RA ENGINEERING NEWS | December 8–14, 2017 17
E
uropean aerospace giant Airbus, British
high-performance power systems
company Rolls-Royce and German
engineering and technology business Siemens
have partnered to develop a hybrid-electric
propulsion system for commercial aircraft that
will be test-flown in the near term, the three
enterprises jointly announced at the Royal
Aeronautical Society, in London, at the end
of November.
The flight demonstrator is designated the
the E-Fan X and will probably employ the
airframe of the four-engine BAE 146 regional
airliner. It is expected to fly in 2020.
Hybrid-electric propulsion is seen as one
of the most promising ways for the aviation
sector to massively cut car bon dioxide (CO 2 )
and nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions. The
European Commission’s Flightpath 2050
Vision for Aviation seeks to cut aviation CO 2
emissions by 60% and N 2 O emissions by 75%,
targets which cannot be reached using current
propulsion systems.
“The E-Fan X is an important next step in
our goal [to make] electric flight a reality in
the foreseeable future,” affirmed Airbus chief
technology officer Paul Eremenko. “The
lessons we learned from a long history of
electric flight demonstrators, starting with the
Cri-Cri, including the e-Genius, [and the]
E-Star, and culminating most recently with the
E-Fan 1.2, as well as the fruits of the E-Aircraft
Systems House collaboration with Siemens,will pave the way to a hybrid single-aisle com-
mer cial aircraft that is safe, efficient and cost-
effect ive.”
(The first of these technology demonstrator
aircraft, the Cri-Cri, made its maiden flight in
2010 and was effectively a single-seat ultralight
aircraft. All these technology demonstrators
were developed in cooperation with other
companies and research institutes. The
E-Aircraft Systems House collaboration was
launched in 2016.)
“The E-Fan X enables us to build on our
wealth of electrical expertise to revolutionise
flight and welcome in the third generation
of aviation,” highlighted Rolls-Royce chief
technology officer Paul Stein.
“This is an excit ing time for us as this
technological advance ment will result in Rolls-
Royce creat ing the world’s most powerful
flying generator.”
“Siemens has been driving innovation in
core fields at full speed,” averred Siemens chief
technology officer Roland Busch. “In April
2016, we opened a new chapter in electricmobility with the collaboration with Airbus.
Building up electric propulsion for aircraft, we
are creating new perspectives for our company
and also for our customers and society. With
the E-Fan X partnership, we now take the next
step to demonstrate the technology in the air.”
The plan is to replace one of the four
turbofan (gas turbine) engines on the BAE 146
with a 2 MW electric motor.
There will be a comprehensive programme
of ground tests before the first flight is made.
Later, once the maturity of the hybrid-electric
power plant has been established, a second
gas turbine engine will also be replaced by
an electric motor.
The flight test programme will focus on
questions such as electric thrust management,
thermal effects, the impact of altitude and
dynamic effects on electric systems, and
electromagnetic compatibility.
The aim is to drive the technology forward
and mature it, assuring safety, reliability and
performance, as well as to determine the
requirements for the certification of future
electric aircraft, in addition to training a
new generation of designers and engineers.
The desire is to accelerate the development,
production and adoption of hybrid-electric
airliners.
Airbus will handle the overall integration
of the system into the test aircraft and provide
the control architecture of the hybrid-electric
propulsion system and batteries, as well as
integrate it with the flight controls.
Rolls-Royce will provide the turboshaft
engine, the 2 MW generator and the power
electronics. Airbus and Rolls-Royce will
jointly adapt the fan to the existing engine
nacelle and to the Siemens electric motor.
Siemens will provide the 2 MW electric
motors, their power electronic control unit,
the inverter, the dc/dc converter and the power
distribution system.TWO young South Africans are
among the 16 engineers hailing
from seven countries in Africa
who have been shortlisted for
the prestigious Africa Prize for
Engineering Innovation.
University of the Witwatersrand
chemical engineering research
fellow Collins Saguru h a sdeveloped AltMet, an economical,
environmentally sustainable pro-
cess to recover and reuse precious
metals found in the autocatalytic
converters of petrol and diesel
vehicles.
“This recycling process
addresses the demand for precious
platinum-group metals (PGMs)
in a way that is profitable and
environmentally sustainable,” he
said of his invention.
An autocatalytic converterreduces the toxicity of gases
emitted by vehicles’ exhaust pipes
and contains PGMs, which are
valuable and useful for industrial
processes. PGMs are also on
the European Union’s critical
materials list.
Saguru dismantles used auto-
catalytic converters, crushes and
leeches them before extracting
the PGMs.
Aluminium and cerium are
also extracted during this process.
While other recycling methods
exist, they require high heat.
Saguru’s method uses much lower
temperatures, which makes the
process more affordable and emits
fewer toxic gases.His process uses chemi-
cal reagents, which are cheap,
rela tively common and environ-
ment friendly.
Meanwhile, nuclear physicist
Shalton Mothwa h a s b e e n
recognised for his Aeon Power
Bag invention, which allows users
to charge their phones and tablets
on the go by converting radio or
telecommunications waves and
solar energy into power.
The lightweight backpack
contains a unit that harvests
radio waves in the surrounding
environment and converts them
into electricity. When radio
signals are low, the solar charging
unit kicks in.AEROSPACEINNOVATIONElectric Jet
Two South Africans shortlisted
for engineering innovation prize
European technology groups cooperating
on electric propulsion for airlinersNEWS&INSIGHT
MEGAN VAN WYNGAARDT
CREAMER MEDIA
SENIOR CONTRIBUTING
EDITOR ONLINEKEITH CAMPBELL | CREAMER MEDIA SENIOR DEPUTY EDITORENGINEERING NEWS COUPON ON PAGE 42 ESTORY HIGHLIGHTS- Hybrid-electric propulsion is seen as one of the
most promising way to massively cut carbon
dioxide (CO 2 ) and nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions
by the aviation sector. - The European Commission’s Flightpath 2050
Vision for Aviation seeks to cut aviation CO 2
emissions by 60% and N 2 O emissions by 75%.