"Electric Airplane" Environmental Control Systems Energy Requirements

The "electric airplane" environmental control system (ECS) design drivers is discussed for an electric airplane from two aspects. The first aspect considered is the type of aircraft. The three examples selected are the 150-passenger commercial airline transport, the military on-station electronic-surveillance patrol aircraft, and the air-defense interceptor fighter. These vehicle examples illustrate the effect of both mission and mission profile on the design requirements of the ECS and the differences that the requirements make on the resulting advantages and disadvantages of electrification. For the commercial transport, the selection of the air source for ventilation will be featured. For the patrol aircraft, the cooling unit will be evaluated. For the fighter, emphasis will be placed on the need for systems integration. The second and more important consideration is the definition of the environmental control system requirements for both energy supply and heat sink thermal management integration from the power plant (engine) that make an electric ECS viable for each type of vehicle.