electric propulsion system had 23% higher PFEI, a hydrogen-fueled turbo-electric propulsion system had 8% lower PFEI, and a hydrogen-fueled hybrid-electric had 3% lower PFEI for the same mission.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
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In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
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