High Power-Density Electrical Machines for Aviation and Heavy Transport

Abstract

It is widely recognized that we need to cut global greenhouse gas emissions to limit the impact of global warming. Within New Zealand we have set a challenging target; to be net carbon-zero by 2050. Transportation is the largest source of our non-agricultural greenhouse gas emissions from the country – domestic aviation accounts for 10% of our emissions and long-haul travel maybe more. Our tourism sector depends on flying, our exports depend on shipping, and our internal freight relies on trucks. We need to start using electrical energy to reduce our carbon footprint. The good news is that New Zealand is unique in its electricity production – over 80% of our electrical energy is generated from renewable sources, and we have plenty of scope to increase it to 100% using wind, solar, and geothermal. Electrification of heavy transport and aviation has the highest potential of drastically reducing emissions in New Zealand. The single largest technological challenge is aviation electrification, followed by heavy transport: rail, shipping, and heavy trucks. Electric planes are appearing at the light aircraft size, and both of our domestic operators are committed to electric flight for regional travel, but these are still in their infancy. The real challenge is for larger transport aircraft with more than 100 seats; conventional technology cannot provide the power-to-weight required to electrify at this scale. Superconducting machines may provide a solution: they are small and light, relative to their power output. New Zealand has been working on superconductors since the 1980s and researchers in this field have recently teamed up with NZ’s leading researchers in power electronics and cryogenics systems, and formed strategic international research partnerships. We will present an overview of the multidisciplinary research in this NZ national programme. We will examine the technology integration within superconducting machines for aircraft using novel technology such as flux pump exciters, low ac-loss windings, wide bandgap electronics and integrated cryogenic systems. We will present an overview of the technology development, implications and how this research is globally relevant.