Heart Aerospace, BAE Collaborate on Batteries

Dean Sigler Announcements, Batteries, Electric Powerplants, Hybrid Aircraft, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Heart Aerospace, a Swedish startup, has teamed with BAE Systems, a veteran British aerospace supplier, to help with powering its 30-seat, battery-powered airliner.  The four-motor craft will include a very large battery pack under the passenger compartment.  The need for safety should be obvious. Adding eleven seats to its original 19-seat platform, Heart also brings a turbo generator on board, enabling flights up to 400 kilometers (250 miles) with 30 passengers, or even 800 kilometers (500 miles) with 25.  These figures include normal airline range reserves. Partners include BAE Systems, Swedish aerospace group Saab, avionics supplier Garmin, and Aernnova, a Spanish airframe specialist. BAE’s UK-based group’s Controls and Avionics Solutions operation in upstate New York will oversee the batteries and their control and monitoring.   This fits BAE’s expertise, with more than 25 years of experience electrifying large, heavy-duty industrial vehicles with over 15,000 power and propulsion systems in service worldwide.  This will be critical considering the placement of the batteries. …

Enovix BrakeFlow™ Stops Thermal Runaway

Dean Sigler Batteries, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Enovix battery architecture including its exclusive BrakeFlow™ system enables 100-percent silicon in their silicon/lithium electrodes and prevents battery fires.  Battery fires, particularly on or in an airplane, are potential disasters.  One such incident occurred recently on United Air Lines flight 2664 planned from San Diego International Airport to Newark New Jersey’s Liberty International Airport. Things went awry when a battery pack in the passenger compartment started to smoke and caught fire.  Seven passengers were injured, four of whom were hospitalized.  The Boeing 737 Max 8 was just starting its flight, turned around, and landed back at San Diego after only 10 minutes in the air.  Taxi times were greater than the flight time.  It was probably more than a bit scary for the passengers and crew. As explained in the NBC video, battery fires are increasing in number, probably because of the increasing number of electronic devices that use lithium batteries. Based in Fremont, California, Enovix, has developed an architecture …

Antares, FES, and AdvanTec Create E-ROP Hybrid

Dean Sigler Announcements, Batteries, Electric Powerplants, Fuel Cells, Hydrogen Fuel, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

E-ROP is a multi-party program using an Antares self-launching sailplane.  FES and Adventec have crafted a hybrid version of the Antares 20e with a front electric sustainer (FES) motor in place of its tall mast-mounted motor.  An incremental program, E-ROP begins by replacing the retractable unit with an FES motor on the nose.  This reduces the drag created by the motor being raised into position and simplifies operation. The FES Antares flew for the first time on April 19 with Klaus Ohlmann at the helm.  Ulrich Bronet recorded this short video. Under development since 2016, E-ROP will benefit from an advanced battery package from research partner AdvanTec GmbH.  According to the project, “The concept provides for batteries in the fuselage and wings, which have an energy capacity of 22 [kilowatt-hours] at a total take-off weight of 650 [kilograms] (1,433 pounds) MTOM (Maximum Take Off Mass).”  22 kWh is about one-fifth of a Tesla battery package and will allow up to 450 …

NTSB Releases Initial Report, Recommendations on Dreamliner Battery Fires

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

January 2013 was a time of great concern for operators of the Boeing 787 “Dreamliner.” On the 7th, an empty 787 operated by Japan Airlines experienced a fire in the main battery pack.  On the 16th, an All Nippon Airways 787 made an emergency landing and evacuated everyone on board on emergency slides after the flight crew responded to a computer warning of smoke inside one of the electrical compartments.  Other incidents pointed to issues in the use and transport of lithium-ion batteries such as those used in the big Boeing. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has directed several recommendations to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), derived from the agency’s ongoing investigation of the Japan Airlines incident only, at this time.  Certainly the ongoing investigation of the All Nippon flight incident will merit a separate report. Despite the fact that many industry “insiders” have offered opinions as to how Boeing should have designed and constructed the two lithium-ion battery …

Dr. Eric Darcy, Building Better Batteries

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Dr. Eric Darcy, the battery group leader at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas was selected last year as an Innovation Ambassador, and worked with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado to devise mathematical models for lithium ion battery performance.  This was part of NASA’s Innovative Partnerships Program, which allows some of NASA’s most talented scientists and engineers to work at several of America’s leading innovative external research and development organizations. NASA explains that the “inaugural group of ambassadors is initiating the planned annual program targeting opportunities to create NASA partnerships and new innovation sources outside of the traditional aerospace field. During assignments of up to one year, the NASA ambassadors will share their own expertise while learning about innovative products, processes and business models. After returning to NASA, the ambassador may share new ideas with co-workers and implement innovations within their organizations.” Dr. Darcy’s work has far-reaching consequences, especially since it involves the design of batteries …