AIAA Propulsion and Energy Forum 10.2514/6.

2018-4994
July 9-11, 2018, Cincinnati, Ohio
2018 AIAA/IEEE Electric Aircraft Technologies Symposium

Design and Simulation of a Commercial Hybrid Electric

Aircraft Thermal Management System

Jonathan M. Rheaume,i and Charles E. Lentsii

United Technologies Research Center, 411 Silver Lane, East Hartford, CT 06108

The baseline design of the Thermal Management System (TMS) of a parallel, hybrid
electric aircraft engine for a commercial, single aisle aircraft with batteries for energy storage
has been completed. The Hybrid Electric Propulsion (HEP) system features a low spool motor
to assist the propulsor, its attendant motor drive, propulsion batteries, and supplementary
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batteries to cover TMS electric loads during electric augmentation on takeoff and climb. The
TMS further includes the heat loads sunk to engine oil including bearings, the fan drive
system, and the accessory gearbox. The model was executed under hot day conditions (ISA +
15) over the mission sizing points when electric augmentation is active. REHEATS, a
proprietary, object-oriented modeling tool created at the United Technologies Research
Center, was used to model the TMS and find the solution with minimal fuel consumption. This
study establishes a baseline for comparison of energy storage using batteries for future
comparison. The results predict that the TMS of a HEP aircraft increases fuel consumption
by 3.4% during takeoff, climb, and cruise.

I. Nomenclature
AOC = Air Oil Cooler
Bat = Batteries
Brg = Bearings
CP = Coolant Pump
ECS = Environmental Control System
ESC&D = Energy Storage, Conversion, and Distribution
Fan DS = Fan Drive System (gear train between LS and Fan)
FOC = Fuel Oil Cooler
FP = Fuel Pump
Gbx = Gearbox for accessories
HEP = Hybrid Electric Propulsion
HSSG = High Spool Starter Gen
LSMG = Low Spool Motor Gen
MD = Motor Drive
NPSS = Numerical Propulsion System Simulation
OP = Oil pump
RCC = Ram Coolant Cooler
TAT = Total Air Temperature
TAP = Total Air Pressure
TMS = Thermal Management System

II. Introduction
This NASA-funded effort investigates the impact of a commercial hybrid aircraft engine Thermal Management
System (TMS) on vehicle weight and fuel consumption. The electric drive train or Energy Storage, Conversion and
Distribution (ESC&D) system of a hybrid electric aircraft, even at high efficiency, rejects significant heat at relatively
low temperature. Thus effective thermal management of the ESC&D system is critical to realizing the potential

i
Senior Engineer, Thermal Management
ii
Associate Director, Thermal Management

Copyright © 2018 by United Technologies Corporation. Published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc., with permission.
 benefits of a hybrid electric aircraft as the TMS can add considerable weight (heat exchangers, pumps, batteries),
impose high parasitic power loads (pumps, fans, bleed air), and cause drag (engine fan stream air and ram air).
A 5MW parallel hybrid configuration for a commercial, single aisle aircraft [1] provides a representative set of
requirements for the development of TMS technology. The ESC&D system is integrated with a Geared Turbofan™
engine in which the electric motor assists the low pressure spool during takeoff and climb, thereby allowing the engine
to be sized efficiently for cruise. The ESC&D system is deactivated during cruise, descent, approach, and taxi. The
ESC&D system is comprised of a 1780 kW-hr battery system, 2 x 2.2 MW motor drives, 2 x 2.1 MW motors and the
associated power panels and feeders [2].
An earlier NPSS HEP modeling effort of an electrically assisted turbofan provides input data for the TMS model
created for steady state evaluation of the hybrid electric aircraft engine [3]. A previous investigation of energy storage
concluded that batteries are generally heavier than a turbine-driven generator that burns Jet-A [4], however, for this
study batteries are assumed to have competitive energy density in order to establish a baseline Hybrid Electric
Propulsion (HEP) architecture for future comparison with other energy storage or conversion devices such as a
turbogenerator powered by Jet-A fuel. The TMS cools batteries, however, at altitude when dormant they may need to
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be heated in order to avoid charge loss depending on their location in the aircraft (e.g. wings). This investigation
focuses on cooling.
The object-oriented model created in the United Technologies Research Center’s REHEATS MATLAB
environment was executed optimizing against the user-specified objective function minimization of mission fuel
consumption. This investigation provides details, results, and insights from the modeling of a hybrid electric aircraft
TMS with battery storage.

III. Method
The steps in TMS analysis include defining the mission, calculating thermal loads, laying out the TMS, modeling
performance over the design points of the mission, and finally visualizing results.

A. Mission Definition
A mission was defined consisting of taxi, sea level static, takeoff, several points of climb, cruise, two descent
points, and approach. (See Table 1.) Although a full mission was defined, the model was executed over the sizing
mission points: takeoff, climb, and cruise.
Electric fan-powered taxi was not considered in this study due to the large power required to run the Environmental
Control System (ECS) electrically which translates in additional battery weight. In addition, a long period of taxi could
detract from energy available for takeoff and climb.
This mission does not include any step climbs during cruise to take advantage of thinner air. The ECS&D system
is not active during cruise, but it could assist with a step climb.
Last of all, during descent battery-charging was not simulated. The aircraft under consideration pressurizes its
cabin pneumatically; it is unclear if the bleed air pressure would be sufficient to pressurize the cabin and to power the
ECS during wind-milling of the fans. In addition, an AC-to-DC converter would be required, and it would have to be
integrated into the TMS. A separate study is needed to determine feasibility.
Temperature and pressure data of heat sinks originate from a NPSS model of a HEP aircraft engine suitable for a
single aisle aircraft. The NPSS model calculated thrust resulting from the addition of shaft power by an electric motor.
Properties of ambient air, fan air, and fuel over the mission were harvested from the model results.
Ram air properties were calculated by adjusting ambient temperature and pressure for aircraft velocity (stagnation).
Fuel temperature and mass flow resulted from the NPSS model. Fuel pressure during the mission was estimated
from the A320 fuel transfer pump product literature (Eaton Fuel Boost Pump Type 8410). Its pressure range is 25-
45 psi with nominal 29 psi, so 29 psi was conservatively chosen for most mission points except for idle or near idle
operation (e.g. taxi, descent) for which the minimum pressure was selected.

B. Thermal Loads
The following assumptions were made in determining the thermal loads:
 The TMS consists of numerous point heat loads including a High Spool Starter Generator (HSSG), a
Low Spool Motor Generator (LSMG), Fan Drive System (DS), Motor Drive (MD), Batteries (Bat),
Engine Bearings (Brg), and Accessory Gearbox (Gbx).
 Pneumatic loads (ECS) are sourced by the aircraft engine, not by the ECS&D system.
 Engine hot section thermal loads covered by engine air are not included in this analysis.
 Cooled cooling air, bleed air precooling, and inert gas cooling are not included in the HEP TMS.

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 Table 1. Mission Points and Data

Fuel
Am- Am- Fan Fan TAT TAP Mass
Alti- Fuel Fuel
Nr Mission Point Mach Length bient bient Air Air (Ram (Ram Flow
tude T P
T P T P Air) air) per
Engine
ft - min °F psia °F psia °F psi °F psi pps
1 Ground Ops 0 0.00 10.0 103.0 14.7 106.7 14.9 103.0 14.7 103 25 0.01
2 Taxi 0 0.03 9 103.0 14.7 106.7 14.9 103.1 14.7 103 25 0.06
3 Sea Level Static 0 0.00 0.1 103.0 14.7 145.8 14.9 103.0 14.7 103 29 0.52
4 Takeoff 0 0.25 0.5 103.0 14.7 151.0 19.4 110.2 14.9 103 29 0.52
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5 TO Climb 1500 0.39 1.3 97.2 13.9 152.6 19.2 114.0 14.3 103 29 0.52
6 Initial Climb 10000 0.45 2.8 63.9 10.1 123.1 14.5 85.3 10.5 103 29 0.35
7 Mid-Climb 20000 0.55 4.6 25.5 6.8 96.4 10.8 54.5 7.2 103 29 0.30
8 End Climb 37000 0.74 20.4 -43.6 2.9 52.9 5.5 1.9 3.2 103 29 0.18
9 End Cruise 37000 0.74 82.8 -43.6 2.9 41.0 5.1 1.9 3.2 74 29 0.15
10 Mid-Descent 20000 0.54 12.1 25.5 6.8 58.9 8.5 54.5 7.2 74 25 0.06
11 End Descent 1500 0.39 13.0 97.2 13.9 103.9 14.5 114.0 14.3 74 25 0.06
12 End Approach 0 0.00 4.8 103.0 14.7 118.7 15.3 103.0 14.7 74 25 0.15
13 End Taxi In 0 0.00 5 103.0 14.7 106.7 14.9 103.0 14.7 74 25 0.06

 Electric loads are sourced from batteries when the ECS&D system is active. The battery heat loads
result from both propulsion and hotel loads such as avionics, lighting, passenger service, etc.
 The HSSG is not used for electric boost; only the LSMG assists the fan.
 The ECS&D system does not simultaneously add power to the low spool electrically and extract power
from the high spool to make electricity. The HSSG stays off during electrically assisted operation.
 Hotel electric loads normally covered by the HSSG are covered by batteries during electric boost.
 No electric taxi (Pneumatic ECS requires large power)

Table 2 shows the hot day thermal loads per engine. Most heat loads were derived or calculated from a previous
NPSS modeling effort of a hybrid electric aircraft engine that simulates the addition of shaft power to the low pressure
spool by an electric motor [3]. The Low Spool Motor Generator (LSMG) was sized at max load during takeoff (2.1
MW). Its heat load was calculated, and then motor partial load performance data was used to calculate the motor heat
loads at other mission points. Knowing the electric motor load allowed calculation of the MD and Bat heat loads by
applying factors for efficiency: 96% and 95%, respectively. The Bat thermal load also includes the aircraft hotel loads
adjusted by power factor (0.9) and divided by the number of engines. Both the Fan DS and Brg heat loads were
extracted from NPSS results. The Brg loads are parasitic losses; we conservatively attributed all parasitic losses to
them (no windage losses). Last of all, the accessory Gbx heat loads were estimated; the Gbx drives the hydraulic
pump, fuel pump, oil pump, etc. The Gbx thermal loads and the hotel electric thermal loads from batteries were
estimated on a standard day; the values were used in this hot day analysis. These loads are small relative to other loads,
are not expected to vary greatly on a hot day, and are not expected to greatly influence the solution.
Brg is the largest TMS heat load. The mechanical fan DS also represents a large thermal load. Taken together, the
ECS&D components (Bat, MD, and LSMG) constitute the majority of the thermal load.

C. TMS Architecture
The TMS was laid out by grouping heat loads at similar temperatures and locations on common cooling circuits.
The TMS consists of two pumped liquid circuits that pick up numerous point heat loads and reject them to multiple
heat exchangers. The coolant circuits are an oil loop for the higher temperature engine loads and a propylene glycol
coolant loop for the lower temperature loads. Heat sinks include fuel, fan bypass air, and ram air.

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 Table 2. Hot Day Thermal Loads per Engine

Motor
Nr Mission Point HSSG LSMG Bat Fan DS Brg Gbx
Drive
kW kW kW kW kW kW kW
1 Ground Ops 0.0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0
2 Taxi 16.0 0 0 0 2.1 60.3 2.7
3 Sea Level Static 0.0 45.7 89.5 119 72.0 162.7 3.5
4 Takeoff 0.0 45.7 89.5 119 72.0 162.7 3.5
5 TO Climb 0.0 47.2 87.4 117 72.0 163.8 2.7
6 Initial Climb 0.0 54.6 75.1 100 52.9 149.4 2.8
7 Mid-Climb 0.0 47.7 86.6 116 47.9 148.7 2.8
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8 End Climb 0.0 56.0 32.1 44 30.6 137.8 2.8

9 End Cruise 30.9 0 0 0 22.5 123.3 3.1
10 Mid-Descent 17.8 0 0 0 4.9 70.0 2.1
11 End Descent 17.8 0 0 0 2.0 60.4 2.1
12 End Approach 13.5 0 0 0 15.0 95.2 2.0
13 End Taxi In 16.0 0 0 0 2.1 60.3 2.7

Figure 2 depicts the TMS layout. Heat loads are represented by red circles; pumps are green icons; and heat
exchangers are purple rectangles. The conduits’ color and width represent temperature and flow (Figure 1).

Oil Loop
The oil is a synthetic engine oil that meets military performance specification MIL-PRF-23699. The oil loop serves
the higher temperature heat loads in engine including the HSSG, Gbx, Fan DS, Brg, and LSMG. Other components
include the OP (Oil Pump), FP (Fuel Pump), AOC (Air Oil Cooler), and the FOC (Fuel Oil Cooler). The heat sinks
for this loop are fuel and engine bypass air from the fan duct.

Coolant Loop
The coolant consists of a 50% mixture of propylene glycol and water. The coolant loop serves the lower
temperature heat loads: Bat and MD that serves the LSMG. Other components are the electric ram fan, CP, and RCC
(Ram Coolant Cooler). The heat sink is ram air. Ancillary components associated with the coolant loop are an air
scoop and ram air fan. The scoop and fan combine to deliver cooling at sufficient pressure for the RCC.

D. TMS Model
The REHEATS environment enables multi-design point sizing and optimization of TMS components. REHEATS
algorithms size heat exchangers and adjust component operation
The system was sized on a hot day (ISA+15) at several points: sea level static, takeoff, climb out, (takeoff climb),
climb (numerous altitudes), top of climb, and cruise. Most design points use the electric augmentation system which
must be transported during cruise.

Constraints
The below constraints were imposed explicitly:
 Fuel temperature ≤ 275°F
 Coolant temperature ≤ 135°F
 Oil temperature ≤ 300°F
 Oil flow rate ≥ 0.1 lbm/s
 Oil flow rate ≤ 20 lbm/s

Note that the fuel temperature limit is a projection of future capability of fuel to operate at elevated temperature
without fuel deposit formation. The coolant temperature is chosen as not to overheat the batteries; typically lithium

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 ion batteries should not exposed to this temperature due to capacity losses, but we assume that future battery
chemistries will address this issue. The maximum oil flow constraint is included to avoid unrealistically high flow
rates and small heat exchangers.

Objective Function
The objective function that best characterizes the impact of TMS weight, heat exchanger drag and power required
for pumps and fans on the aircraft is minimization of fuel consumption. Fuel is consumed to transport weight, to power
pumps and the ram fan motor, and to overcome aerodynamic drag from using ram air and engine fan air as heat sinks.
The objective function considers operation of only one engine, so results must be adjusted for the number of engines.
The fuel penalties for pump power vary over the mission due to the varying cost of shaft power, however, pump
powers are much, much smaller than other power loads so they were ignored. Battery weight for propulsion was not
considered part of the TMS, however, the additional batteries to run the ram air fan motor and coolant pump were
accounted for. Power loads covered by batteries incurred no generation penalty because the batteries are charged on
the ground. Last of all, the benefit of sinking heat to fuel is not captured; this avoids burning some fuel that otherwise
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provides sensible heat and heat of vaporization of the fuel in the engine combustor. Rather, sinking heat to fuel is
encouraged by penalizing the use of cooling flow in the AOC.

IV. Results
The REHEATS environment includes visualization capabilities that assist with the interpretation of results by
mission point. The ensuing figures visually depict results from sea level static, takeoff, climb out, (takeoff climb),
climb, top of climb, and cruise.
Each figure consists of two components: a layout of the system and a table of operational parameters by mission
point. In the layout diagrams, the conduits that connect components are represented by lines with colors that indicate
temperature as shown in Figure 1 below. The widths of lines indicate flow rate according to the legend. The tables
have two sets of numbers: on the left colorful backgrounds indicate temperature of flows according to the legend in
Figure 1 whereas black backgrounds represent components.

Figure 1. Legend for System Layout Figures.

The model optimized the TMS component sizes for minimal fuel consumption at several mission points resulting
in a TMS with parameters that are provided in the ensuing figures. Some general observations of the TMS follow:
 The RCC is the largest heat exchanger by both volume and mass due to the low difference in
temperature. Recalling that Q = UAΔT, low ΔT necessitates a large area.
 The oil temperature is high in order to maximize fuel temperature and to thereby avoid the penalty for
fan air cooling flow in the AOC.
 The maximum oil temperature is at exit of largest heat load (Brg).
 The oil flow rates through heat load components vary
 When the aircraft is in motion, the ram air shows some temperature increase across the scoop due to as
expected due to the conversion of kinetic energy to internal energy.
 The coolant temperature is typically 125 to 130°F prior to the battery heat load. The ΔT is thus small
when cooling with ambient air.
 The AOC and FOC have negative values for heat transfer rates; this is only a matter of perspective in
direction of heat transfer.

A. Sea Level Static

Figure 2 shows results at Sea Level Static conditions. Ram air shows no temperature change across the scoop as
expected. The oil temperature nearly reaches its maximum at the Brg exit, however, the fuel temperature does not
reach its maximum because it gets combined with other, cooler oil flows. The AOC has its maximum heat transfer
during this mission point (sizing point) requiring the largest bypass fan flow (10.5 lbm/s).

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Figure 2. TMS at Sea Level Static conditions.

B. Takeoff
At this mission point, ram air shows some temperature increase across the scoop as expected. The ram air flow is
large: 32 pps. The oil temperature reaches its maximum at the Brg exit, however, the fuel temperature does not reach
its maximum. The RCC has its maximum heat transfer duty at this mission point, as does the FOC (sizing point).

Figure 3. TMS at Takeoff.

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 C. Takeoff Climb
At this mission point, the ram air flow rate reaches its largest value of 34 pps despite being slightly cooler. The
oil temperature reaches its maximum at the Brg exit, however, the fuel temperature does not reach its maximum.
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Figure 4. TMS at Climb Out (Takeoff Climb).

D. Initial Climb (10,000 ft)

Despite the lower temperature of ram air, the ram fan motor increases its power due to the lower density of air at
altitude. Once again, the oil that services the largest heat load, Brg, reaches the maximum temperature.

Figure 5. TMS at Initial Climb (10,000 ft).

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 E. Mid-Climb (20,000 ft)
Oil reaches its maximum temperature at the exit of the Brg load. Fuel is at not at the maximum temperature. Ram
fan motor power is less than in the previous mission point due to sub-freezing ram air temperature.
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Figure 6. TMS at Mid-Climb (20,000 ft).

F. End Climb (Top of Climb)

Oil reaches its maximum temperature at the exit of the Brg and LSMG loads. Fuel is at the maximum temperature.
Ram fan motor power increases over the previous mission point due to lower air density.

Figure 7. TMS at End Climb (37,000 ft).

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 G. End of Cruise
Cruise is a sizing point because although the ECS&D system is not active, transporting its weight for the longest
duration mission point can affect the aircraft fuel consumption and thus influence TMS sizing. During cruise, the
coolant decreases to low temperatures that would unacceptably cool the battery and potentially impact the ability to
store charge. The coolant pump is active during cruise because the pump power, while small and not penalized in this
analysis, still pumps sufficient coolant through the RCC to lower the temperature of the coolant below freezing. The
fan motor operates at a minimum power setting, so some ram air flow is always passing through the RCC. Otherwise
the TMS operates efficiently: oil reaches maximum temperature as does fuel.
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Figure 8. TMS at End of Cruise.

V. Summary and Conclusions

The conceptual design of a baseline TMS has been completed. The solution predicts system weight at 697 lbm per
engine with accessory battery weight for cooling circuit electric loads at 216 lbm per engine. The maximum ram air
cooling flow rate is 34 lbm/s per engine during takeoff. The maximum bypass air cooling flow rate is 10.5 lbm/s per
engine at sea level static. The fuel consumption impact of the TMS weight, power and drag for the design mission
points plus cruise is 163 lbm per engine, or approximately 3.4% of total mission fuel burn. Including descent and
approach in the analysis will increase the fuel consumption. It is projected that a parallel hybrid gas electric propulsion
system could provide a 4 to 7% improvement in mission Jet-consumption, so the TMS erodes this benefit to 0.6 to
3.6%. Future work may involve researching and developing concepts for reducing the TMS impact including
alternative power sources such as a turbine-driven generator operating on Jet-A fuel. In addition, future executions of
the model will penalize the minute power consumption of the mechanically driven oil and fuel pumps as well as the
electric coolant pump.

References

[1] Lents, C. E., Hardin, L.W., Rheaume, J.M, and Kohlman, L., "Parallel Hybrid Gas-Electric Geared Turbofan Engine Conceptual
Design and Benefits Analysis," 52nd AIAA/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, Salt Lake City, 2016, p. 4610.
[2] Lents, C. E., "Hybrid Electric Geared Turbofan Propulsion System Conceptual Design", Annual Interim Report Y1 Prepared
for NASA Glenn Research Center under Contract NNC14CA32C, September 26, 2015.
[3] Lents, C. E., "Hybrid Electric Geared Turbofan Propulsion System Conceptual Design", Annual Interim Report Y2 Prepared
for NASA Glenn Research Center under Contract NNC14CA32C, September 26, 2016.
[4] Rheaume, J. M., Lents, C. E., “Energy Storage for Commercial Hybrid Electric Aircraft”, No. 2016-01-2014, SAE Technical
Paper, 2016.