Power Allocation and Generator Sizing Optimisation of More-Electric Aircraft On-board Electrical Power during Different Flight Stages

Abstract

The development of future More Electric Aircraft (MEA) requires exploitation of lightweighted on-board Electrical Power System (EPS) architectural design and energy saving power management strategies. Seeking for the optimal solutions in these key aspects, two vital prerequisites should be ensured for the entire flight stages with load requirements changesone is the optimal power allocation (OPA) aiming to route the power in the system with less transmission losses, and the other one is the optimal generator sizing (OGS) targeting on minimising the required overload capabilities for a lighter generator. Despite different objectives, these two optimisation problems should both meet the load requirements and system operation constraints, including the power balancing and limitations, contactor switching logic, the transmission losses of cables, and the nonlinear converter efficiencies. In this paper, we first propose a formulation method based on the optimal power flow (OPF) model to constitute the system constraints for both optimisation problem, and combining with specific objectives and constraints, the problems of OPA and OGS can be mathematically modelled. By linearizing the nonlinear transmission efficiencies with piecewise functions, the proposed models can be solved using the mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) in CPLEX solver.

Research on optimal power flow of AC/DC hybrid system for civil more electric aircraft

“…Research on power flow and optimal operation of AC/DC hybrid network for MEA is not sufficient. In [9], the solution method based on the OPF model was adopted, so as to reduce the transmission loss in the system and minimize the generator overload capacity. In the subsequent study [10], the author optimized the model and considered the power balance of high and low voltage bus and dc/dc converter to solve the most power routing problem in different flight stages.…”

Operation Management of More-Electric Aircraft Using Two-stage Stochastic Model Predictive Control

“…In this regard, the concept of more electric aircraft (MEA) is attracting a lot of attention for developing new aircraft systems. In MEA, traditional hydraulic and pneumatic systems are replaced with electrical systems, which results in reducing fuel consumption while improving the system's efficiency and dynamic response [1], [2], [3]. However, to achieve these goals, efficient control and operation management systems for the onboard electrical power system (EPS) are required.…”

Optimal Load and Energy Management of Aircraft Microgrids Using Multi-Objective Model Predictive Control

“…On the one hand, soft constraints are introduced to cope with the non-accurate estimation of the battery SOC. The optimization problem to be solved by the control system is formulated as a MILP problem, which includes both objective functions and system constraints related to the system power flow, energy conversion, and connection constraints, benefitting from certainty for global optimal solutions [37]. As the system only operates normally when the MILP-MPC algorithm provides a feasible solution, the algorithm should tolerate bounds exceeding situations (i.e., SOC exceeds the target range).…”