ecstasyrider

[ecstasyrider]

Electric Planes

Sunday 9th May,2021

Electric planes( does the future lie there??)

While I was boarding my flight to Ranchi, I was staring at the turbo jet engine and just imagining how colossal and innovative it is. Whenever I am in a flight throughout the journey,  I always think of the Wright Brothers. UN’s Sustainable Development Goals(SDG’s) deadline of 2030  seems nearing and I want  the years after 2030 to have neutralized carbon emissions by then. I was disturbed by the NOx,CO2  emissions that are let out and the fact that the  aviation sector accounts for the world’s 2% CO2 emissions. I gave it a shot  if electric planes are possible.

After returning to Pune i began searching about it and to my surprise the work has already begun.

So lets talk about electric planes

The main motive of these planes is to replace the traditional jet fuel engines with an electric motor and to cut down the emissions of the plane.

 AND DO YOU KNOW THE COMPANIES THAT WERE INVOLVED IN THE FIRST  HYBRID ELECTRIC PLANE PROTOTYPE???

Its none other than a lethal combination of

AIRBUS-ROLLS ROYCE(PLC)-SIEMENS

(They called it the “E-FANX Aircraft” )

Yup let it sink in you!!!!!!

-Airbus was  responsible for overall integration as well as the control architecture of the hybrid-electric propulsion system and batteries(Li ion batteries yummy) and its integration with flight controls.

-Rolls-Royce was responsible for the turbo-shaft engine, two megawatt generator, and power electronics. Along with Airbus, Rolls-Royce was about to also work on the fan adaptation to the existing nacelle and the Siemens electric motor.

-Siemens was going to  deliver the two megawatt electric motors and their power electronic control unit, as well as the inverter, DC/DC converter, and power distribution system.

With their technological advancements happening at a rapid pace, the first flight was about to take off in April 2020 but things did not work as planned due to

..... (YES U GUESSED IT RIGHT THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC)

Hence it was unanimously decided to axe the project completely and the E-Fan-X project remains a dream till date

Zunum Aero(funded by Boeing), Wright Electric(startup backed by US government), Israel Aerospace Industries, Bye Aerospace, Eviation Alice(V shaped tail, 95% of the plane made up of composite materials), Faradair(UK based firm) are the other frontrunners in the bid to operate their first electric aircraft while keeping the 2030 deadline in mind.

While electric planes help in a major way, they have their own set of problems

PROS 

1) Electric aircrafts, when compared with regular planes with combustion engines, are much more efficient. Because of the electric motors used in electric aircraft, they can be 95% efficient compared to 18%-23% efficiency of regular plane engines.

2) Much quieter and also emit less heat in the environment.

3) The most important factor is that  they are sustainable and help in reducing the CO2 emissions by a hefty amount.

CONS

1) The current range in electric planes is low (about 100-250 miles), which is quite impractical in case of flying to distant destinations.

2)The overall weight of the stack of the Li ion batteries is bulky and as a result the “power - to- weight ratio’’ is very less in comparison to a traditional airplane which results in heavy power consumption and thereby increasing the weight of the plane.

3)Various instances of short circuits and electrical faults have been observed while testing electric planes which impact it’s journey.

What do you guys think about the future of electric planes??

Let me know for sure 

I forecast  the  future as a bright one with  2030 in my eyesight as a turning point in the history of technological advancements.

PS--(My next blog will describe an alternative to both the traditional  as well as electric aircrafts)

Signing off

Ecstasy Rider

(Sanchit Divadkar)