On Friday, February 5, at the airfield of the Chaplygin Siberian Aviation Research Institute (SibNIA) in Novosibirsk, ground tests of a demonstrator of a hybrid power plant (GSU) began, which includes the world's first superconducting electric aircraft engine.
As RT was told in the press service of the Baranov Central Institute of Aviation Motors (CIAM), the demonstrator is implementing a sequential hybrid power plant.
The propeller that generates thrust is driven by an electric motor, which receives energy from the batteries and from a generator rotated by a gas turbine engine (it is optimized for cruising flight and will power both the electric motor and the batteries).
The tests are being carried out at the flying laboratory, created on the basis of the Yak-40 passenger aircraft.
During the presentation, engineers checked the joint operation of all aircraft systems, including the demonstrator of the hybrid power plant and standard engines.
The main executor of the project to create a hybrid power plant is TsIAM, which, together with SibNIA, which prepared the flying laboratory, is part of the National Research Center “Institute named after N.Ye.
Zhukovsky ".
The electric motor of the GSU demonstrator was developed by the specialists of ZAO SuperOx as part of a joint project with the Advanced Research Fund (FPI).
And the electric generator is a joint brainchild of CIAM and the Ufa State Aviation Technical University.
According to the FPI press service, during the tests of the GSU demonstrator, "the correctness of the selected electrical, strength and layout solutions was confirmed, the correct joint operation of the aircraft equipment and the HTSC electric motor was noted" (using the effect of high-temperature superconductivity).
The Foundation for Advanced Study emphasizes that the successful implementation of the project in the long term will allow the manufacture of domestic GSU and electric power complexes for all-electric aircraft and helicopters, "differing from the existing models of aviation equipment in more advanced operational characteristics."
Development trend of the transport system
As the general director of CIAM Mikhail Gordin told RT, flight tests of the GSU demonstrator are scheduled for the second half of 2021.
At the same time, engineers have to carry out a large amount of work before moving on to the implementation of development tasks.
“Probably, here we, like the athletes, are a little superstitious ... Only after the successful completion of the complex of tests, it will be possible to speak about the“ maturity ”of the GSU technologies, which allow us to proceed to the implementation of development work,” said Gordin.
Hybrid power plant turbine generator
© CIAM
According to him, in 2021, tests of the GSU demonstrator will be carried out, in which only an electric motor is superconducting.
In 2022, an experimental unit will be tested, in which the generator and the power bus will also become superconducting.
The current layout of the GSU demonstrator includes a serial turboshaft motor, generator, batteries and an electric motor using the effect of high-temperature superconductivity with a design power of 500 kW.
The project of creating a hybrid power plant is in line with the state policy of the Russian Federation, aimed at widespread introduction of electric propulsion systems into the aviation industry.
The integration of such technologies will significantly reduce emissions of harmful substances, noise levels, increase fuel efficiency and improve flight safety.
As the press service of CIAM explained to RT, an electric motor cooled with liquid nitrogen receives energy from a generator (400 kW) rotated by a gas turbine engine and a lithium-ion battery pack (100 kW).
An electric motor with a propeller is located in the bow of the Yak-40LL, an engine with a generator in the tail of the aircraft (instead of the standard AI-25 engine).
All other GSU systems are located in the fuselage of the vehicle.
Practically all units, elements and systems of the GSU demonstrator, with the exception of the gas turbine engine, were developed for the first time.
Separately, the general director of CIAM noted the products of the SuperOx company.
According to him, the domestic company is one of the world leaders in the production of high-temperature superconductors of the 2nd generation.
The choice of the Yak-40 aircraft as a base for the flying laboratory was explained by Mikhail Gordin by the rather modest dimensions of this aircraft and the presence of three engines in it, which is optimal for installing the main elements of the GSU demonstrator.
“In general, a flying laboratory based on the Il-76 aircraft is traditionally used for flight tests of aircraft engines, but this is a very large and also expensive aircraft to operate.
For our purposes, we were looking for a smaller plane.
As a result, they decided on the Yak-40.
It is ideally suited for the goals we set, ”explained the CIAM General Director.
Yak-40LL before installing an electric motor with a propeller
© CIAM
In turn, the general director of the Zhukovsky Institute, Andrei Dutov, told reporters that the developers hope that in two years the next flying laboratory based on the Tu-114 aircraft will be created, which will be able to fly on electric motors without auxiliary engines.
He added that the development has no analogues in the world, and representatives of Siemens and Airbus have already contacted domestic specialists with proposals for cooperation.
“This is a historic event.
Today, technologies in civil aviation have been exhausted, and there is a struggle for green aviation, for the future of aviation, for new types of fuel ... This is the first step towards creating an electric plane, "TASS quotes Dutov.
According to Mikhail Gordin, the development of electric propulsion systems is one of the trends in the development of the transport system both within Russia and in the world as a whole.
The top manager added that programs for the creation and use of hybrid and electric power plants are being implemented by all leading manufacturers of aviation equipment.
“Hybrid and electric propulsion systems provide aircraft with advantages that can solve a host of technological problems.
This is an increase in fuel efficiency, environmental friendliness, reliability and safety, ”Gordin stressed.
"More energy needed"
Experts believe that Russian enterprises are at the beginning of the development of hybrid aircraft engines.
At the same time, the tests of the GSU demonstrator indicate that our country has every chance of becoming a leader in the development of electric propulsion systems for helicopters and regional aircraft.
“Russia has already achieved quite serious results in this area.
We are definitely among the first in this segment of scientific and technological progress.
The technology of hybrid and electric motors itself is groundbreaking.
If everything goes well, then we will be able to create an electric turboprop aircraft, "Honored Pilot of Russia Vladimir Popov said in an interview with RT.
According to the expert, in the future, Russia will receive serious economic benefits from the practical implementation of the GSU concept: such aircraft engines will be easier to operate and environmentally friendly.
In addition, the planes of the future will be able to replenish their batteries using the energy of the Sun.
“In the future, solar panels can be placed on the surface of the wing and fuselage - they will power the aircraft in flight.
When airplanes fly at high altitudes behind the clouds, there is always a lot of sun.
Moreover, even on a moonlit night, it is possible to convert light from a natural satellite of the Earth into electrical energy, ”says Popov.
At the same time, as the experts explained, Russian engineers have to solve a lot of difficult tasks.
First of all, they need to significantly increase the battery capacity and reduce the mass and size characteristics of the GSU.
Completion of work in this direction is the prospect of the 2030s.
“A hybrid plant is an internal combustion engine, a fuel-powered battery and the electric motor itself.
All these units still weigh a lot.
Accordingly, more energy is required to lift an aircraft into the air and ensure a more or less distant flight, ”noted Dmitry Drozdenko, an observer of the Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine, an aviation expert.
The emergence of more advanced high-temperature superconductors can remove obstacles to the creation of a compact and powerful GSU, the expert emphasized.
The emergence of such materials, along with an increase in battery capacity, will be a truly revolutionary event, the interlocutor of RT believes.
“Basically, projects with the electrification of aviation are hampered by the lack of the required power sources.
When batteries contain even twice as much energy for the same weight, it will be a breakthrough.
It is on this, as I believe, that Russian specialists are working hard today, ”Drozdenko summed up.