Modeling and Design Optimization of an Electric Environmental Control System for Commercial Passenger Aircraft

Abstract

The aircraft environmental control system (ECS) is the second-highest fuel consumer system, behind the propulsion system. To reduce fuel consumption, one research direction intends to replace conventional aircraft with more electric aircraft. Thus, new electric architectures have to be designed for each system, such as for the ECS. In this paper, an electric ECS is modeled and then sized and optimized for different sizing scenarios with the aim of minimizing fuel consumption at the aircraft level. For the system and for each component, such as air inlets and heat exchangers, parametric models are developed to allow the prediction of relevant characteristics. These models, developed in order to be adapted to aircraft design issues, are of different types, such as scaling laws and surrogate models. They are then assembled to build a preliminary sizing procedure for the ECS by using a multidisciplinary design analysis and optimization (MDAO) formulation. Results show that the ECS design is highly dependent on the sizing scenario considered. An approach to size the ECS globally with respect to all the sizing scenarios leads to an ECS that accounts for around 200 N of drag, 190 kW of electric power, and 1500 kg of mass for the CeRAS aircraft.

Improved Dynamic Performance of Average-Value Modelled Active Front-End Rectifiers

“…Among these solutions, smart transformers, also called power electronic transformers, have been widely applied to interface medium-and low-voltage systems through fully controllable power electronic devices [3]. Similarly, power electronic transformations have played a key role in the onboard systems for transportation applications, aircraft, and shipboard [4,5]. Active rectifiers, as a first stage in those applications, have become the most attractive approaches towards smart power systems.…”

A Design Model for Electric Environmental Control System in Aircraft Conceptual and Preliminary Design

“…A small part of the literature models deals with E-ECS (e.g. [25], [22], [26] but they require detailed input data available only in the later design phases. For instance, these models require the geometry of the heat exchangers, the characteristics of the main system valves and the diameter and length of the secondary flow duct.…”