Superconducting-Based Power Transmission Architecture Design for Hydrogen Hybrid-Electric Aircraft

Recently, with the increasingly impact of carbon emissions from the aviation industry on the environment, there has been a growing focus on the research of the hydrogen hybrid-electric aircraft. However, the excessively large and intricate power transmission architecture has emerged as a primary constraint on the development of the hydrogen hybrid-electric aircraft. Here, the superconducting-based power transmission architecture of the hydrogen aircraft powered by solid oxide fuel cell-gas turbine (SOFC-GT) hybrid system is investigated. By establishing a complete model of the hydrogen hybrid-electric aircraft power system, this study compared the effects of transmission voltage on the specific power and efficiency of different power transmission architectures. The optimal transmission voltage is determined through considering the combined impact of the power transmission architecture specific power and efficiency on aircraft performance. The results indicate that, the aircraft with DC transmission architecture has superior payload, and the optimal transmission voltage is 7 kV.