Among the many challenges faced by electric aviation, the effective dissipation of waste heat is one. Fuel cells, batteries and other power electronics generate heat, but at the same time have a limited range of temperatures at which they can safely and sustainably operate. Through dedicated thermal management systems (TMS) heat is removed from the source and passed on to the ambient air through ducted ram-air heat exchangers. Owed to the large amount of heat generated on board, particularly by fuel cells, these heat exchanger installations are significant in size.
This thesis concerns the estimation of the cooling drag caused by these installations. The developed methodology considers the internal resistances from parts of the ducting and the heat exchanger as well as the external drag caused by the installation, offering nuanced insights into the field of thermal management that help engineers accurately estimate cooling drag at an early stage and make substantiated design choices. ... Read more