All-electric propulsion for future business jet aircraft: A feasibility study

Abstract

The main goal of this paper is to investigate feasibility of using all-electric propulsion system for a mid-light business jet aircraft in the near future (20–30 years from now). The secondary goal is to assess the impact of using such system on operating costs and emission reduction. This paper presents calculations of business jet aircraft mission energy demands and compares them with batteries capabilities. Three different types of lithium batteries are investigated in terms of their energy densities projected for three different time frames. Mass of batteries that is required to provide demanded amount of energy to perform the mission is compared with the maximum mass of fuel that the baseline aircraft is able to take. On this basis, the feasibility of all-electric propulsion system is assessed. Additionally, in order to show the limitations of such system, maximum range is calculated for the mass of batteries that would potentially enable to perform the flight. Furthermore, CO₂ and NOx emission of the baseline aircraft engines are compared with the amount of gaseous pollutants which are emitted by the power plant, when energy needed to recharge batteries is being produced. Finally, the potential fuel cost reduction is calculated based on the cost of electricity that would be used to recharge batteries.