The interest in large electric transport platforms such as electric aircraft and ships is increased to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector. Superconducting technologies will provide the necessary power density to achieve the electrification of large transport platforms [1-3]. Liquid hydrogen-fueled platforms provide the synergy to reduce the complexity of superconducting technologies because the liquid fuel at 20 K will serve as a cryogenic heat sink. Many government-funded research programs and the efforts by aircraft manufacturers are developing technology components necessary to realize the dream of zero emission aircraft and ships [2]. Also, significant investments are being made to establish hydrogen production and distribution infrastructure. High power density propulsion motors, generators, and power distribution systems are under development. It has been recognized that thermal management, electrical insulation, and safety are critical to success with hydrogen-fueled electric aircraft. Fuel cells and hydrogen burning generators are options for electrical power generation using hydrogen. Fuel cells have low efficiency and represent significant thermal loads that are difficult to manage on an aircraft. The lower volumetric energy density of hydrogen coupled with limited space available for fuel storage requires that the thermal loads be curtailed to the levels supported by the mass of liquid hydrogen necessary for fuel needs.
The presentation will briefly review various research and development efforts on electric ships and aircraft. It will discuss the absence of comprehensive research facilities required to develop the technologies, the need for broad collaborations and joint developments to quickly design and validate initial design options, and build and test prototype propulsion, power distribution, and cryogenic systems, and international efforts to establish such regional technology support centers.
The Center for Advanced Power Systems (CAPS) and the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering have established testbeds for high temperature superconducting power distribution systems, cryogenic electrical insulation systems, cryogenic fluid circulation systems, advanced AC loss measurement systems at LH2 temperature relevant to developing electric aircraft and ships [4-9]. The presentation will describe the facilities and examples of collaborative development efforts. The presentation will discuss the facilities, ongoing research, and opportunities for collaboration.
The R&D efforts of the NASA-funded University Leadership Initiative project, Integrated Zero-Emission Aviation (IZEA) [10 and 11] in the areas of superconducting technologies and cryogenic thermal management will be discussed briefly.
[1] Next-generation Aircraft Development | NEDO Green Innovation Fund Projects
[2] CHEETA | Center for High-Efficiency Electrical
Technologies for Aircraft | U of I (illinois.edu)
[3] ZEROe - Low carbon aviation - Airbus
[4] S. Telikapalli, P. Cheetham, C. H. Kim and S. V. Pamidi, "Helium Gas Cooled and Insulated Superconducting Coaxial Dipole Cable for Electric Transport," in IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation, vol. 30, no. 5, pp. 2165-2172, Oct. 2023, doi: 10.1109/TDEI.2023.3269008.
[5] P. Cheetham et al., "SuPErShip – A Multidisciplinary Collaborative Study on System-Level Benefits of Superconducting Power Devices on Electric Ships," in IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity, vol. 33, no. 5, pp. 1-4, Aug. 2023, Art no. 5401204, doi: 10.1109/TASC.2023.3256962.
[6] S. Telikapalli, J. Stright, P. Cheetham, C. H. Kim and S. Pamidi, "Failure Mode Effects and Analysis of Superconducting Power Distribution and Related Cryogenic Components for All-Electric Ship," in IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity, vol. 33, no. 5, pp. 1-6, Aug. 2023, Art no. 5400506, doi: 10.1109/TASC.2023.3243562.
[7] P. C. Saha et al., "CLEAN: Cryogenic Link for Electric Aircraft Propulsion," in IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity, vol. 33, no. 5, pp. 1-6, Aug. 2023, Art no. 3800406, doi: 10.1109/TASC.2023.3241600.
[8] van Der Laan, D.C., Kim, C.H., Pamidi, S.V., Weiss, J.D., “A turnkey gaseous helium-cooled superconducting CORC®dc power cable with integrated current leads,” Superconductor Science and Technology, 2022, 35(6), 065002
[9] van der Laan, D. C., Weiss, J. D., Kim, C. H., Graber, L., and Pamidi, S., “Development of CORC® cables for helium gas cooled power transmission and fault current limiting applications,” Superconductor Science and Technology, 31 (2018) 085011.
[10] NASA University Leadership Initiative
[11] NASA selects FAMU-FSU College of Engineering to help develop sustainable aviation system – Integrated Zero Emission Aviation
NASA and the Office of Naval Research support the work.
Keywords: Superconducting technologies, electric transportation, electric ship, electric aircraft, liquid hydrogen, cryogenic thermal management