An Optimal Propeller Design for In-Flight Power Recuperation on an Electric Aircraft

Erzen, David; Andrejašič, Matej; Kosel, Tadej

doi:10.2514/6.2018-3206

Cited by 12 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…According to the results discussed in Ref. [12], the maximum regenerative power could be increased by increasing the solidity.…”

Section: Energy-harvesting Performancementioning

confidence: 86%

“…Ref. [12] has already proven the potential success of such a multi-objective design effort, in that case applied to a fixed-pitch energy-harvesting propeller on a small electric aircraft. For a given blade design, the blade pitch setting can also be changed to obtain better energy-harvesting performance.…”

Section: Energy-harvesting Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…This approach has been proposed before for gliders [7][8][9][10] and naval applications [11]. More recently, work by general-aviation manufacturer Pipistrel [12] confirmed the potential of energy recovery through regenerative propellers for an electric aircraft optimized for training missions. Besides potential applications to aircraft, energy-harvesting rotors are also being considered for airborne wind-energy systems, that use the rotors in propulsive mode for lift-off and hover [13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Aerodynamic Performance of a Wingtip-Mounted Tractor Propeller Configuration in Windmilling and Energy-Harvesting Conditions

Sinnige

Stokkermans

Arnhem

et al. 2019

AIAA Aviation 2019 Forum

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“…According to the results discussed in Ref. [12], the maximum regenerative power could be increased by increasing the solidity.…”

Section: Energy-harvesting Performancementioning

confidence: 86%

Section: Energy-harvesting Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Aerodynamic Performance of a Wingtip-Mounted Tractor Propeller Configuration in Windmilling and Energy-Harvesting Conditions

Sinnige

Stokkermans

Arnhem

et al. 2019

AIAA Aviation 2019 Forum

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…As a result, the electric motor acts as a generator and can harvest energy. Propeller design optimization efforts by Pipistrel for a small electric trainer aircraft led to energy savings of 19%, showing the potential of the concept [2]. Moreover, this concept has been successfully implemented for marine applications in the Opal ship [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aerodynamic and Aeroacoustic Characteristics of an Isolated Propeller at Positive and Negative Thrust

Goyal

Sinnige

Avallone

et al. 2021

Aiaa Aviation 2021 Forum

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Regenerative propellers offer many potential benefits such as improved maneuverability, reduced landing run, and decreased community noise, besides the potential to reduce energy consumption by recovering energy during descent and landing. Since the blade loading in regenerative mode will be opposite to that in the conventional propulsive mode, the aerodynamic and aeroacoustic performance of the propeller will be markedly different in both modes of operation. This paper analyzes the performance of an isolated propeller at positive and negative thrust using multi-fidelity numerical approach and validation experiments to identify the most relevant flow phenomena and resulting tonal-noise mechanisms. The results show that the low-fidelity BEM model does not perform well in energy-harvesting conditions mainly due to polar data limitations near the stall conditions at negative angles of attack. The study of tonal noise sources reveals that at a given advance ratio, the loading noise depends upon the relative level of thrust and torque noise in the upstream direction of the propeller, whereas it is lower or similar to the propulsive case in the downstream direction.

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“…Furthermore, the use of propellers to recover energy has been explored in the literature, for example in Cherubini et al [14]. More recently, Erzen et al [15] displayed the potential of using propellers to recover energy for an electric aircraft.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Experimental Study of the Aeroacoustic Properties of a Propeller in Energy Harvesting Configuration

Candeloro

Martellini

Nederlof

et al. 2022

Fluids

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The aim of the present manuscript is to investigate the noise footprint of an isolated propeller in different flight configurations for the propulsion of a hybrid-electric aircraft. Experimental tests were performed at the Low-Turbulence Tunnel located at Delft University of Technology with a powered propeller model and flush-mounted microphones in the tunnel floor. The propeller was investigated at different advance ratios in order to study the noise impact in propulsive and energy harvesting configurations. For brevity, this work only reports the results at the conditions of maximum efficiency in both propulsive and energy harvesting regimes, for a fixed blade pitch setting. Comparing these two configurations, a frequency-domain analysis reveals a significant modification in the nature of the noise source. In the propulsive configuration, most of the energy is related to the tonal noise component, as expected for an isolated propeller; however, in energy harvesting configuration, the broadband noise component increases significantly compared to the propulsive mode. A more detailed analysis requires separation of the two noise components and, for this purpose, an innovative decomposition strategy based on proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) has been defined. This novel technique shows promising results; both in the time and in the Fourier domains the two reconstructed components perfectly describe the original signal and no phase delays or other mathematical artifices are introduced. In this sense, it can represent a very powerful tool to identify noise sources and, at the same time, to define a proper control strategy aimed at noise mitigation.

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An Optimal Propeller Design for In-Flight Power Recuperation on an Electric Aircraft

Cited by 12 publications

References 6 publications

Aerodynamic Performance of a Wingtip-Mounted Tractor Propeller Configuration in Windmilling and Energy-Harvesting Conditions

Aerodynamic Performance of a Wingtip-Mounted Tractor Propeller Configuration in Windmilling and Energy-Harvesting Conditions

Aerodynamic and Aeroacoustic Characteristics of an Isolated Propeller at Positive and Negative Thrust

An Experimental Study of the Aeroacoustic Properties of a Propeller in Energy Harvesting Configuration

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