A Control Strategy for Turbine Electrified Energy Management

Hybrid-electric propulsion architectures provide the infrastructure to enable additional benefits to the propulsion system that are otherwise unrealizable with the sole use of the current, state-of-the-art, gas-driven, turbine engines. The presence of electric machines (EMs) coupled to the shaft(s) of the turbine engine provide the ability to actively alter the operation of the engine to the benefit of the propulsion system and the aircraft it propels. This is the goal of the Turbine Electrified Energy Management (TEEM) concept, which at its broadest level addresses the management of energy across the electrified propulsion system. Prior work has demonstrated the use of this concept to alter steady-state operation and improve transient operability of a hybrid-electric propulsion system. The main benefits previously illustrated include the elimination of stability bleeds and expansion of the turbomachinery design space in order to enable more efficient designs. This paper focuses on the development of control strategies to implement the TEEM concept, and it explores several possible architecture variants for applying this concept. Comparison studies are conducted between a purely gas-driven turbofan (baseline engine configuration) and TEEM augmented variants of the baseline engine. The variants are distinguished by the shaft(s) that possess an EM. The configurations consider EMs on both shafts, an EM on the high pressure spool (HPS) only, and an EM on the low pressure spool (LPS) only. These configurations are referred to as the dual-spool configuration, the HPS configuration, and LPS configuration, respectively. The studies expose several options in configuring and controlling the system, including the use of a single EM coupled to a single shaft of a two-spool engine to positively impact the operability of both shafts. The studies also demonstrate the use of independently designed controllers for the electric machine(s) that allow for a decoupled control design process.