Powerplant and related control system and method
AssigneeAeroVironment, Inc.
InventorsAlexander Nelson Brooks, James Gallagher Daley
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A hydrogen fueled powerplant including an internal combustion engine that drives a motor-generator, and has a two-stage turbocharger, for an aircraft. A control system controls the operation of the motor-generator to maintain the engine at a speed selected based on controlling the engine equivalence ratio. The control system controls an afterburner, an intercooler and an aftercooler to maximize powerplant efficiency. The afterburner also adds power to the turbochargers during high-altitude restarts. The turbochargers also include motor-generators that extract excess power from the exhaust.
Claims13
A powerplant, comprising:
- a combustion engine configured to produce motive force, and having an inlet and an outlet, and being characterized at any given time by an engine equivalence ratio;
- a generator configured to generate power from the motive force of the engine, and configured to apply a variable-level motive force to the engine;
- and
- a control system configured to control the motive force applied to the engine by the generator, wherein the control system is configured to control the generator such that the generator maintains the engine speed based upon a calculation of the engine equivalence ratio.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.