Conceptual design and development of thermal management system for hybrid electric aircraft engine. : A study to develop a physical model and investigate the use of Mobil Jet Oil II as coolant for aircraft electrical propulsion under different scenarios a

Abstract: The ever-increasing levels of greenhouse gas emissions has led to the scientific community starting to explore the viability of electrical aircraft system, with the most prominent research and product development for hybrid electric system, which forms the transition phase from combustion to fully electric aircrafts. The primary objective of this thesis is to find solutions towards thermal management of the electrical components of a hybrid electric aircraft propulsion system, which generate a significant amount of heat while operating at heavy load conditions required to propel an aircraft. In view of these objectives a micro channel cold plate liquid cooling system, has been dynamically modelled using a combination of lumped parameter and thermal resistance methods of heat transfer analysis. The study investigates the prospects of using Mobil Jet Oil II, typically used as an aircraft lubricant as a coolant for the thermal management system. The primary components of this model are lithium ion battery, DC-AC inverter, permanent magnet motor, cross flow finned micro channel heat exchanger, centrifugal pump and ducts. The electrical components have been dimensioned according to energy storage and load requirements considering their efficiencies and gravimetric power/energy. The system has been simulated and analyzed under different scenarios considering the coolant inlet temperature, air temperature across the heat exchanger and on two-time horizons. Analysis has been done to study the dynamic trends of the component temperature and the coolant at different stages of the system. The scope of the study includes an evaluation of the added weight of the thermal management system under different time horizons and their comparison with results from a reference study. From the simulation results it can be concluded that Mobil Jet Oil II is a promising option as a coolant and therefore its use as a common fluid for gas turbine lubrication and as coolant, will benefit the aircraft as now no extra coolant reservoir is required, allowing reduction in weight carried by the aircraft.