Piloting a Sustainable Future of Flight with NASA’s Electrified Aircraft Propulsion

Aiming to reduce emissions and?improve aircraft efficiency,?NASA and its industry partners are developing?advanced?Electrified Aircraft Propulsion (EAP)?technologies, including high-powered electric motors, lighter materials,?improved?cooling systems, and concept aircraft using large-scale electric, hybrid-electric, and turboelectric propulsion.?These innovations are part of a?broad agency effort?to transform the future of?aviation, offering new solutions for reducing fuel consumption and minimizing environmental impacts.

Illustration of an advanced subsonic aircraft with an electrified aircraft propulsion system. Credits: NASA        

Why electrify? ?

To?reduce?aviation’s?environmental impacts,?NASA’s?EAP research focuses on the largest?carbon emissions contributor in?aviation: the?fuel-burn of?single-aisle aircraft.?By?switching to?electric motors?and using electricity to power flight, modern aircraft?will be able to reduce fuel usage and greatly improve efficiency. With a diverse range of applications, these innovations could help reinvigorate?regional and small?aircraft markets?by?offering new design possibilities for electric aircraft, while also?reducing maintenance and?fuel?costs.???

Innovating the Future?

NASA is developing several new EAP technologies to?modernize aircraft, improve performance,?and?help?reduce?weight.?High-powered electric motors, including the?High Efficiency Megawatt Motor (HEMM),?are designed to optimize efficiency in advanced EAP systems. HEMM is a 1.4-megawatt motor that provides electrical power to aircraft with?99% efficiency and three times less weight than current motors and generators. Smaller in size than an average car engine,?HEMM is ten times more powerful with the ability to be integrated into various aircraft with megawatt-level electrical power requirements.

Rendering of the High Efficiency Megawatt Motor (HEMM). Credits: NASA        

Current megawatt-scale?electrical power systems require heavy?components?in order to?offset large amounts of waste heat produced, which can be inefficient and cause increased drag on the aircraft.?The?High-Efficiency Electrified Aircraft Thermal Research (HEATheR)?project?aims?to?develop a new power system with four times less heat loss to reduce thermal load and?helps?manage?waste heat through advanced cooling systems.?Using HEMM as the motor and generator, research and technology developed under?HEATherR?could improve any megawatt electric aircraft by improving performance and operational costs.??

?Advanced materials designed for EAP systems will?also?help minimize weight and improve long-term performance of electric aircraft.?NASA’s new?soft magnetic materials?are smaller and lightweight?and?allow for more efficient operation at higher frequencies?while?minimizing?energy waste.?These new?soft magnetic materials play a key role in electric aircraft transformers, inductors, and electric machines,?and?will ensure low-loss?power distribution and utilization for efficient electrical power use in aircraft.??

5-kg planar flow caster (PFC) machine used to create ribbons of magnetic materials.?Credits: NASA?        

Taking to the Skies

Electrifying flight presents its own set of challenges?which?NASA’s?EAP?efforts?seek to address. Aircraft systems must be powerful enough to conquer gravity, light enough to reduce power consumption, and safe enough to operate under high voltage?at altitude?while simultaneously keeping components cool.?As developments advance?to overcome these challenges, the agency will look toward flight demonstrations to test large-plane EAP configurations by 2025, with entry into service slated?for?around?2035. Given the size and weight requirements for aircraft systems, these technologies will?also?prove?useful?as technology?spinoffs for varied?applications, including windmills, ships, mobile generators, and ground transportation.? ?