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ACTA AERONAUTICAET ASTRONAUTICA SINICA ›› 2021, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (3): 623942-623942.doi: 10.7527/S1000-6893.2020.23942

• Special Topic of Electric Aircraft • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Energy efficiency optimization method for electric aircraft propulsion system

WANG Shuli1,2,4, SUN Jinbo1,4, KANG Guiwen1,4, MA Shaohua3   

  1. 1. Liaoning General Aviation Academy, Shenyang 110136, China;
    2. Rhyxeon General Aircraft Co., Ltd. (RGAC), Shenyang 110131, China;
    3. School of Electrical Engineering, Shenyang University of Technology, Shenyang 110870, China;
    4. Key Laboratory of General Aviation, Shenyang Aerospace University, Shenyang 110136, China
  • Received:2020-03-07 Revised:2020-03-31 Published:2020-04-25
  • Supported by:
    Foundation Department of Education Liaoning Province (LZGD2017041)

Abstract: Electric propulsion systems provide power for electric aircraft, while the energy density of batteries limits the endurance capacity of electric aircraft. It is, therefore, of essential significance to optimize the energy efficiency of electric propulsion systems, improving the efficiency, reducing the system loss and consequently increasing the endurance time of electric aircraft. For a given two-seater controllable pitch propeller electric aircraft, a system loss model of the electric propulsion system in takeoff and cruise stages is established according to the mission profile of the electric aircraft. A novel energy efficiency optimization method tailored for controllable fixed pitch propeller electric aircraft is proposed with the pitch angle of the propeller with adjustable pitch as the optimal variable and minimizing the total energy consumption of one flight as the goal. To verify the effectiveness of this method, a prototype test platform is built, followed by a prototype test. Experimental results suggest that the energy efficiency optimization method can achieve better energy efficiency while reducing the energy consumption by more than 8%.

Key words: electric aircraft, electric propulsion systems, energy efficiency optimization, system loss, fixed pitch propeller

CLC Number: