MIT to develop megawatt drive system for aviation
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) wants to develop a new electric drive system with an output of one megawatt that could be an important step towards the electrification of larger aircraft.
The main components of the motor have already been designed and tested by an MIT team. Detailed calculations are expected to show that the coupled components can work as a whole to produce one megawatt of power – and at a weight and size that is expected to be competitive with current small aircraft engines.
The MIT electric motor and power electronics are about the size of a suitcase and weigh less than an adult passenger. For all-electric applications, the motor could be coupled with a battery or fuel cell, or it could also be used in hybrid-electric propulsion systems. MIT sees a possible use initially in regional aircraft. If the drive can be scaled to multi-megawatt systems, the design could facilitate the transition of larger passenger aircraft to electric mobility.
“No matter what we use as an energy carrier — batteries, hydrogen, ammonia, or sustainable aviation fuel — independent of all that, megawatt-class motors will be a key enabler for greening aviation,” says Zoltan Spakovszky, Professor in Aeronautics and the Director of the Gas Turbine Laboratory (GTL) at MIT, who leads the project.
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