Electrical systems

What’s Lincoln’s involvement in the EU FP7 MAAT Advanced Airship Programme?

Paul Stewart
The A380 features elements from the More Electric and Power Optimised Aircraft projects

Over the years, Profs Stewart and Bingham in the School of Engineering at the University of Lincoln have been involved in many projects related to the Power Optimised (POA) or More Electric (MEA) Aircraft, primarily in the areas of advanced electrical machines and actuators, power electronic energy converters, and electrical power system design and optimisation.

For example, the EU FP6 MOET (More Open Electrical Technologies) was a 66.61 million euro Integrated Project of 62 European Partners from 15 countries composed of universities, research centres a broad range of aircraft, system and component manufacturers representing the whole supply chain who are ready to set up the PbW (Power by Wire) standard.

In line with the vision 2020, MOET aimed to establish the new industrial standard for commercial aircraft electrical system design, which will directly contribute to strengthening the competitiveness of the aeronautical industry. MOET will also contribute reducing aircraft emissions and improving operational aircraft capacity. Recent National and European research activities and state of the art commercial aircraft developments, have launched more advanced approaches for on-board energy power management systems. These benefits have also been recognised in North America where this is being given special consideration. A step change is necessary to remove current air and hydraulic engine off-takes and further increase the electrical power generation capability.

This in itself will require significant changes to current electrical generation and network techniques. After Fly by wire, the Power by Wire concept (PbW) will enhance aircraft design and use by power source rationalisation and electrical power flexibility. This will be achieved by developing the necessary design principles, technologies and standards.

Over a 3-year period, MOET project objectives were:

– Validate scalable electrical networks up to 1MW considering new voltages and advanced concepts including system transformation of future air, actuation and electrical systems into all electrical solutions,
– Assess the PbW concept integration at aircraft level considering a more composite environment and the interfaces with the avionics world,
– Build a design environment aiming to design and validate standardised solutions and a coherent set of platforms open to the full supply chain, in order to develop an optimised high performance PbW concept.

Lincoln:Engineering and the FP7 MAAT Advanced Airship

In addition to involvement in other work packages, from September 2011, Lincoln:Engineering will be leading the ‘Energy and Propulsive Systems’ work package.

This Work Package is related to the fundamental energy production and propulsion system. It will analyze and define the optimal propulsion both for cruiser and feeder airships focusing on innovative systems which can overcome the traditional limitations of traditional propellers at high altitudes. The purpose of the WP3 Energy and Propulsive Systems is to produce:

  • parametric dimensioning methods for of the cruiser and feeder PV (photovoltaic) roofs
  • design of a thermo-physical system which control the volume and the temperature of the gas ballonets even in presence of ample thermal gradients
  • design of internal energy transport and distribution systems
  • design of energy storage system (electrolytic hydrogen and oxygen) and conversion by fuel cells
  • optimal propulsive systems design of cruiser and feeder, both for their common operative autonomous missions and for their integration inside the MAAT modular cruiser system.

Partners on the EU FP7 Advanced Airship project: Aero Sekur Spa, Italy

Paul Stewart

Organization: Aero Sekur Spa Short name: ASKR

General Description

Aero Sekur SpA is a Small & Medium Enterprise established in Italy and part of the English group Aero Sekur Ltd since July 2007. The Company mission is to provide products and services aimed to support life and survival of people and security forces, as well as operation of aerospace, maritime and land vehicles, on the basis of proven and best mechanical, software, textile and advanced material technologies on a National and International perspective. Aero Sekur is a specialist supplier of safety systems and advanced flexible materials to the global aerospace and security markets. The company has extensive manufacturing and R&D facilities in Italy and repre- sentations worldwide. The core competency of the business is the design and development of advanced engi- neered structures using flexible materials. The Company has a considerable experience in dealing with private Customers and Governmental Organizations, calling to operate both as a main or sub contractor for complex sys- tems, having the responsibility for the supply of complete turnkey packages, including full Logistic Support and Training to final operators. Aero Sekur has a deep experience in inflatable technologies and coated multi-layer structures and has, over the years, designed, developed, qualified and produced a wide range of personal and col- lective emergency, safety and protective equipment, as well as parachutes and airships. Aero Sekur constantly undertakes research activities in specific key areas like materials technology, computer aided production man- agement, fabrication skills. The Company research, development and manufacturing areas are continually evolv- ing to meet the challenge of new designs and constant improvements in technical and performance requirements. In addition, the Company has grown together with a loyal, stable and skilful workforce.

Main related expertise

Simonetti Spallotta Roberto, B.S. Mechanical Engineering-University of Rome Tor Vergata, Licensed Engi- neer, Product Engineering Manager – Parachute Products, Inflatable Products, Flexible Fuel tanks, Chief Product Engineer – Parachute and Airdrop Systems in Aero Sekur, Project Engineer – Parachute Systems in Aero Sekur, Project Engineer – CNBR Filtration systems in Aero Sekur, Process and Logistics Analyst in TNT Logistics It- aly, US DOT – FAA Company Liaison FAR 145, Company Certifying Staff. Training in Heinrich Parachute Systems Design Course, Human Factor (Jar 145 – Amdt. 5) (GM145.A.30), EASA Part-145 (AMC; GM), ISO – 9001:2000, Materials for space applications (ESA)

Bianchi Andrea, B.S. Aerospace Engineering-University of Rome La Sapienza, Project Leader Inflatable in Aero Sekur, R&D Department – Design & Development of Emergency Installations for Helicopters – Production Engineering (EASA Part 21) Materials for space applications (ESA), Design and Prototyping of Space Inflatable Systems Materials for space applications (ESA), Company Production Engineering Manager (EASA Part21). Training in EASA Part-21 (AMC; GM) + annual recurring, ISO – 9001:2000, Project Management, Human Fac- tors in Maintenance, Simultaneous Engineering

Partners on the EU FP7 Advanced Airship project: University of Lincoln

Paul Stewart

Organization: University of Lincoln UK Short name: UoL

General Description

University of Lincoln UK is a school of engineering, centre of excellence in Industrial power and energy, control and electronic/electrical engineering, engaging in world-class fundamental and applied research, collaborating with industrial partners ranging from SMEs to Multinationals.

Main related expertise

Paul Stewart, Professor of Control Engineering, Head of Engineering, Director EPSRC Network in Airport En- ergy Technologies. Stewart has competences about Electromechanical Energy Conversion: Electrical Machine Design: Permanent Magnet Brushless AC/DC motors and generators; Power optimized designs; Switched reluc- tance motors and generators; Semiconductor power electronic drives design: DC-3/phase AC conversion, active rectifiers, active filters, generator and motor controllers. DC-DC electrical converters, modelling, optimization and control; Hydrogen fuel cell system modelling and control; Energy storage systems simulation, analysis and control: batteries, flywheels, super/ultra capacitors; Electrical power systems architectures: simulation, analysis and design; CFD Turbine and propeller optimization for high altitude operation. In order to, Stewart has compe- tences in Photovoltaic. His relevant applications and Experience about Aerospace: Low carbon Airport opera- tions, Non-linear and intelligent flight control for fast jets and helicopters, More Electric Aircraft: electrical ma- chines, drives and power architectures, power optimized control; Energy scavenging and recovery, power gen- eration and electrical actuators; Power system control. Related publications (others related publications in at- tachment):

Stewart, Paul and Gladwin, D. and Parr, M. and Stewart, Jill (2007) A Multiobjective G.A./Fuzzy Logic aug- mented flight controller for an F16 aircraft. In: IEEE International Conference on Fuzzy Systems FUZZ-IEEE 2007, 23-26 July 2007, Imperial College, London, UK. Stewart, Paul and Stone, D. A. and Fleming, P. J. (2004) Design of robust fuzzy-logic control systems by multi- objective evolutionary methods with hardware in the loop. Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence, 17 (3). pp. 275-284. ISSN 0952-1976

Chris Bingham, Professor of Energy Conversion at the University of Lincoln, and was previously Senior Lec- turer in The Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, The University of Sheffield, UK, where he was senior member of the Electrical Machines and Drives Research Group (EMD), specialising in advanced systems control and power systems. During his academic career, Prof. Bingham has made significant contributions to a diverse range of funded research, including researching and realising advanced control techniques and novel ac- tuation systems for the control of autonomous underwater vehicles and advanced missiles, electromechanical and electro-hydraulic aircraft flight control surfaces, magnetically-loaded carbon-fibre composite roller systems for multi-axis sheet material handling applications, active magnetic bearings for high–speed flywheel energy storage systems, high performance electromechanically actuated vibratory pile-drivers, and power optimized electrical machines and drives for the more electric aircraft.

Related publications (others related publications in attachment): Schofield, N. and Yap, H. T. and Bingham, Chris (2006) A hydrogen fuel cell – high energy dense battery hybrid energy/power source for an urban electric vehicle. International Journal of Electrical Engineering and Transpor- tation, 2 (2). pp. 25-31. ISSN 1773-9357 Schofield, N and Yap, H T and Bingham, Chris (2005) Hybrid energy sources for electric and fuel cell vehicle propulsion. In: Vehicle Power and Propulsion, 2005 IEEE Conference, 7-9 Sept 2005, USA.

Partners on the EU FP7 Advanced Airship project: Engys

Paul Stewart

Organization: Engys Ltd Short name: Engys

 

General Description

Engys specialise in the application, development and support of CFD and optimisation software for industry. En- gys is a group of engineers and software developers with more than 10 year experience each in management and delivery of CAE solutions across various industrial sectors, including automotive, aerospace, built environments, consumer products and others. Extensive experience (+10 years) in the use of OPENFOAM and many other commercial CAE codes, such as Fluent, CFX, StarCCM+, Star-CD, ANSA, ICEM-CFD, CATIA, SolidWorks, Ensight, Paraview, etc. Strong background on CFD for low speed external aerodynamics. Engys methods are fully suitable to calculate the aerodynamic response of the cruiser/feeder concept operating at low Mach numbers in low density air. Extensive experience (+8 years) in the application of multi-disciplinary optimisation tech- niques using commercial and Open Source tools (e.g. modeFRONTIER, DAKOTA), including: Design Of Ex- periments (DOE), Optimisation algorithms, Sensitivity/Statistical Analysis, Robust design and reliability design (uncertainty quantification), Surrogate and regression models for prediction and data mining, Development of a native solver in OPENFOAM for Adjunct topology and shape optimisation, including determination of surface sensitivities based on predefined objective cost functions.

Main related expertise

Paolo Geremia MSc, Paolo received his Laurea Magistrale degree in Mechanical Engineering from University of Trieste in 2002. From 2002 to 2010 Paolo worked at ESTECO Srl, developers and resellers of the multi- disciplinary optimisation code modeFRONTIER. Paolo has extensive experience in process integration, optimi- sation, meta-modelling and application of multiple CAE tools for industrial scale applications.

Dipl-Ing. Thomas Schumacher MSc, Thomas received his Dipl.-Ing. degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Technische Universität Berlin. He further received an MSc degree with distinction in Aerospace Dynamics from Cranfield University in 2002. From 2002 to 2009 Thomas carried out extensive CFD analysis for the Environ- mental Control System department at Airbus in Hamburg, including 5 years working onsite.

Dr. Andrew Jackson PhD MSc DIC, Andrew received his BEng in Aeronautical Engineering from University of Manchester, UK in 1991. He later received his Msc and PhD in Numerical Analysis and Applied Mathematics from the same institution in 1995. Andrew also pursued a post-doctorate from Imperial College (1999). Over the past 15 years he has been heavily involved in the fields of aerospace aerodynamics and development of CFD mesh generation methods, including extensive work for Airbus UK.

MAAT EU FP7 Advanced Airship who’s who? – Logistic Network Consultants GmbH

Paul Stewart

We’re kicking off the EU FP7 project – MAAT Multibody Advanced Airship for Transport kicks on 1st September 2011. Here are some of the participants in the project, from Logistic Network Consultants GmbH Germany

Organization: Logistic Network Consultants GmbH Germany Short name: LNC

General Description

Logistic Network Consultants GmbH (LNC) was established in 1998 and is an independently, internationally operating consulting company addressing the logistics and mobility sector. The company stands for logistic net- works as well as for consulting projects. Logistics connects by nature and requires strong and efficient nodes for the realization of innovative logistics solutions. Therefore, LNC‘s network philosophy is the basis for its activi- ties. These networks allow a transfer of know-how and offer a maximum of competence and market knowledge. This knowledge provides the basis for the realization of joint projects. LNC offers advisory services in order to develop and promote logistic locations. LNC also works on the optimization of logistic systems and transport chains. The company‘s portfolio includes marketing and sales measures by means of fairs and events.

Main related expertise

Stefan Schröder, Role in organization: CEO of LNC and responsible project manager of the Niedersachsen Lo- gistics and the Niedersachsen Aviation initiative on behalf of the Ministry for Economics, Labour and Transport of Niedersachsen. This way, he is closely linked with the logistics service providers and carriers. He carried out several R&D projects and consultancy projects at various levels, e.g. the Freight Transport and Logistics Master- plan on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development.

Michael Kuchenbecker, Role in organization: Senior consultant and authorized representative. In LNC he is responsible for R&D in logistics and the Logistic Network (of LNC). He participated in EU project such as MOSES as sub project leader. Michael Kuchenbecker studied from October 1991 to November 1996 spatial planning at the University of Dortmund, Faculty of Spatial Planning. The qualification awarded was the Diploma Ingenieur (Equivalent to Master of Sciences). From 1997-2007 Michael Kuchenbecker worked as a scientific employee in the department of transportation logistics of the Fraunhofer Institute of Material flow and Logistics. Since 2003 he was also branch manager of the Fraunhofer Transport Alliance which comprises 20 Fraunhofer Institutes performing transport related research.

Lars Günsel, Role in organization: Consultant; Lars Günsel is staff member of LNC since 2007. Having finished his studies in English and German Linguistics (M.A.), Lars Günsel worked as press officer for Hannover Airport from 1998 to 2004. He then worked for the Airports Real Estate Department (with experience in International Affairs). At the same time he qualified as a Real Estate Manager. At LNC, he is in charge of a nation-wide active network called „Logistics Network‟. He is also committed to marketing as well as to Public Relations, Customer Relations and New Media.

Marie-Louise Seifert, Role in organization: Consultant; Marie-Louise Seifert is staff member of LNC since 2009 and works within different logistical consultancy projects. She studied economic-geography with the main focus on regional economic development at the University of Aachen. The qualification awarded was the Magis- ter Artium. After her studies she spent over half a year at the Hamburg Airport.