Two Degree of Freedom Model and Autopilot Controls Development for an Ammonia Fed SOFCC-GT Hybrid System for Commercial Aviation

Solid oxide fuel cells have been proposed to be used in conjunction with a high temperature gas turbine as a power generation plant for a Boeing 737 class aircraft fueled with ammonia for carbonless emissions. To ensure that this ammonia fed hybrid system can achieve the same dynamic response through a typical commercial flight profile, a two degree of freedom model has been developed. This model uses aircraft inputs and flight profile inputs to predict the required thrust the aircraft would need at any given time along its flight profile. An alternative approach is also suggested, where the two degree of freedom formulation is built into the controls of the dynamic model acting as an autopilot. This allows a higher order of accuracy in comparing the performance of the SOFCC-GT hybrid system to a conventional gas turbine.