Wright Takes BAe 146 Fast-Track to Electric Airliner Market | AIN
The electric propulsion innovator intends to convert 100-seat BAe 146 regional airliners to serve busy scheduled routes of up to an hour's flight time.www.ainonline.com
Wright Takes BAe 146 Fast-Track to Electric Airliner Market
by Charles Alcock
- November 4, 2021, 11:53 AM
The Wright Spirit will be a BAe 146 regional airliner converted to electric propulsion. (Image: Wright Electric)
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Wright Electric says it can get all-electric versions of the BAe 146 family of regional jets into commercial service by 2026. In a November 4 announcement, the start-up said it will replace the aircraft’s four turbofans with electric motors to support flights carrying up to 100 passengers on sectors of around an hour with a rebranded aircraft called the Wright Spirit.
Plans call for the development of the new motor, inverter, and propulsion fan to be complete by the end of 2022, in time for a converted 146 to fly with a complete electric propulsion unit (EPU) replacing one of the existing turbofans in 2023. The Wright team aims to be flying a technology demonstrator with four EPUs by 2024, as it prepares for type certification in 2026.
In September, the company said it had started testing its two-MW electric motor as part of a plan to develop a 186-passenger airliner with 800-mile range called the Wright 1. Jeff Engler, CEO of Wright Electric, said this program, which would require a more powerful motor, will still be pursued with a 2030 service-entry date. UK-based low-cost carrier EasyJet and Viva Aerobus of Mexico are committed to partnering for the Wright 1 project and both operators have said they will provide input for the new BAe-146-based program.
In the U.S., Wright says, the all-electric regional airliner will serve routes such as New York to Boston and Washington, D.C., and San Francisco to Los Angeles. In Europe, Paris to London and Frankfurt, Germany, are identified as early-adopter routes; Doha, Qatar, to Dubai, UAE, is being eyed in the Middle East and, in Asia, the airliner could serve one of the world’s busiest scheduled routes, between the South Korean capital of Seoul and Jeju Island.
Wright announced the initiative to coincide with the United Nations’ COP26 climate change conference being held in Scotland. “The world needs to shift to real-zero emissions, not net-zero or using sustainable aviation fuel, Engler told AIN. “Operators have told us that if you want to start replacing the typical Airbus [A3230] and Boeing [737] aircraft that they are using, it has to be with something that can operate at the same altitude, at jet speed, and that is big enough [to have the same operating economics as narrowbody airliners].”
Other companies such as Sweden-based Heart Aerospace and Tecnam (in partnership with Rolls-Royce) are working on much smaller all-electric regional airliners, seating 19 and nine passengers, respectively. Wright has concluded that these will not offer sufficient commercial return to operators and that getting a clean-sheet, all-electric model to market would take until into the 2030s. It sees a conversion program around an existing airframe as being a far quicker route to market.
According to Wright, its two-MW motor is around four times more powerful than existing competitors and has around double the power density at 10 kW per kilogram. It says that its inverter will have low rates of heat loss and store energy more efficiently than other designs to support increased aircraft range and payload with the same energy storage capacity.
Initially, Wright intends to install its motor within the nacelles of the existing Lycoming LF502 engines and use its fans. Engler indicated that his company will likely partner with other aerospace groups to update both flight deck and cabin systems in the 146 family of aircraft, which were in production between 1983 and 2003.
Initially, the motor will directly drive the fans, which Engler noted is a more efficient EPU architecture than using a gearbox. That said, Wright hasn’t completely ruled out the introduction of a gearbox-based system, since this would support more revolutions per minute.
Other technical decisions that are still being considered include whether to base the EPUs on hydrogen or aluminum fuel cells. While hydrogen is lighter than aluminum, it has greater volume, which presents storage challenges. Wright is also weighing various concepts regarding how the fuel would be loaded onto the aircraft.
Wright expects to convert mainly the Avro RJ update to the 146 design that British Aerospace introduced in 1993. Engler said Wright is still considering how the conversion business model will work in terms of whether the company, its customers, or potential retrofit partners will be responsible for sourcing airframes.
More than 200 of the 146 aircraft are still in service worldwide, and around 100 of those are the more recent Avro RJ version. In-service aircraft are supported by the BAE Systems Regional Aircraft business based at Prestwick, near Glasgow, Scotland, where the COP26 conference is being staged.
Engler acknowledged that it could prove challenging for airlines to get air operators certificates covering the out-of-production type. He said that avionics systems will need to be updated as part of a move to reduce the training burden for today’s commercial airline pilots.
“Aviation has committed to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, but Wright is committed to a 100 percent reduction in all emissions starting in 2026,” Engler stated. “Because we built the world’s largest aerospace propulsive powertrain, we can build the world’s largest zero-emissions retrofit directly serving the world’s busiest routes.”
Вот вам технология - дальность в пять раз меньше (это обещают), причем наверное он взлетает (и садится) с максимальной посадочной массой (что поднимает вопрос к безопасности), так что пока не будет революции в батареях, все это попил и откат. Также открыт вопрос зарядки - быстрая убивает батареи, а медленная непригодна для нормальной эксплуатации авиапарка.
Это вы про меня? Я не так чтобы русский, а термин "откат" он тоже не в России придуман. Это дело везде любят.Русского человека не изменишь
Она появится только в результате развития фундаментальной науки и НИОКР, но никак не путем использования неподходящей технологии за счет трудового народа.
Да я и не собирался ))).
В данном случае никакой. Но в целом вся эта "зеленая" тема и за мой счет тоже. Например в моем городе несколько лет назад сделали каршеринг на Рено Зои (где я на нем и покатался). Муниципалитет тоже вложился из моих же налогов. Конец немного предсказуем Потому и возмущает. А в итоге это может вылится в ограничение или резкое удорожание перелетов. В Глазго сейчас вроде звучали призывы заморозить дальние перелеты на уровне 2019.
Я тоже. Но это еще надо считать с полным циклом производства и утилизации. Если сравнивать Теслу не с классом Д в две тонны весом, а с С или В, то картина уже не столько радужна.
Машину можно себе позволить заряжать всю ночь или день (а быстро только иногда).
так посчитайте, если это вас заботит.
Продажа очередного кота Шредингера в мешке?
Я вижу истребитель С-75
Я вижу истребитель С-75
DLR and MTU Aero Engines study fuel cell propulsion system for aviation
Electric Flight Demonstrator (artist's impression)
Image 2/3, Credit: DLR/Hendrik Weber, www.wda.de
Close partnership between research and industry
Image 1/3, Credit: © DLR. All rights reserved
Emission-free flight is a central goal of civil aviation. Emission-free air transport could be achieved in the long term by converting hydrogen into electricity. This would enable the environment-friendly electrification of propulsion systems. The German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) and MTU Aero Engines are focusing on a fuel cell propulsion system, which they will jointly develop and validate. A Do228 will be used as the flight demonstrator. On 5 August 2020, the partners signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the DLR site in Oberpfaffenhofen.
The MoU was signed by Rolf Henke, DLR Executive Board Member for Aeronautics Research and Technology, and Lars Wagner, Chief Operating Officer at MTU Aero Engines. “Although great progress in the performance and lifespan of fuel cells has been made in recent years, there is still a considerable need for research into their use in aviation,” said Henke. “This planned joint research-industry project is the first of many steps towards emission-free aviation.” Lars Wagner adds: “As things stand today, fuel cells utilising sustainably produced hydrogen offer the greatest long-term potential for realising emissions-free aviation. We believe that they could offer sufficient performance and range for regional, short- and medium-haul aircraft.”
In order to develop and validate such technology, the partners plan to equip a Dornier 228 aircraft with a hydrogen-powered fuel cell and an electrical, single-sided propeller engine with over 500 kW shaft output, and flight test it over the coming years. Apart from water, fuel cells have no emissions and are highly efficient. The aim of the joint technology project is to develop a complete drive train suitable for aviation (power line) and its cooling (cooling line). The electrification of the powertrain is a core technology that serves to prepare a flying fuel-cell-based propulsion system. The partners are aiming for the maiden flight of the Do228 demonstrator to take place in 2026.
DLR is managing the flight project and providing and operating the research aircraft. It is also responsible for the integration and certification of the powertrain. The research institute will also offer its expertise in the fields of flight testing and aircraft aerodynamics and aeroelasticity. In its role as a partner to industry in the joint project, DLR is therefore contributing its overall system expertise. MTU is tasked with the development of the complete powertrain powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. All work and integration processes will be carried out jointly and in close coordination. Up to 80 experts will be involved.
“The flying test platform will provide important insights that we can use for the further development of electric and hybrid-electric powertrain systems and reduce the ecological footprint of aviation to zero," said Henke. On behalf of MTU, Wagner added: “The development of an airworthy fuel cell and the experience and data acquired as a result, including in the fields of aviation regulation and certification, will prove vitally important to ongoing product development.”
About MTU Aero Engines
MTU Aero Engines AG is Germany’s leading engine manufacturer. The company is a technological leader in low-pressure turbines, high-pressure compressors, turbine centre frames as well as manufacturing processes and repair techniques. In the commercial OEM business, the company plays a key role in the development, manufacturing and marketing of high-tech components together with international partners. Some 30 percent of today’s active aircraft in service worldwide have MTU components on board. In the commercial maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) sector the company ranks among the top 3 service providers for commercial aircraft engines and industrial gas turbines. The activities are combined under the roof of MTU Maintenance. In the military arena, MTU Aero Engines is Germany’s industrial lead company for practically all engines operated by the country’s military. MTU operates a network of locations around the globe; Munich is home to its corporate headquarters. In fiscal 2019, the company had a workforce of some 10,000 employees and posted consolidated sales of over 4.6 billion euro.
UAL Invests in ZeroAvia, Eyes Hydrogen Conversion Kit for RJs
by Gregory Polek
- December 13, 2021, 12:37 PM
United Airlines could convert up to 50 CRJ500s to hydrogen-electric power. (Image: United Airlines)
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United Airlines on Monday joined Alaska Airlines in committing to a new, $35 million round of capital investment in ZeroAvia's hydrogen-electric propulsion system, bringing total financing for the project to $115 million. The new equity stake for United gives the Chicago-based airline rights to buy up to 100 of the zero-emission ZA-2000RJ powertrains, which could power United Express regional jets by 2028.
United specified 50-seat Bombardier CRJ550 regional jets as “one potential use” for the propulsion system. Using the same airframe as the 70-seat CRJ700, the CRJ550 features a two-class cabin that holds 20 fewer passenger seats. United Express affiliate GoJet, which served as the CRJ550 program’s launch customer in 2019, has converted more than 50 of its CRJ700s to the 50-seat configuration.
Bombardier has since ceased production of its regional airliner family and exited the commercial aviation sector. In June 2020, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries acquired the CRJ program and now provides aftermarket support to some 1,300 of the twinjets in service worldwide. In October, the Japanese group's MHI RJ Aviation Group announced a planned partnership with ZeroAvia but declined to confirm whether it will involve converting the CRJs to hydrogen power.
“Hydrogen-electric engines are one of the most promising paths to zero-emission air travel for smaller aircraft, and this investment will keep United out in front on this important emerging technology,” said United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby. “United continues to look for opportunities to not only advance our own sustainability initiatives but also identify and help technologies and solutions that the entire industry can adopt.”
Under the agreement with United Airlines Ventures, United will pursue a conditional purchase agreement for 50 ZeroAvia ZA2000-RJ engines and an option for 50 more, enough to power up to 50 twin-engine aircraft that one or more United Express partners would operate.
ZeroAvia plans to soon begin ground tests of its smaller ZA600 engine in a 19-seat aircraft under a schedule that calls for entry into commercial service in 2024. It now has secured a pair of Dornier 228 twin-turboprop aircraft to use as testbeds for the 600-kW hydrogen-fuel-cell-based powertrain and is preparing to start flight testing in the UK.
The company has set an initial target for a 500-mile range in a 10- to 20-seat aircraft used for commercial passenger transport, package delivery, agriculture, among other applications. The latest funding round targets the next segment of 40- to 80-seat aircraft, including turboprops by 2026 and regional jets by 2028.
Larger airliners, like the CRJ family, would need between 2MW and 5MW of power, which is why ZeroAvia has launched development of the larger ZA2000-RJ powertrain. On the CRJ, it would replace the aircraft's existing GE Aviation CF-34 turbofans, with the conversion being covered by a supplemental type certificate under Part 33 rules.
Over the past few weeks, ZeroAvia has made significant progress towards achieving its goal of zero-emission aviation with commercial momentum through partnerships with Alaska Airlines, Rose Cay, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, ASL Aviation Holdings, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ Regional Jet division, and Rotterdam the Hague Airport.
Along with United and Alaska Airlines, other investors include Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, AP Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Horizons Ventures, Summa Equity, and Shell Ventures. ZeroAvia is competing with fellow California-based start-up Universal Hydrogen, which also has secured significant funding for its plans to convert existing regional airliners, including the Dash 8 and the ATR 42/72. Last week, U.S.-based Connect Airlines said it will convert up to 24 Dash 8-300s with Universal's technology.
