2026-09-20T16:02:41Zhttps://dspace.mit.edu/server/oai/requestoai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/1473202023-01-20T03:38:55Zcom_1721.1_7582com_1721.1_7581col_1721.1_131023
Greitzer, Edward M.
White, Andrew Scott
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
2023-01-19T18:45:16Z
2023-01-19T18:45:16Z
2022-09
2022-09-21T13:15:17.245Z
https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/147320
0000-0002-0484-285X
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.
S.M.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
Copyright MIT
http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/
Trade-Space Analysis of Liquid Hydrogen Propulsion Systems for Electrified Aircraft
Thesis
application/pdf
Master
Master of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics
Publication
unknown
unknown
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<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.</Abstract>
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