Design and Life Cycle Analysis of Electric Aircraft Propulsion Systems

In collaboration with CAE, the project’s primary goal is to identify an appropriate material to isolate a battery pack in a hybrid electric aircraft. The chosen material must be as light as possible, while meeting appropriate safety standards. This battery module will be integrated into an aircraft for testing by the industry partner. With a focus on sustainable development, a framework for the life cycle analysis (LCA) will be developed to aid in evaluating the overall impact of a given design and identifying optimization opportunities to create a more sustainable and cost-efficient product. The project has 3 primary milestones. An extensive literature review will be completed to review existing aircraft battery module design and investigate battery LCA in other industries. This will help identify what materials are best suited to encapsulate the battery system and the optimal configuration for the battery pack. Safety measures, such as fire containment and safe cell-venting in case of gaseous release. This is particularly important given the low-pressure conditions onboard the aircraft[4]. Following this, an LCA will be developed using open-source tools, such as openLCA, to account for the full life cycle impact of the battery pack…

Faculty Supervisor:

Jeremy Laliberté

Student:

Partner:

CAE

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Aerospace; Sustainability & the Environment; Clean Technology

University:

Carleton University

Program: