Modeling Superconducting Components of the Electric Aircraft

Electrification of the mobility sector is at the center of attention to reduce CO2 emissions and mitigate man-made climate change. At present, aircraft is responsible for around 2.4 % of the annual global carbon emissions. This is a motivation behind developing fully-electric, zero-emission aircraft. The advantages of superconductivity including compactness, lightweight, and high efficiency make this technology a promising choice to accelerate the transition to electric aircraft. The powertrain for a large electric aircraft includes different components like motors, converters, DC and AC cables, batteries, fuel cells, fault current limiters, power generators and fuel storage. The higher the total power of the electric aircraft, the more interesting it is to use superconducting devices. In this work, the approach to model the overall electric powertrain with MATLAB/SIMULINK is presented. Within the overall model, several superconducting devices are simulated in detail. One component is a resistive superconducting fault current limiter which is modeled via an electrical-thermal lumped-parameter method in MATLAB. The simulation results are given in detail and discussed. In addition, a configurable MATLAB Simulink model of the fault limiter is developed for integration with wider systems models. Another model for a superconducting DC cable has been developed. The electrical-thermal, lumped parameter and two-dimensional modeling of this component are studied and its operation is simulated using MATLAB programming. Finally, the overall simulation methodology is presented and the current status is given

Simulation Models for Superconducting Components of the Electric Aircraft

In recent decades, a growing focus has been on reducing fossil fuel consumption and minimizing CO2 emissions in the transportation sector. The aerospace industry, which accounted for more than 2% of global carbon emissions in 2021, has taken measures to address this issue. One promising solution to achieve this objective is the development of fully electric aircraft (FEA). In this regard, superconducting technology offers promising advantages, including compactness, lightweight, and higher efficiency to speed up this transition. This work considers a superconducting propulsion system for an electric aircraft. Among the components, the modeling of resistive superconducting fault current limiter (RSFCL) and superconducting DC cable are studied. These models are simulated by MATLAB programming and SIMULINK, and the results are shown. The models analyze their electrical-thermal behavior in a short short-circuit and in normal operation conditions. Finally, a SIMULINK model containing the fault limiter and cable is simulated, and the results are presented. As a result, different models are compared and suitable designs are presented for both applications

Bewertung des Einsatzes supraleitender 380-kV-Kabel

Diese Studie führt eine Auslegung von supraleitenden Kabeln für die Anwendung im 380-kV-Drehstromnetz durch und erläutert allgemeine Aspekte des Einsatzes solcher Kabel im Höchstspannungsnetz. Dabei vergleicht sie die Supraleitungstechnologie unter vielen verschiedenen Kriterien mit anderen Leitungstechnologien

High temperature superconducting cables and their performance against short circuit faults: current development, challenges, solutions, and future trends

Along with advancements in superconducting technology, especially in high temperature superconductors (HTS), the use of these materials in power system applications is gaining outstanding attention. Due to the lower weight, higher current carrying capability, and the lower loss of HTS cables compared to conventional counterparts, they are among the most focused applications of superconductors in power systems. In near future, these cables will be installed as key elements not only in power systems but also in cryo-electrified transportation units, which take advantage of both cryogenics and superconducting technology simultaneously, e.g. hydrogen-powered aircraft. Given the sensitivity of the reliable and continuous performance of HTS cables, any failures, caused by faults, could be catastrophic, if they are not designed appropriately. Thus, fault analysis of superconducting cables is crucial for ensuring their safety, reliability, and stability, and also for characterising the behaviour of HTS cables under fault currents at the design stage. Many investigations were conducted on the fault characterisation and analysis of HTS cables in the last few years. This paper aims to provide a topical review on all of these conducted studies, It will discuss the current challenges of HTS cables and after that current developments of fault behaviour of HTS cables would be presented, and then we will discuss the future trends and future challenges of superconducting cables regarding their fault performance