Rolls-royce North American Technologies Inc.

Dwayne Bevis

Stephen Andrew Long

Sean Guitar

Michael James Armstrong

Richard K Keller

Graham Burkholder

A hybrid propulsion system for an aircraft includes a gas turbine engine, an energy storage device, at least one propulsor configured to use energy provided by one or both of the gas turbine engine and the energy storage device to provide thrust. The system also includes a controller configured to vary the power provided to the propulsor(s) in response to a signal. The signal may be provided manually by a user of the system or automatically. Automatic signals may be indicative of a threat to the aircraft, geographical location of the aircraft, altitude of the aircraft, or ingestion of particles into the gas turbine engine.

Hybrid turbine engine with selective electrical module engagement

Systems and methods are disclosed for providing flexible, scalable, and controllable electrical power to an aircraft. In some embodiments, a modular power unit comprises a container containing a power generation unit, a control system, a conditioning system, and an environmental control system. The power generation unit produces a generated power. The control system provides control signals to the power generation unit and controls at least one parameter of the generated power. The conditioning system receives and conditions the generated power and provides an output power to the power bus of the aircraft. The environmental control system provides a temperature regulating fluid to the power generation unit.

Modular power units for aircraft

A hybrid interchangeable battery evaluation tool (HIBET) is provided. HIBET determines an amount of electrical energy and an amount of jet fuel necessary for a hybrid electric aircraft to complete a flight based on a range of the flight, a payload of the hybrid electric aircraft, an indication of a battery mass limitation of the hybrid electric aircraft, and an optimization of an energy split between the electrical energy and the jet fuel. HIBET causes an indication of the amount of electrical energy to be displayed in a graphical user interface and/or to be otherwise outputted.

Method and tool for optimizing fuel/electrical energy storage allocation for hybrid-electric aircraft

A method for operation of a hybrid propulsion system is provided that includes providing a hybrid propulsion system including a gas turbine engine, an electrical system, and a controller configured to cause the gas turbine engine to produce a first mechanical power output and to cause the electrical system to produce a second mechanical power output. The method further includes causing the gas turbine engine to produce the first mechanical power output and causing the electrical system to produce the second mechanical power output, which causes a drive shaft of the gas turbine engine to rotate. The method further includes decreasing production of the first mechanical power output when a combination of the first mechanical power output and the second mechanical power output for take-off or climb is a predetermined percentage of a predetermined parameter of the gas turbine engine.

Growing community of inventors

Bloomington, IN, United States of America

Dwayne Bevis