A novel full-electric aircraft propulsion based on the DEA compressor

Abstract

This article introduces a novel full-electric aircraft propulsion designed based on the DEA compressor, named DEAThruster that is supplied by a PEMFC. The thruster designed and modeled in this study is a compact DEAThruster to operate in altitudes up to 15,000 m and in the subsonic/transonic region with a specific thrust around 8300 N s/kg. The results show the thruster can satisfy all expectations, and it can generate up to 8300 N s/kg specific thrust for flight conditions encompassing static condition at sea level up to flight Mach number 0.95 in altitude 15,000 m. The DEAThruster can potentially be a practical alternative for gas turbine propulsions in all aspects when all available options for full-electric propulsions are not competitive for conventional aircraft propulsions in performance, size, and weight.