Case study on hybrid-electric aircraft designs enabled by an enhanced SUAVE version

Hybridization seems to be a promising way for regional aircraft to reduce the climate impact of aviation in its sector. On the one hand, fully-electric propulsion offers a too limited range while on the other hand, a conventional powertrain cannot offer enough reduction in emissions. In this paper, a case study on hybrid-electric aircraft is performed enabled by an enhanced SUAVE version. A variation on several parameters is carried out for one exemplary hybrid-electric architecture: battery technology level, energy management strategies, hybridization of installed power, cruise speed and altitude. From this study a baseline design, focused mainly on environmental aspects, is selected. The impact of NOX emissions is improved by 83 % compared to the ATR 42, while CO2 has a 5 % benefit without accounting for the net-effect of sustainable aviation fuels which is not part of this study.