“I don’t think it’s a question of if, but where on the plane and to what extent,” notes Todd Spierling, senior technical researcher for electrification at Collins Aerospace, an RTX company, when discussing the future more electric aircraft architectures. .

More electric aircraft encompasses the underlying systems that pressurize the aircraft, heat and cool it, or move the control surfaces, which are powered by electricity instead of traditional hydraulic and pneumatic options.

Current aircraft architectures still rely heavily on pneumatic and hydraulic sources for many secondary systems. These systems operate efficiently over a narrower range of operating conditions, such as temperatures and pressures, than their electric counterparts. Additionally, the focus on eliminating centralized hydraulic systems makes aircraft easier to build and reduces maintenance costs, as well as eliminating environmentally harmful hydraulic fluids.

“Today’s aircraft already use electrified systems such as environmental control, wing ice protection systems, fuel tank inerting, thrust reversers, brakes and “Flight control actuation. These systems are applied to a limited extent. We anticipate that future aircraft will increase this degree of electrification, perhaps eliminating centralized hydraulic and pneumatic systems from the aircraft altogether,” Spierling continues.

Electrification technologies enable greater aircraft reliability, better maintainability and reduced fuel consumption. And while electric and hybrid-electric propulsion show great promise in sustainable aviation, more electric systems have already proven to be effective solutions on aircraft such as the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787. With more than 70 years of work on electrical architectures, Collins Aerospace has unique experience. in execution not only on components but also on complete electrical systems on many platforms.

The 787 uses more electrical systems than any other plane flying today. The development and implementation of these systems has led to a deeper understanding and expertise in the high voltage safety and in-service reliability of these systems, which remains unique to Collins.

Continued application of electrified technologies at scale will enable greater platform efficiency. When considering an aircraft-wide approach to more electrical systems, aircraft designers benefit from efficient, data-rich systems that can also help reduce aircraft weight.

We know that weight reduction is directly linked to lower fuel consumption and reduced carbon emissions. Considering a systems-level approach and moving to voltage levels close to the kilovolt level significantly reduces the weight of the components themselves as well as the power distribution system that connects them together. This engineering has the ability to enable thin wing designs and other space-saving solutions to create lighter, more aerodynamic aircraft configurations.

More electrical systems also support the evolution of architectures with fewer leaks and no leaks throughout the aircraft. This helps extract power from the engines more efficiently and, therefore, reduces fuel consumption. This has been proven in Collins’ 787 environmental control systems and remains the only environmental system of its type certified for flight.

All of these benefits in durability and platform functionality make More Electric Aircraft a necessary inclusion on every platform from regional and business jets to large commercial aircraft in the next generation of aircraft.

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