A new electric jet motor could signal a breakthrough in electric propulsion for aviation. The motor could be used to electrify large aircraft, significantly reducing their carbon footprint.
Electric propulsion could cause a paradigm shift in the aerospace and aviation industries. It has the potential to make flights: Quieter, Reduced emissions, Safer, Reduced costs.
The motor could also be paired with a traditional turbofan jet engine to run as a hybrid propulsion system, providing electric propulsion during certain phases of a flight.
MIT researchers are developing a groundbreaking 1-megawatt motor that could propel commercial electric planes to new heights. The motor could turn the electrical energy into mechanical work to power a plane’s propellers.
Kite Magnetics has revealed its 120 kW air-cooled electric motor, which it said is “the world’s most powerful for planes”, at the Avalon Air Show.
Wright Electric’s 2-megawatt engine, capable of delivering 2,700 horsepower, illustrates the potential of electric propulsion. It’s a motor born of a comprehensive redesign, utilizing high-voltage and advanced thermal strategies to achieve the power and efficiency levels necessary for large aircraft flight.( source google)
An electric jet engine could replace a jet engine. An electric jet engine uses electricity to power a plasma source, which generates the exhaust gas instead of a chemical combustion process. An electric jet engine follows the same principle as a turbojet engine, but uses electric power instead of spinning a second turbine to add power to the compressor.
A hybrid system combines a jet engine or a gas turbine with an electric motor. This system can provide large propulsion for a long period of time, and can be used to fly medium-sized and large aircraft.
A megawatt-scale motor is required to electrify larger, heavier jets, such as commercial airliners. These would be propelled by hybrid or turbo-electric propulsion systems.
Wright’s 2-megawatt motor produces the equivalent of 2,700 horsepower, at an efficiency of around 10 kilowatts per kilogram. It’s the most powerful motor designed for the electric aerospace industry by a factor of 2, and it’s substantially lighter than anything out there.
Before a fully electric aircraft can become a practical means of flight, several advancements must be made:
- Battery technology Major improvements in the energy density of batteries are needed. For example, an improvement in battery pack energy density up to 800 Wh/kg is required to make flying an electric Airbus A320 feasible.
- Electric motor technology More efficient, high-powered electric motors capable of producing jet-like propulsion are needed.
- Aerodynamic design Efficient aerodynamic design is needed.
- Stability Improvements in stability, airfoils, wings, and cockpits could impact the design.
Other advancements that may be needed include:
- More efficient propulsion systems
- Batteries that are energy dense, yet light enough to be carried onboard
- Powerful and cheap enough batteries for planes to fly on clean electricity
Small electric planes are already flying, but more research is needed to make the technology available for commercial flight.
The main challenge with gas turbine propulsion is that it has high fuel consumption and low efficiency. Other challenges include:
- Restriction on size
- Low R&D when compared to engines
- Designing and manufacturing gas turbines is a tough problem from both the engineering and materials standpoint
Electric propulsion has several challenges, including:
- Energy storage
- Size and weight of current battery technology
- Bulky and heavy batteries
- Need for sophisticated external power sources
- Very low to modest thrust density capabilities
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