Researchers at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette are helping to ensure that next-generation energy systems su
$2.26M DOE grant to design & optimize an ESPG system for aircraft propulsion
Wed, 10/07/2020 - 4:24pmThe U.S. Department of Energy has awarded an interdisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette a $2.26 million grant to design and optimize an energy storage and power generation (ESPG) system for aircraft propulsion. This grant is part of DOE's $33 million in research funding for carbon neutral hybrid electric aviation.
The proposed ESPG system will consist of optimally sized fuel-to-electric power conversion devices; metal-supported solid oxide fuel cells (MS-SOFCs) and turbogenerators using carbon-neutral synfuel.
The design concept will ensure adequate propulsive thrust and system power for a future airplane configuration by optimizing the ESPG and component performance, especially the synfuel-powered MS-SOFC. The team will use innovative fabrication techniques for high-performance, ultra-low weight, and low-cost MS-SOFC stacks. They will also develop reforming catalysts for synfuel and biojet fuel.
Dr. Xiao-Dong Zhou is the director of UL Lafayette's Institute for Materials Research and Innovation and the Stuller Endowed Chair of chemical engineering. He is heading the research team that secured the $2.26 million grant from DOE's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), which awarded $33 million to 17 projects as part of the Aviation-class Synergistically Cooled Electric-motors with iNtegrated Drives (ASCEND) and Range Extenders for Electric Aviation with Low Carbon and High Efficiency (REEACH) programs.
Both programs work to decrease energy usage and associated carbon emissions for commercial aircraft propulsion systems.
The funded research is a REEACH project, which seeks to create innovative, cost-effective, and high-performance energy storage and power generation sub-systems for electric aircraft, with a focus on fuel-to-electric power conversion technologies.
In addition to Zhou, UL Lafayette's team consists of Dr. Rafael Hernandez and Dr. Jonathan Raush. Hernandez is a professor and the head of chemical engineering, while Raush is an assistant professor of mechanical engineering.
They are joined by research partners Dr. Subhash Singhal, an assistant professor of industrial engineering at the University of Texas at Arlington, and Dr. David Dagget, an assistant professor-in-residence of molecular and cell biology at the University of Connecticut.