Speaker interviews
Cristian Anghel, Sr. Fellow Advanced Technology
Honeywell Aerospace
How do you see the advancements in electric and hybrid aerospace technologies influencing the future of sustainable aviation over the next decade?
Technological advancements towards increasing the power density and the efficiency of power generation and energy storage systems will increase the range of sustainable aviation using electric or hybrid-electric propulsion. This will expand the usage of sustainable aviation from short flights in congested cities to longer inter-city flights covered today by regional aviation. The range and applications of sustainable aviation will also be increased by advancements in power density and reliability for the electric propulsion units and power distribution systems.
What are the key challenges that the industry faces in transitioning to electric and hybrid propulsion?
Recently electric motors and generators and their associated power controllers have become some of the key technologies supporting the goals of hybrid-electric propulsion. There are challenges in driving overall system efficiency and reliability as high as possible, while reducing system weight. Another challenge is the high voltage DC (HVDC) levels impacting operation at altitude and finding mitigation methods. Getting the standards finalized that address the HVDC that are currently developed for hybrid-electric aerospace is also a challenge.