Aircraft Integration of Air-Based Thermal Management Systems for Propulsive Fuel Cell Systems

Master thesis (2023)

Authors

T.L.C. Hoogerdijk Aerospace Engineering

Contributors

F. Oliviero Flight Performance and Propulsion - Aerospace Engineering (supervisor 1)
G. la Rocca Flight Performance and Propulsion - Aerospace Engineering (supervisor 2)
F. Yin Aircraft Noise and Climate Effects - Aerospace Engineering (supervisor 2)
Faculty
Aerospace Engineering
Copyright: © 2023 Tom Hoogerdijk
Hydrogen Fuel cell Aircraft design Conceptual aircraft design Aircraft Design Initiator Fuel cell thermal management Thermal management system Sustainable aviation Ram air cooling Ducted heat exchanger
More Info
expand_more

Published Date

11-05-2023

Language

English

Reuse Rights

Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.

Faculty

Aerospace Engineering

Abstract

Hydrogen is seen as a potential energy carrier for the next generation of aircraft that will be more climate-friendly than the previous generation of kerosene-powered aircraft. Two types of hydrogen-based propulsion systems are currently foreseen for such aircraft: hydrogen combustion and hydrogen fuel cell. In addition to producing useful electrical power, fuel cell systems produce a considerable amount of heat which must be removed to ensure the continued and efficient operation of the fuel cell stack. This thesis presents a thermal management system sizing methodology for propulsive fuel cell systems onboard CS-23 commuter aircraft. The developed methodology is implemented into an aircraft sizing environment to study the characteristics of air-based thermal management systems and their effects on aircraft design and aircraft performance. The results show that the thermal management system, through its additional mass, parasitic drag and parasitic power, has both a direct and indirect effect on aircraft performance. In addition to the conventional thermal management system, an unconventional system using nanofluids is studied. The use of nanofluids showed no considerable improvement in both system and aircraft level performance when compared to the base fluid. This thesis shows the importance of considering the design of thermal management systems during the conceptual design of fuel cell aircraft.