The French company Conseil & Technique has presented a project to convert an Airbus A319 or A320 turbofan passenger aircraft into an electric airliner. According to Aviation Week, the project provides for the replacement of two aircraft engines located under the wing, one ring electric fan in the tail section. According to experts, this solution has several advantages, including the safety of passengers in the cabin in the event of an accident, economy and aerodynamic characteristics.
It is believed that electric aircraft will make aviation more environmentally friendly. This is especially important in connection with the regular tightening of international requirements for efficiency and the level of harmful emissions by passenger aircraft. In particular, new EU requirements for harmful emissions from aviation are currently in force. According to them, by 2050, greenhouse gas emissions by aircraft should be reduced by 75 percent.
The project presented by Conseil & Technique was named IP2 (Integrated Propellers for Plane, integrated propellers for aircraft). It provides for the elimination of the use of traditional turbofan engines under the wing of a passenger aircraft and all the protection systems associated with them, and fuel tanks. According to the developers, this will reduce the weight of the aircraft, so that it will be possible to place a 30-ton battery on it.
The tail section of the A319/A320 is planned to be changed. In particular, instead of the traditional tailplane, the aircraft is proposed to be equipped with two keels installed at an angle to each other. In addition, it is proposed to install an annular electric fan with two counter-rotating rotors in the tail section. Such an electric fan in flight will draw in the boundary air layer formed on the fuselage of the aircraft. It is assumed that due to this, it will be possible to extend the laminar air flow zone on the fuselage, which will have a positive effect on the battery charge consumption.
The developers also believe that the placement of the fan in the tail section will increase the safety of the aircraft, while further reducing its weight. The fact is that in the event of an accident with the destruction of one or both rotors, their fragments will fly back under the influence of the incoming air flow and will not pose a threat to the fuselage and passengers. This means that you will not need to organize additional protection in the fan area.
The tail section of the aircraft with an electric ring fan can be made modular. Thus, if you need to repair or upgrade, you can dismantle the entire unit and install a new one instead. It is assumed that due to this, the repair and maintenance of the aircraft will become cheaper. In addition, the developers believe that the rejection of the placement of engines under the wing, will allow to achieve laminar flow over its entire area. This will also help to save battery consumption by reducing drag.
According to preliminary calculations, the A319 airliner, redesigned according to the IP2 project, will be able to stay in the air for up to 78 minutes with a full charge of a 30-ton battery with an electric density of 150 watt-hours per kilogram. When using batteries with an electrical density of 400 watts-hour per kilogram, the flight duration of the aircraft will be 323 minutes. It is proposed to place the batteries under the deck in the cargo compartment.
At the end of last year, the Israeli company Eviation announced the completion of the prototype of the Alice passenger electric aircraft and the beginning of the preparation of the aircraft for the first flight. The company intends to begin flight tests of the aircraft in 2021. The developers plan to complete the Alice certification in the second half of 2023. The 12-meter-long Alice prototype is designed for 9 passengers, but in the future, the developers plan to create a 22-seat version of the aircraft.
Vasily Sychev
