Rolls-Royce develops differentiated power and propulsion technology for all-electric and hybrid electric advanced air mobility applications. The first electric subsystems have been designed and are being tested together with lead customers and partners. The prospect of supplying innovative power and propulsion systems for novel aviation market segments at scale requires a step change for all processes on the way from prototype to aerospace-grade products. Olaf Otto will give insights into Rolls-Royce’s approach to delivering the innovative systems required for powering platforms in hybrid electric flight.

It is not a trivial challenge to reliably predict the future where a number of technical trajectories for zero-emission energy sources and aircraft exist. The relative merits and limitations of synthetic (and drop-in fuels), batteries, hydrogen electric and hydrogen combustion will be introduced at energy source, aircraft and operational levels. The outcome of this view on the future highlights cryogenic hydrogen, in particular, hyperconducting, and electric propulsion as an exciting and scalable prospect if we work together as an industry.

In recent years, electric aviation has emerged as an exciting new frontier in air travel, promising to revolutionize the industry with cleaner, quieter and more sustainable aircraft. However, for airlines, the decision to invest in electric aircraft for urban and regional air mobility is not just a matter of environmental impact, but also of economic viability. In this keynote, we will explore the opportunities and challenges of electric aircraft for airlines operating in urban and regional markets. We will examine the factors that impact the economic feasibility of electric aviation, including the cost of batteries, charging infrastructure and regulatory frameworks. We will also consider the potential benefits of electric aircraft, such as reduced operating costs and increased flexibility in route planning. This keynote will provide insights into the strategic considerations that airlines must weigh when deciding whether to adopt electric aircraft for urban and regional air mobility, a glimpse of the fare charged to passengers, and potential business models for airlines. Attendees will gain a better understanding of the opportunities and challenges of electric aviation from an airline's perspective, and learn how to navigate this exciting and evolving field.

Hybrid-electric propulsion offers considerable potential to improve aircraft efficiency and reduce emissions across a range of different aircraft applications and thereby support the aviation industry’s goal of achieving net-zero CO2 emissions for air travel by 2050. Remi Robache will draw from Pratt & Whitney Canada’s hybrid electric flight demonstrator program to explain the opportunities and challenges of this new propulsion concept, and how it intersects with other technologies and alternative fuels which are required to make aviation more sustainable. Based on a De Havilland Canada Dash 8 experimental aircraft, Pratt & Whitney Canada’s demonstrator program is targeting a 30% improvement in fuel efficiency, compared to today’s most advanced regional turboprop engines.

The development of a CS25 class hybrid H2 fuel cell electric propulsion system requires a technology maturation and validation program with a multilevel roadmap of design and testing platforms which ensure verification from the components to the subsystem modules and finally to the aircraft system. This presentation shows a view on architectures and key technology areas under development for such a propulsion system, to support the EU’s SRIA objectives.

In this session, Julian Renz will address the scope of carbon emissions generated by today’s aviation sector and the challenges in emission reduction with existing solutions. He will then discuss emerging trends in aviation electrification and specifically cover ZeroAvia’s breakthrough hydrogen electric powertrain technology for commercial aircraft. Most importantly, Renz will convey how innovations like ZeroAvia’s will impact the aviation industry, what current major airline partners like British Airways and Alaska Airlines are trying to achieve when it comes to sustainability goals, and when we can expect to see large-scale, decarbonized commercial jets in our skies.

As soon as the first commercial aircraft enter the market, they will need to be kept airworthy continuously. Changes in legislation will mean new requirements for organizations and the workforce. On the other hand, lessons learned and existing infrastructure for the continuous airworthiness of existing aircraft can be used to support electric and hybrid aviation. Ultimately, an aircraft needs to fly and be reliable throughout its lifetime. How do we organize this support in time?

Today, regional aircraft only play a small role in the aviation landscape. However, the question pops up if energy and propulsion revolutions – such as hydrogen and electric – will bring a game-changing improvement in performance and create substantially higher demand? The specific range and payload requirements in the regional market potentially open up a wider range of new propulsion technologies than large commercial aircraft, and this may have significant commercial implications. Roland Berger and NLR team up again this year to assess new propulsion technologies for regional aircraft, following our work on other segments in previous years.

This presentation will appraise the differences between cryogenic (e.g. hyperconducting) and conventional fuel cell powertrains and their impact upon the performance and scalability of fuel cell aircraft. The focus of this presentation is the application of PEM fuel cells as well as the application of technologies with the potential for an EIS between 2032 and 2040.

Since its first flight in 2011, the electric aircraft 'e-Genius', built and operated by the University of Stuttgart, has undergone several changes in its energy storage system and the related degree of hybridization. After starting out as a purely battery-electric aircraft and flying successfully for several years, it was first outfitted with an external Wankel range extender followed by the currently installed internal full-hybrid system, steadily increasing the degree of hybridization. The presentation covers the different versions of the aircraft’s propulsion system as well as a comparison of the three powertrain variants based on actual flight test data. Furthermore, the scalability of the results into the 50-seat regional aircraft class is discussed, comparing it to the latest outcome of related research.

The need for a transition to greener aviation is crucial. For Norway as a nation highly dependent on a well-functioning air transport system, shortening the time it takes to develop, test and roll out more sustainable solutions is of particular importance. To facilitate the change we need to understand how the rest of the aviation ecosystem needs to align to allow for new technologies. As an operator of 43 airports we look into the needs a transition to zero carbon operations will demand and the need for all stakeholders to collaborate across sectors.

Commercial aircraft powered by H2 propulsion systems are currently being developed by several companies. However, a cost-competitive fuel supply chain is also required for a successful entry into service. In this presentation, the techno-economics of green LH2 supply chains to or at airports are shown and major trends analyzed. Furthermore, and based on an exemplary air traffic network, the operating costs of H2-powered aircraft are finally determined.

This research implements flexibility into a flight schedule to lower the charging peak power demand of electric aircraft. Additionally, it incorporates the energy provision in terms of renewable energy sources in combination with battery storage. Besides a daily operational model, an entire year has also been subject to an energy balance-focused optimization for a case study on Bonaire. Costs were found to be significantly lower than for a fixed-flight schedule for an operational day while the yearly model identified the minimum optimized required energy infrastructure. Sensitivity analysis also showed possible airport energy business cases.

With the electrification of aviation, airports are also facing challenges in adapting their infrastructure to operate hybrid electric aircraft. This paper presents the operation of several 50-pax regional aircraft at a regional airport. The operational requirements, aircraft emissions and expected ticket prices for regional flights are compared to conventional aircraft. These requirements are presented and evaluated for 2030, 2040 and 2050.

Which lithium-ion battery technology is best suited for today’s wide range of advanced air mobility (AAM) e-aviation application requirements? How can prospective battery technologies offer uncompromised levels of safety and reliability when required to deliver concurrently high-power discharge capabilities, high specific energy requirements and a high number of cycles? This paper proposes a review of some of the lithium-ion technology candidates best able to meet the demanding and challenging applications found in e-aviation today.

For a battery, the charging phase is even more significant and relevant for safety than the discharging phase is. Therefore, a systematic approach to safety that considers all battery operation modes and involved aircraft components is required in order to certify a propulsion battery. The first EASA-certified onboard charger, as introduced by Lange Aviation, is used as an example in order to present various challenges linked to the charging of a propulsion battery. Safety aspects of inflight battery charging, as experienced with recuperating and hybrid propulsion systems, are also discussed.

Li-ion propulsion batteries are becoming more common in new electric aircraft powertrain systems. The challenges in ensuring continuous safe flight during a battery fire event are significantly harder in aerospace compared to ground electric vehicles. The certification and regulations of batteries in aerospace are still evolving and will be discussed. Research into the topic of battery thermal runaway was conducted to gain insight into the problem. A first principles engineering approach is applied to analyze battery thermal runaway events and suggest guidelines for battery thermal abuse designs.

Electrification of propulsion systems demands batteries with long cycle lives, a high energy density and rapid rechargeability. Battery temperature plays a major role in all three, significantly reducing the battery’s operating performance and capacity, in addition to introducing safety and stability concerns. Therefore, effective thermal management is a key factor in enabling the adoption of all-electric aircraft. The conventional approach to thermal management merely entails the prevention of overheating. However, as will be laid out in this presentation, it can instead be leveraged to optimize the performance, safety and durability of hybrid electric propulsion systems for UAVs and UAM.

Discover EA Maven's groundbreaking study on advanced air mobility (AAM) opportunities in the UK. From an initial analysis of 300+ cities and 13,000 routes, they've pinpointed 900+ viable routes across 260 cities. This study not only discusses potential routes but also the significant time and economic benefits of AAM. With the potential to save over 9,000 years annually for travelers switching from surface transportation, this equates to a boost of £2bn in economic productivity. Join us to delve into EA Maven's methodology and gain insights into how AAM can reshape intercity travel in the UK and be replicated in other jurisdictions.

Rolls-Royce develops differentiated power and propulsion technology for all-electric and hybrid electric eVTOLs and fixed-wing aircraft. Together with lead customers and partners, electric propulsion units have been designed, taking the specific requirements of different flight applications and missions into account. With the goal of certification within the next few years, their designs feature lightweight topology, novel thermal management solutions and the highest integration levels while aiming to meet the highest safety standards. The presentation will give an overview of the systems under design and their unique technological attributes, and an update on progress in the test labs.

In the next decades, eVTOL/AAM systems will likely become essential tools for public service missions worldwide. However, public service infrastructure requirements could differ from UAM and personal/corporate operations. For fixed-base operations like local fire departments and EMS, a small take-off/landing site at or near the station with charging capability works best; but for disaster response, humanitarian aid, or fighting wildfires, dynamically allocatable assets and infrastructures are essential. For military applications, on-demand, fast-deployable platforms and infrastructures are necessary. Dynamically deployable infrastructures include mobile megawatt-charging systems (air/ground transportable), command and control, temporary vertiports, dynamic air space management, weather data links and a spares/maintenance network.

This presentation will share Evolito's learnings of how to gain a system-level advantage from next-generation electric propulsion architectures, and how these can accelerate the development of the eVTOL industry.

The progression of electric and hybrid air mobility will be reviewed in line with the implementation of autonomous operation and artificial intelligence (AI) utilization. An entry into service roadmap will be presented for different classes of aircraft. Major obstacles for entry will be shown and quantified based on the platform's progression. Powertrain selection and the rationale for different vehicles will be included. Provisions for improvements and further progression will be presented and quantified. The progress is heavily dependent on an aggressive AI and autonomy use. Important conclusions will be summarized at the end.

Rolls-Royce develops differentiated electrical power and propulsion technology for both eVTOLs and fixed-wing aircraft. With the need for longer range and increased power, fully battery-electric solutions reach their limits. Together with partners, Rolls-Royce is therefore exploring different novel aircraft architectures including using fuel cells as energy storage and a turbo generator for power generation during flight. The presentation will feature comparisons of different architectural designs and give updates on progress in the development of scalable turbo generator technology and an outlook on moving fuel cell hybrid electric flight forward.

Why will hybrid propulsion be a paradigm shift for general aviation? Is pure battery-only propulsion a viable solution with the current state-of-the-art for battery systems? The presentation will cover clean sheet design versus refurbishment (pros and cons), the certification requirements (and challenges) for sustainable aircraft (CS23), and how a hybrid airplane compares in terms of cost of ownership as compared to today’s best-in-class.

Electra has developed and tested a hybrid electric propulsion system to power its blown-lift eSTOL aircraft, able to take-off and land within an area the size of a soccer field. The hybrid system consists of a turbogenerator and battery pack powering eight distributed electric propulsors arranged along the leading edge of the wing. This arrangement results in a multiplication of lift generated at slow speed, giving the aircraft the ability to liftoff and land within two to three vehicle lengths. Electra has demonstrated this effect in prior wind tunnel tests and at subscale. Electra has recently integrated the hybrid system into its 2-seat technology demonstrator and will begin flight testing by Q3 2023. This presentation will discuss learnings and insights from the integration and testing of the hybrid propulsion system. Electra’s future product is a 9-seat version of its eSTOL aircraft.

Recently 1MW class electric motors and generators have become one of the key technologies that support the goals of hybrid electric propulsion such as driving overall system efficiencies as high as possible and reducing system weight by increasing the power density and system simplicity. This presentation compares the characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of efficient, high-power density 1MW class electric machines based on permanent magnet and wound field technologies. Honeywell has an unparalleled generator and motor range for aerospace, based on more than 100 years of innovation and product development and has recently demonstrated an aerospace-grade 1MW electric machine.

Today, simulation is a key part of product engineering. It enables engineers to rapidly and cost-effectively test and validate their designs. Today, most companies perform their engineering simulation on custom-built on-premises compute clusters. Finding that on-premises clusters are limiting in many ways, many companies are actively migrating their engineering simulation workloads to the cloud. The cloud provides access to vast computing resources on demand, providing elasticity and lower cost, enabling simulation engineers to run more simulations quicker, thus expediting the innovation process. This talk presents insights into how to scale simulations in the cloud, along with customer case studies.

Traditionally water brakes or eddy current retarders have been used to load turboprop and turboshaft engines in development or routine testing. While water brakes have limited dynamics, eddy current retarders require power electronics for dynamic control. However, their low inertia allows testing with a representative mass-elastic load side. Electric variable speed drives offer the highest dynamic control even at very high power levels, however, motors come with significant rotational inertia. By employing modern control schemes for active inertia compensation and torsional damping, a 9000hp/6.7MW industrial drive was turned into a regenerative dynamometer. The challenges in motion control are presented, as well as practical experience from its commercial operation.

The most promising opportunities to improve aircraft efficiency and overall sustainability are in electrified propulsion concepts. These are designed and assessed virtually using simulation software. Here, the right amount of detail is required to allow informed decision making. However, it is slow and expensive to introduce superfluous detail. This presentation summarizes some typical choices in representing key components of propulsion concepts ranging from hybrid electric to hydrogen electric aircraft, and describes how their strengths and limitations cascade to aircraft-level projections.

Explore next-generation aerospace design and testing workflows. Understand how hardware-in-the-loop testing expedites the testing and certification of hybrid, VTOL, or conventional aircraft. We will present examples of real-world certification processes and provide an overview of tools and methodologies that streamline the design verification phase. Moreover, delve deeper into battery testing, cell emulation, and powertrain development using Simulink Real-Time and Speedgoat real-time target machines.

The technological shift towards electric or hydrogen propulsion and more electric aircraft in general greatly benefits us all by enabling clean and sustainable aviation, but also introduces new challenges in its development process. The growing complexity of the electrical architecture on board aircraft requires additional control software and in-depth verification. However, development activities are usually distributed across different organizations, thus integration testing becomes increasingly challenging. Flexible virtualization strategies are required to cope with these challenges. This session will show how HIL testing on power level can help avoid bottlenecks in development by emulating batteries and electric machines at different operating conditions.

A review of the EU aviation research landscape on electric and hybrid aviation toward climate neutrality by 2050.

The ATI has published the UK Aerospace Technology Strategy, Destination Zero, which describes the path to net zero commercial aircraft by 2050. This presentation will explore new capabilities which are in development in the ATI portfolio of R&T projects and will thereby grow the aerospace sector's strengths to realize the 2050 target. The role of both ultra-efficient and zero-carbon propulsion system technologies will be explored, together with complementary advances in aircraft systems to support the future market.

This work is devoted to the investigation of the aerodynamic effects of a DEP installation on a regional aircraft for greenhouse gas emissions reduction. In the first part, a finite span section of the wing is considered with periodic boundary conditions by means of the RANS approach. The second part of the paper is devoted to trade-off studies on a complete wing by means of a combination of high-order and low-order approaches. The final objective is to identify a simplified procedure to support preliminary design. An experimental test campaign is ongoing in order to assess the numerical results.

Aviation’s global share of CO2 emissions is expected to increase over time given the relative maturity of decarbonization solutions across other industries, and the footprint of its non-CO2 effects such as contrails and NOx can be as much as two to four times that of CO2 alone. The Roland Berger Roadmap to True Zero for the global aviation sector focuses on six key levers for potential mitigation strategies, building on analysis of a broad range of potential outlooks, assumptions and emission sensitivities to develop five scenarios, each with a focus to bring aviation’s total climate impact down to true zero, including both CO2 and non-CO2 effects.

The aviation industry has been facing the challenge of reducing its carbon footprint for decades and has made significant progress in fuel efficiency. Today, the global air transportation industry is committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. To go even further in the reduction of aircraft emissions, the principal focus is now on new technologies such as electric aircraft and new fuels such as hydrogen. But while progress is being made, these disruptive solutions still face some challenges with respect to their overall impact on the environment. To address a truly end-to-end sustainable system, companies should approach the system-of-systems perspective.

Carbon emissions are just one side of the climate impact of aviation. Non-CO2 effects are around two thirds of the total effect, 85% of them linked to airplane contrails. Different solutions are being studied such as sustainable fuels (SAF), the reduction of aromatics, modification of the routes to avoid specific areas and avoiding the formation of condensation trails by flying at lower altitudes. CITD Smart SAF system is also targeting a new solution to the non-CO2 effects where IA will be used for condensation trails prediction based not only on atmospheric data but also on added onboard airplane data analyses.

Liquid hydrogen fuel cells are earmarked as one of the solutions to decarbonize long-haul transportation including aviation. Liquid hydrogen can be used to reject the heat generated by losses in the electric powertrain. To achieve this, the liquid hydrogen is first circulated through the cold plate of the propulsion inverter and then through the cooling jacket of the electric machine. The outgoing hydrogen is then fed to the fuel cell system. This results in a simpler, lighter and more efficient system. The design of the inverter cold plate and the electric machine cooling jacket and their operation are presented.

The use of a fuel cell system fueled by hydrogen gives opportunities to design a totally novel electric power system. Some of this arises from the use of liquid hydrogen as a cryogenic coolant source. The results provide significant advantages over conventional systems through the use of radical approaches. These advantages include gains in power density, scalability to large aircraft and advanced and effective protection schemes and will be described in the presentation.

Electrical machines for future aircraft propulsion will need to push the boundaries in power density without compromising reliability. Against sector technology roadmaps there are still significant improvements required and the desired power to weight, efficiency and integrity will not be achieved through incremental developments. This presentation will explore the potential of rethinking how we manufacture and design high-performance electrical machine windings. Examples of recent developments will be given, covering metal additive manufacturing, high-integrity insulation systems, the application of probabilistic design principles to the prediction of winding failure, and the use of composite materials to realize an air-gap winding stator.

Exploring and pushing forward technological bricks on distributed electric propulsion: that is the goal of the Ecopulse flight demonstrator. This collaborative project has been undertaken with Airbus, Daher and Safran, with the support of France’s Civil Aviation Research Council (CORAC) and the French Civil Aviation Authority (DGAC), to enable our future aircraft to further support decarbonization. Airbus is involved in the development of a high-energy-density battery, aerodynamic and acoustic integration and the development of a flight control computer system. Some key objectives are to contribute to new energy learnings, identify appropriate methods and associated simulation models and evaluate aerodynamic and acoustic gains.

One of the key enablers for electric aircraft is propulsion batteries. As with any relatively new technology, there is limited experience of their use as energy storage devices in electric/hybrid aerial vehicles. Lithium batteries have specific failure, operational and maintenance characteristics that differ from conventional batteries currently covered by normative aviation certification. Therefore, new appropriate certification materials and qualification standards have been established to ensure that these battery installations do not have hazardous or unreliable design characteristics. The presentation will give an overview of the certification materials and qualification standards used in the certification of propulsion batteries.

Driven by the need for sustainable aviation as well as technical possibilities, numerous initiatives are ongoing to develop and certify electric or electric/hybrid aircraft, such as VTOL, hydrogen/electric, SAF/electric. Authorities and industry are working together to develop certification specifications and special conditions. Safety principles are generally understood, however, how to design new aircraft to support safety requirements and how to show compliance is still novel territory. Additional challenges are posed by startup organizations and investor interests. This presentation addresses some of the recent field experience working in airworthiness office roles and industry standardization working groups and the hurdles still ahead.

Within the DLR internal project HorizonUAM, which encompasses research related to numerous UAM topics, a safe propulsion system concept for a multirotor intracity eVTOL vehicle used for passenger transportation in the urban air mobility context was developed. This presentation aims to provide an overview on the safety-driven design process and its sizing results. Using a model-based systems engineering approach the propulsion system was designed and sized based on the concept of operations requirements, contingency capability for failure conditions, EASA SC-VTOL certification requirements using the safety assessment method ARP 4761, and the thermal management requirements.

The battery safety diagnostic system implemented by automotive BMS is perceived to be the best in class. This is due to its high volume, which enables exploitation of the latest technology and commercial advantages. Yet, the diagnostic and prognostic capabilities implemented are limited. For electric aircraft, the fundamental premise of safety, plus the need to monitor, identify and isolate or mitigate battery failure is different. However, the tightly regulated aircraft usage case opens a few novel approaches to realize a comprehensive diagnostic and prognostic system. At WMG, in collaboration with aerospace OEMs, we have developed a battery functional safety diagnostic system.

Research into the Coanda effect or fluid entrainment has been ongoing for 100 years. Fascinating results in aerodynamic and hydrodynamic performance have been achieved with the most notable application being the rotorless helicopter tail control system, NOTAR. Adoption of the technology by the legacy aerospace industry has been slow; therefore Coanda technology presents an opportunity for the new generation to significantly improve the marginal performance of eVTOL aircraft using fluid flow entrainment design principles. This presentation forms a review of the most significant research results that have been published and potential design improvements and benefits for future eVTOL aircraft.

Certification often makes design iterations prohibitively slow, with spiraling costs and time-to-market a major challenge. Engineering at a system level is crucial to avoid non-optimized eVTOL propulsion and aircraft designs. This extends beyond motor, transmission and inverter, to propeller geometry and aircraft structures. A process to develop systems concurrently and assess system architectures, electric motor/inverter technologies and propeller designs is presented. Simulation tools enable the assessment of key parameters including power density, efficiency, redundancy and sustainability for thousands of options, identifying potential non-intuitive solutions. This allows for quick data-driven decision making, enabling the future of aircraft propulsion systems.

Driven by the demand for sustainable aviation, eVTOLs have gained significant public interest and investments. Unlike conventional aircraft designs, there is an abundance of eVTOL concepts that are differentiated by their aircraft configuration. Previous studies of eVTOL concepts involve making assumptions about the electric propulsion system. Consequently, valuable insights into the sensitivities of aircraft performance to component selection are lost. However, these insights are critical to eVTOL’s success. Therefore, this study sought answers to how many rotors an eVTOL should have, how many rotors should be vectored and what the eVTOL's range is for different mission scenarios.

Historically, gas turbines reject the majority of their waste heat with their exhaust. Electric aircraft do not have this luxury and yet thermal management is historically considered late in the design process. A key driver of airframe efficiency, a systems approach to thermal management is needed with novel technology pushing the bounds of what can be achieved. Reaction Engines’ expertise and game-changing microtube heat exchangers represent enabling technology for zero-emission aviation. Through case studies, such as Project NEWBORN, Reaction Engines examines the development of these solutions to combat the real thermal management challenges that the industry is facing.

This presentation provides an overview of the integration of hydrogen fuel cell powertrains in aviation. The focus is on the assessment of suitable aircraft types and the anatomy of the energy system. In addition, the presentation delves into the critical aspects of sizing aircraft fuel cell systems. The interplay between the hydrogen fuel cell energy system and the aircraft is also discussed. Finally, the presentation covers the use of liquid- or air-cooled fuel cell stacks, the function of air compressors, strategies for cold start and measures to maintain optimal membrane humidity conditions.

The Royal Netherlands Aerospace Centre (NLR) has been a significant participant in the EU's Clean Aviation and Clean Hydrogen projects as well as in national programs. An overview of the progress made and the development of new test facilities will be presented. This ranges from drone flights with hydrogen propulsion, both gaseous and liquid, to the development of a hydrogen range extender for NLR's research aircraft, material test capabilities at cryogenic temperatures and the development of a new ground facility for testing fuel cell powertrains and liquid hydrogen storage tanks for future aircraft.

As part of the UK ATI-funded H2GEAR programme, and with academic and industrial partners, GKN Aerospace has been investigating the potential for fuel cell power generation systems to be applied to large CS25 aircraft. This presentation investigates some of the opportunities and challenges in the adaptation of existing fuel cell systems to aerospace and setting requirements for future aerospace standard systems. The focus will also be on the modeling capability and preliminary conclusions that have been drawn from the system optimization work completed to date.

Gliding through the air with zero emissions and low noise? Is this what the future of air travel looks like? How close is this future? Prof. Dr Josef Kallo, founder and CEO of H2FLY, gives an insight into current developments, challenges and prospects for hydrogen electric-powered aircraft.

Hydroplane is developing a modular 200kW hydrogen fuel cell powerplant to provide electric propulsion and hydrogen storage for single engine aircraft, rotorcraft and eVTOL platforms. The system is based on a high specific energy and volume modular stack, with lightweight bipolar plates and high-durability membrane technology. The balance of the plant includes a lightweight air compressor and liquid hydrogen feed system. We will present on the development status including ground testing, certification and flight test results and findings. Hydroplane is a two-time winner of the Agility Prime Program, as well as the California Energy Commission Caltestbed Program, furthering its innovative energy storage technology development and certification.

Is sodium borohydride (SBH) a feasible carrier of hydrogen on board aircraft? Can it be considered an alternative to liquid and gaseous hydrogen storage methods? There are potential advantages of applying SBH: storage takes place under atmospheric conditions in a powder (or dissolved in water) and hydrogen release does not need additional thermal energy. We present the results of a first feasibility study on the application of SBH in aviation. Multiple SBH fuel variants – with different amounts of water and with corresponding fuel processing architectures – were analyzed and simulated in the context of a regional aircraft mission.

Much of the focus on hybridization has been on achieving high efficiency. This is a very valid design space but it isn't the whole picture when it comes to applications of hybrid electric propulsion. VerdeGo Aero has also been developing hybrid powerplants for very-high-performance missions and aircraft. These powerplants share some attributes with other hybrids but also have novel aspects that are particularly interesting for very-high-speed VTOL missions. The combination of both high-efficiency and high-performance applications for hybrid technologies will accelerate the maturity of the next generation of powerplants.

The regional market segment is considered to be a key entry point for zero-emission flight. In this session, Manrique will present a methodology based on a mission flight analysis able to evaluate the requirements in terms of power-to-weight and energy-to-weight gravimetric indexes for battery-electric and hydrogen electric propulsion architectures. Results will include a retrofit of a conventional tube-and-wing regional aircraft, in which turboprops are replaced with a novel powertrain and its relative energy carrier to simulate a design, and typical missions including the alternate destination and loiter phases.

The increasing voltages used in aerospace and the altitude challenges create a need to provide innovation in insulation materials to reduce insulation damage due to partial discharge. The light weight of aluminum and its higher resistance to high-frequency eddy current compared with copper opens opportunities for aerospace usage. The presentation will report results on the oxide coating of aluminum and compare this coating with results from enamel- and PEEK-coated aluminum wires. We will discuss the effect of the insulation properties on the thickness and degradation of the coatings in operational conditions. Thermal properties will also be reported.

Power electronics enable the linking of electric power busses of different voltage forms and levels like single/multiphase AC and DC lines. The necessary AC-DC and DC-DC converter systems have increased lately in system power density through wide-bandgap semiconductor devices, resulting in advantages on system integration and efficiency. Modular internal designs allow for fail-operational high-voltage drivetrain architectures, addressing future MW class drivetrain architectures.

This publication shows a novel method to use a power hardware-in-the-loop-based (PHIL) inverter emulator (PHIL-IE) as an efficient test tool along the product lifecycle. In early R&D phases, it can be used as a highly efficient rapid prototyping tool to shorten R&D cycles and test a future converter system under real-life conditions. In later states, the same PHIL-IE, by using different HIL-based application models, is used for single component tests. In iron birds, the novel test method can be perfectly combined with HIL-based digital twin emulations to reduce test costs and time significantly.

The future of small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) or drone applications, whether for the delivery of consumer goods, medical supplies, emergency response, or research instrumentation, includes missions beyond visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) and penetration into clouds. Adverse weather conditions, particularly inflight icing, will be a significant hurdle to overcome. Therefore, reducing ice accretion using an ice protection system is critical. Equally, any system must not impact on its ability to carry a payload effectively. This presentation focuses on research and system development carried out by CAV Systems to address these issues and provide an effective, low-powered ice protection scalable solution.

Innovative technologies and manufacturing processes are key in developing propulsion drivetrains which can meet the demanding requirements for more-electric flight. The presentation will cover roadmaps for key enabling technologies and manufacturing processes to enable wider adoption of electrified drivetrains. Cross-sectoral learnings from automotive and other industries will be brought to bear. A number of case studies of technology demonstrators will be presented to highlight how innovative roadmaps can impact key performance metrics.

Zero-emission mobility as a common goal across industries – whether on the road, in the air or in space – motivates us to develop advanced automotive-based solutions for the future of mobility. We believe that it is key to utilize synergies across these industries to speed up and enable the technological transition. We will present the preliminary research results of our H2 activities. We will focus on the benefits, potentials and hurdles for future aerospace solutions based on our experience in different product areas and projects such as fuel cell peripheral components, automotive-based high precise microelectronics, advanced adhesive manufacturing processes and advanced electronic manufacturing solutions.

Based on current and future market requirements, Schaeffler will present the latest technology trends in terms of product design and manufacturing technologies for electric machine components. The transfer of automotive manufacturing technologies into aerospace applications is presented by electric motor product technology such as wave winding technology and cost-efficient motor manufacturing technologies. Moreover, Schaeffler will show that the mechanical components of electric machines play an important role in achieving the challenging power density and reliability requirements.

Some of the greatest challenges in developing future hydrogen propulsion systems lie in the ‘invisible’ art of integration. Matching, optimizing and ensuring seamless control and communication of subsystems in an efficient and safe manner is critical. The engineering effort is immense to get a product powered by hydrogen to market. The challenge is further multiplied to do this in aerospace. What can we learn from other sectors to simplify and reduce the cost of future hydrogen propulsion systems in aerospace? This presentation will review the challenges and look at how innovation and lessons in integration from other sectors create new possibilities for aerospace.