Discussion On Electric Power Supply Systems For All Electric Aircraft

Received February 24, 2020, accepted April 3, 2020, date of publication May 6, 2020, date of current version May
18, 2020.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/ACCESS.2020.2991804
Discussion on Electric Power Supply Systems

for All Electric Aircraft
HENDRIK SCHEFER 1 , LEON FAUTH 2 , (Member, IEEE), TOBIAS H. KOPP 3,
REGINE MALLWITZ1 , (Member, IEEE), JENS FRIEBE 2 , (Member, IEEE),

AND MICHAEL KURRAT3 , (Member, IEEE)
1 Institute for Electrical Machines, Traction and Drives, Technische Universität Braunschweig, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany
2 Institute for Drive Systems and Power Electronics, Leibniz Universität Hannover, 30167 Hannover, Germany
3 Institut für Hochspannungstechnik und Elektrische Energieanlagen - elenia, Technische Universität Braunschweig, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany
Corresponding author: Regine Mallwitz (r.mallwitz@tu-braunschweig.de)

This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation, DFG) through the Germany’s
Excellence Strategy-EXC 2163/1-Sustainable and Energy Efficient Aviation under Grant 390881007. The publication of this article was
funded by the Open Access Publication Funds of the Technische Universität Braunschweig.
ABSTRACT The electric power supply system is one of the most important research areas within sustainable
and energy-efficient aviation for more- and especially all electric aircraft. This paper discusses the history
in electrification, current trends with a broad overview of research activities, state of the art of electrification
and an initial proposal for a short-range aircraft. It gives an overview of the mission profile, electrical sources,
approaches for the electrical distribution system and the required electrical loads. Current research aspects
and questions are discussed, including voltage levels, semiconductor technology, topologies and reliability.
Because of the importance for safety possible circuit breakers for the proposed concept are also presented
and compared, leading to a initial proposal. Additionally, a very broad review of literature and a state of the
art discussion of the wiring harness is given, showing that this topic comes with a high number of aspects and
requirements. Finally, the conclusion sums up the most important results and gives an outlook on important
future research topics.
INDEX TERMS Aviation, aerospace electronics, MEA, AEA, electric power supply systems,
dc-dc power converters, power semiconductor devices, wide bandgap semiconductors, high voltage direct
current (HVDC), circuit breaker, hybrid circuit breaker.
AEA All Electric Aircraft EMA Electro-Mechanical Actuators

ALFCS Active Laminar Flow Control System EMC Electromagnetic Compatibility
ANPC Active Neutral Point Clamped EMI Electromagnetic Interference
APES Auxiliary Power Electronics Switch EPS Expand Phase Shift Modulation
APU Auxiliary Power Unit eVTOL All-Electrical Vertical Take-Off and
ATAG Air Transport Action Group Landing
BMU German Federal Ministry for the Environment, EXT-PWR External Power Supply
Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety FAA Federal Aviation Administration
bti bias temperature instability FIT Failure in Time
CB Circuit Breaker GaN Gallium Nitride
CSCE Critical Short-Circuit Energy GPU Ground Power Unit
DAB Dual Active Bridge HEMT High Electron Mobility Transistor
DCB Direct Copper Bonding HVDC High Voltage DC
EPAS European Plan for Aviation Safety IATA International Air Transport Association
ECS Environmental Control System IGBT Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors
EHA Electro-Hydraulic Actuators JEDEC JEDEC Solid State Technology
Association
The associate editor coordinating the review of this manuscript and MEA More Electric Aircraft
approving it for publication was Aniruddha Datta. MFFC Multifunctional Fuel Cell
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. For more information, see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
84188 VOLUME 8, 2020
H. Schefer et al.: Discussion on Electric Power Supply Systems for AEA
MMC Modular Multilevel Converter be considered. For the electrical systems, high efficiency
MOSFET Metal Oxide Field-Effect Transistors electrical drives as well as high power density energy sources
MPES Main Power Electronic Switch are needed [6]. Interconnecting the sources as well as the
MS Mechanical Switch loads, which includes beside the motors additionally the Wing
pax Passengers Ice Protection System (WIPS), the Environmental Control
PD Partial Discharge System (ECS), the control flaps, avionics, hotel and galley
PE Power Electronic loads and more, requires a high efficiency energy distribution
PoL Point of Load system. This electrical grid can therefore be seen as key driver
RAT Ram Air Turbine for energy-efficient aviation. It enables novel approaches for
SBD Shottky Barrier Diode aircraft energy supply from source to load with new grid
SCC Switched Capacitor Converter structures and distributed energy generation systems. Electri-
SCWT Short-Circuit Withstand Time cal sources can be high energy density batteries and fuel cells,
SEB Single Event Burnout being already a wide area of current research [7]–[9]. Also
SEE Single Event Effect the voltage level and frequency for the electrical grid need to
SEGR Single Event Gate Rupture be considered, as they directly relate to the system topology
Si Silicon and overall weight. For reducing the current and therefore the
SiC Silicon Carbide diameter of the wiring harness, High Voltage DC (HVDC)
SoC State of Charge grids are proposed [10]. While the here described voltages,
SPS Single Phase Shift Modulation although described as HVDC, do not exceed 540 V(±270 V),
SSCB Solid State Circuit Breaker even higher DC voltages up to 3 kV(±1.5 kV) will be exam-
SSPC Solid State Power Controller ined in this publication. Based on this, an energy supply
STARC-ABL Single-aisle Turboelectric AiRCraft with system for an AEA consisting of DC/DC converters, wiring
Aft Boundary Layer propulsion harness and circuit breakers will be proposed. This system
SUGAR Subsonic Ultra Green Aircraft Research will be sized for the use in a typical regional commuter
TID Total Ionizing Dose aircraft with less than 100 Passengers (pax). Challenges with
TPS Triple Phase Shift Modulation regard to energy generation, conversion and distribution will
VFSG Variable Frequency Starter Generator be highlighted, with a focus on the power electronics switches
WIPS Wing Ice Protection System and topologies, high power circuit breakers and wiring har-
ZVS Zero Voltage Switching ness reliability. Especially challenges coming from the appli-
cation in an aircraft environment, which is characterized by
low pressure, harsh temperatures and radiation, are identified.
I. INTRODUCTION The feasible solutions are based on a high voltage distribution
Two key drivers for electrifying air transportation can be grid, enabled by novel wide bandgap semiconductor devices
identified: First, pollution as a result of the ever-increasing with high breakdown voltage as well as special topologies
number of flights needs to be limited, if current climate for high voltages and high currents. For circuit breakers, new
goals are to be reached. Here, especially the high amount hybrid structures are discussed. Section II and III give an
of CO2 emission by conventional jet turbines needs to be overview of the current state of the art regarding the air trans-
reduced [1]. Secondly, the availability of currently used jet portation system. Section IV gives details on current MEAs.
fuel refined from oil is limited - therefore, new driving con- In Section V, advantages and disadvantages of a high voltage
cepts or fuels need to be investigated. Additionally, prices distribution system will be shown, followed by an initial
are expected to increase in the long term [2], which will proposal for a high voltage grid for an AEA in Section VI.
result in a lower profit margin, as fuel prices hold a large Power electronics devices based on Silicon Carbide (SiC) and
share in overall aircraft operation costs [3]. As a result, there Gallium Nitride (GaN) and their special use in an aircraft
is a trend towards a more ecological alternative, which will environment are discussed in Section VII. Section VIII intro-
ultimately mean a strong electrification of aircraft. The first duces different topologies for high voltage and high current
step is the so-called More Electric Aircraft (MEA), which will circuit breakers, Section IX discusses challenges for a high
increase overall efficiency by replacing conventional solu- voltage wiring harness in an aircraft environment.
tions with electrically driven alternatives [4], [5]. In the next
step, in the All Electric Aircraft (AEA) the thrust components II. TRANSFORMATION TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE
will also be replaced with electric systems, prospectively in a AIR TRANSPORT
series hybrid concept for medium- to long-range applications. The transformation of society towards a more sustainable
To make this concept feasible, progress in a multitude of use of resources is the focus of a large number of research
areas is needed. As batteries are a possible energy source for projects. A growing world population, decreasing resources,
future AEA, a high overall efficiency is mandatory. There- increasing demands on the quality of life, and changing living
fore, research in improved aerodynamics is necessary. For conditions represent significant challenges for the present
weight savings, novel fuselage and wing materials have to and future generations on earth. Especially the environmental
VOLUME 8, 2020 84189

conditions are fundamental for the existence of our soci- • Europe is established as a center of excellence for sus-
ety. An essential factor for the sustainable development of tainable alternative fuels, including those for aviation,
humanity is mobility with the help of individual and public based on a robust European energy policy,
transport. • Europe is at the forefront of atmospheric research and
takes the lead in the formulation of a prioritized envi-
A. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ronmental action plan and establishment of global envi-
In Germany, the transportation sector was responsible for ronmental standards.
18 % of CO2 equivalents in 2016. In contrast to other sectors Noise and nitrogen oxide reduction addresses urban areas
such as energy, industry, agriculture, waste management, and in particular. Many European airports have a ban on night
private households, the CO2 rose by 3 % in 2017 compared flights.
to the reference year 1990. According to the German Fed-
D. RESEARCH APPROACHES
eral Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and
Nuclear Safety (BMU), 1.4 % of emissions from the transport Based on the goals mentioned above, a series of research
sector are attributable to national flights [11, page: 39] [12]. projects can be developed, which will lead to an evaluation
Civil aviation within Europe is responsible for 13.2 % of air traffic systems, flight physics, vehicle systems, energy
of CO2 emissions in the transport sector [13]. The Euro- storage, and conversion. Sustainable air transport requires a
pean Aviation Environmental Report 2019 shows a relative low carbon footprint, low noise footprint, high operational
increase of 16 % in CO2 emissions compared to the reference safety, and high reliability at low cost under the high com-
year of 2005 to 2017. A further increase of 42 % is expected plexity of the entire aviation system. Known vital parameters
according to current models. Nitrogen oxide emissions also are the reduction of aerodynamic drag by new aerodynamic
show drastic increases. Besides, the report shows only a concepts, reduction of structural masses by new materials,
positive development in noise reduction. and integration of propulsion systems.
Worldwide, the impact of air traffic on the environment Synthetic fuel can be used for CO2 -neutral air traffic. A fur-
is estimated to be 2 % of the anthropogenic carbon ther optimization is the electrification of the aircraft, which
dioxides [14]. could lead to very low-noise and low-emission air traffic. For
this purpose, power densities of electrical components must
be increased, energy densities of electrical storage media
B. MARKET PROSPECTS
must be improved, and sustainable generation and transport
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) pre-
of electrical energy must be achieved.
dicts that passenger numbers will double from 2016 to
The next section deals in detail with realized aircraft con-
2030 under liberal market conditions and political stimu-
cepts, so-called MEAs, and well-known research projects on
lus. Asia is expected to show high growth rates [15]. Cur-
platforms of hybrid aircraft. It derives the trend of electrifica-
rently, only 10 % of the world population has access to air
tion without referring to the aircraft category.
travel [16].
Another important criterion is the price development of
III. TREND OF ELECTRIFICATION IN
kerosene. According to a worst-case estimate, the price of
AIRCRAFT APPLICATIONS
crude oil could double by 2050. The kerosene price is directly
Fig. 1 shows the predicted development of electrification
linked to the price of crude oil [17, page: 16]. CO2 taxes
in commercial aviation. In this case, the electrical power
related to passengers and per 100 km are under discussion.
requirement is plotted logarithmically over the year. There
are numerous other research projects, such as All-Electrical
C. POLICY INSTRUMENTS Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) or small regional
The Paris Agreement is an essential target for global climate electrified aircraft (e.g.: Zunum Aero), which are not included
protection and the preservation of livelihoods. The agreement in this diagram.
aims at a global warming of below two degrees Celsius For the listed commercial aircraft and research projects,
compared to pre-industrial age [18]. The European Flight- the ratio of electrification is given. The ratio PPthel of the elec-
path also addresses ambitious environmental protection goals trical power to the maximum thrust power in take-off is put
for civil aviation. By 2050, the technologies are expected into relation. The thrust power is estimated here and is not a
to reduce CO2 emissions by 75 % per passenger kilometer, standard parameter in aviation industry.
nitrogen oxide emissions by 90 %, and noise emissions by
65 %. The reference is a new type of aircraft from the year A. AIRBUS A380
2000. These specifications support the Air Transport Action The Airbus A380 can be classified among the MEA,
Group (ATAG) target [1, page: 15]. Further objectives of the it was commissioned in 2007 and had a maximum capacity
Flightpath are of 853 seats (typical seating 4-class: 550 seats). The aircraft
• emission-free taxiing, has a cruising speed of 0.89 Mach and a range of 14, 800 km
• air vehicles have to be designed and manufactured so as (8, 000 NM) [19]. Hydraulic components are partly electri-
to be recyclable, fied, such as flight control systems. The increased electrical
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D. NASA STARC-ABL
NASA project Single-aisle Turboelectric AiRCraft with Aft
Boundary Layer propulsion (STARC-ABL) combines sev-
eral experiences from projects such as Subsonic Ultra Green
Aircraft Research (SUGAR) and N3X. For the first tests,
the availability of the Turbofan N + 3 technology is essential.
The technology is expected to be available in the time frame
2030 to 2035. With a cruising speed of 0.7 Mach, a range of
6, 482 km (3, 500 NM), and 154 pax, the aircraft belongs to
the medium range [25, pages: 2-3]. It is a parallel hybrid,
the engines below the wings generate thrust and electri-
cal power. Thus, each engine generates electrical power of
roughly 1.5 MW and is connected via an inverter to a 1 kV
DC on-board power supply. The DC system is connected to
FIGURE 1. Trend of electrification in aviation application.
a boundary layer ingesting tail-one thruster. The all-electric
drive has a power of roughly 2.61 MW ( PPthel ≈ 30 %) and gen-
power requirement is provided by four generators of the main erates thrust. Due to the installation situation, as a boundary
engines (600 kVA in total, PPthel < 0.2 %, excluding the Auxil- layer ingesting tail-one thruster, the engines can be optimized
iary Power Unit (APU)) with an alternating voltage of 115 V under the wings. The combination of smaller engines on
[20, page: 57]. 75 g CO2 per passenger kilometer are achieved the wings and the boundary layer ingesting tail-one thruster
by using expanded materials and reducing the structural mass. reduces the aerodynamic drag [26, pages: 2-3].
This airplane reduces noise emissions by 50 % at take-off
and three to four times less noise at landing compared to its
E. NASA N3-X
nearest competitor. The engines reduce noise emissions with
a combined wing and landing gear design [19]. Another NASA project, N3-X, is strongly oriented towards
the NASA Future Aircraft Goals N + 3. Another important
B. BOEING 787 milestone will be the availability of turbofan technology, and
A further MEA is the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, launched a maiden flight would be possible from 2040 [27, page: 3].
in 2011 with a maximum of 410 pax (typical 242 pax). The aircraft has a cruising speed of 0.84 Mach, a distance of
In flight operation, a cruising speed of 0.85 Mach, and a 13, 890 km (7, 500 NM), and carries 300 pax [28, page: 9].
range of 13, 620 km (7, 354 NM) is achieved [21]. In this Studies show that the best possible weight reduction can be
type of aircraft, a large number of pneumatic and hydraulic achieved using superconductivity and a DC on-board net-
systems were replaced by electric ones. Power electronics work of ±2 kV [29, page: 197]. Besides, two generators with
and electrical machines with compressors replace huge pneu- 6.5 MW each are operated per wing. Sixteen distributed elec-
matic loads, such as the WIPS and the ECS. Due to the tric drive systems provide the thrust as After Fan Technology.
high electrical power requirement, an on-board grid with The target is a nominal total electrical output 25 MW ( PPthel ≈
an alternating voltage of 235 V was implemented. The four 80 %) [29, page: 135]. With the help of the Hybrid Wing
generators of the two main engines generate a total elec- Body with Nacelle (HWB), the aerodynamic drag is reduced.
trical power of 1 MVA (without APU, PPthel < 1.5 %) [20, The improvements will reduce fuel consumption by 60 %
page: 57]. Composite materials and an optimized aircraft and reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by 80 % during take-
structure are also used. These technologies enable noise off and landing [30, pages: 1-2]. A noise-optimized variant
emissions to be reduced by 60 % and fuel consumption has an estimated noise reduction of 64EPNdB under flight
by 20 % [21]. noise standard ‘‘Chapter 4 standard cumulative margin noise
reduction’’ [30, pages:19-20].
C. E-FAN X
E-FAN X is a project initially led by Airbus, Rolls Royce F. ESTIMATION OF THE AVAILABLE ELECTRICAL POWER
and Siemens. The first test flights are expected in 2021. The orange arrow in Fig. 1 shows the trend towards electri-
The BAe 146 is powered by four engines. One propulsion fication. MEA and Hybrid-electric Aircraft such as E-FAN
unit is powered by a 2 MW ( PPthel ≈ 25 %) electric motor X and NASA STARC-ABL illustrate the trends. According
and connected to the 3 kV on-board power supply via an to these estimations, 10 MW of electrical power could be
inverter. It is a serial hybrid system; a built-in turbine drives a implementable in an aircraft in 2050.
generator in the fuselage [22], [23, page: 10]. The platform is A good system concept and HVDC transmission are
designed to explore challenges such as thermal management, required to enable this vision. For this approach, great efforts
altitude, and dynamic effects in high-performance electrical are required in search of electrical systems for aviation pur-
propulsion systems while maintaining high reliability and poses. In 2050, it seems feasible to operate AEA in the short
safety [24]. and medium range.
VOLUME 8, 2020 84191

For the NASA N3-X concept, a major technological leap The replacement requires a higher electrical system perfor-
must follow, involving the use of a combined HVDC trans- mance [33, pages: 2-3]. Fig. 2 shows two VFSGs per turbine
mission with superconductivity. In addition, the power den- with an output of 250 kVA each. Thus, an electrical system
sities of power electronics and electrical machines must power of 1 MVA is available [32, page: 9].
increase drastically, achieved for example by using new mate- In traditional aircraft, the turbine is started via the pneumat-
rials and superconductivity. These approaches require high ics (so-called Main Engine Start); in MEA, this is achieved
investment costs in these research projects. electrically via starter converters. The electrical power is
The following section presents the state of the art by a large provided by the APU, the other turbine or the External Power
commercial MEA. Supply (EXT-PWR). The jet engine can be started via the
APU or the other already started jet turbine or a ground
IV. STATE OF ART: ELECTRICAL ARCHITECTURE OF A vehicle [32, page: 9-11].
LARGE COMMERCIAL MORE ELECTRIC AIRCRAFT Another difference to the typical aircraft is the variable
Two well-known commercial concepts of a MEA could be electrical frequency, which is within the range of 360 to
identified from Section II. The aircraft aims at saving fuel in 800 Hz in the represented MEA. In previous aircraft, an Inte-
order to minimize airline costs and carbon dioxide emissions. grated Drive Generator (f = 400 Hz) is used, which consists
Another goal is to reduce aircraft noise. MEAs are the first of a generator and a Constant Speed Drive. However, today’s
steps towards sustainable commercial air traffic, as defined three-phase VFSG uses a fixed ratio gear connected to the
by the overall social goals. high-pressure turbine stage. No power electronics are needed
In the following section, the aircraft concept is presented for this approach. Permanent magnet synchronous generators
from the point of view of the electrical components, although can be an alternative to achieve a higher power density of
a great deal of engineering effort is also involved in optimiz- 8 kVA/kg (currently 3.3 kVA/kg, VFSG) [23, page: 652].
ing the structural mass, the aerodynamic concept, and other The proximity of the turbine to the electrical machine requires
disciplines. It is shown how the on-board grid has changed proper thermal management. A further increase in the elec-
in comparison to a typical aircraft and the influence involved trical system performance lacks a multiple spool concept
on the overall system. The secondary power systems in an (currently: high-pressure stage of main engine is used) [23,
aircraft, such as hydraulics, pneumatics, mechanics, and elec- page: 653].
tricity, have an influence of approximately 5 % on the total
fuel consumption. They are essential for safe flight operations
B. AUXILIARY POWER UNIT
and passenger comfort [23, page: 1].
The APU turbine stage at the rear does not contain any
Fig. 2 shows the on-board grid of a large commercial
pneumatics. The APU also uses a VFSG and is less com-
aircraft, based on the Boeing 787, and is supposed to illustrate
plex than its predecessor. In typical aircraft, the APU has a
the ongoing development. Individual components are repre-
pneumatic system for starting the main engines [32, page: 11]
sented schematically in the figure. In the presented aircraft,
[20, page: 57].
many pneumatic and some parts of hydraulic components
Efforts are being made to replace the APU with a Multi-
have been replaced by electrical ones. A better condition
functional Fuel Cell (MFFC) system. The system generates
monitoring and controllability characterizes electrical com-
electrical energy and heat. In addition, water is available to
ponents in comparison to bleed-air based systems so that
the aircraft through a treatment process. Another possibility
consumption-oriented energy is available. Besides, individual
of the use of MFFC is the generation of nitrogen. Nitrogen
subsystems can be switched off easily in the event of a
can be used as an inert gas to prevent the ignition of the fuel
fault [31, page: 8].
in the tank [34, page: 20-28] [35, pages: 5] [36, pages: 1-3].
The MEA concept uses the Boeing 787’s no-bleed system
architecture. By replacing the bleed air, better fuel efficiency
is achieved due to better use of secondary energy, mainte- C. ELECTRICAL POWER SUPPLY
nance costs are reduced due to the exchange of pneumatic Because the electrical system power has increased dramati-
systems, and higher reliability is obtained with modern power cally by replacing the bleed air, the effective alternating volt-
electronics and component reduction [32, page: 6]. A conven- age of the three-phase system is increased to 235 V (typically
tional aircraft has a bleed-air system with roughly 1.2 MW 115 V). Fig. 2 shows a distributed redundant electrical power
[33, page: 2]. This method saves approx. 3 % of the fuel [32, system, which is centralized in a typical aircraft. Further-
page: 6]. Compared to conventional architectures, weight and more, for compatibility reasons, the voltage level 115 V AC
lifecycle costs are reduced. and 28 V DC is used, since many components are designed
for this voltage level and many airports provide this exter-
A. MAIN ENGINE AND GENERATOR nal power supply. The DC voltage of ±270 V is mostly
In traditional aircraft, the bleed air is removed from the tur- generated by passive three-phase bridge rectifiers (so-called
bine, resulting in inefficient utilization. In contrast, a modern Auto Transformer Rectifier) and is used to supply compo-
commercial aircraft replaces the bleed-air extraction system nents with high electrical power, such as the compressors for
with larger Variable Frequency Starter Generators (VFSGs). the ECS. [32, page: 9].
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FIGURE 2. Electric schematic of MEA.
VOLUME 8, 2020 84193

One research effort for MEA is to increase the voltage cells and batteries). Furthermore, no overrating of power
of the electrical power supply system to 540 V DC. The converters due to reactive power is necessary and the system
standards, such as MIL-STD-704F, have to be adapted. Arc- complexity is reduced, as most of the converters can be
ing represents a major risk under such harsh environmental DC/DC converters. Inverters are only used for motor loads
conditions. like flight control systems, cooling liquid pumps, e-taxi and
A further challenge is the increasing demand for power and propulsion. No rectifiers with a large volume due to power
the associated power generation. Low-speed turbine stages factor correction stages are needed. At first, estimations on
could be used. Wide bandgap semiconductors represent an power demand are given based on data for standard regional
alternative to silicon. The wider fundamental wave of the cruiser airplanes with a capacity of 100 pax. The overall
electrical machine at low pressure stage and the increased on- power needed is separated in continuous and dynamic power
board voltage pose a challenge for conventional semiconduc- demand. Continuous power demand is needed by lights, ECS,
tor materials [23, page: 655]. avionics, hotel and galley loads, and the WIPS. Dynamic
loads are flight control actuation systems. The propulsion
D. ELECTRICAL LOADS
system requires a mostly continuous power during cruising,
Fig. 2 contains large electrical loads. A conventional air-
the power demand for climb and descent is higher. For the
craft uses bleed air for the ECS and WIPS. The ECS
WIPS, a power demand of 35 kW can be estimated, based
ensures air exchange, regulates the interior temperature, and
on data given for a Boing 787 [38]. Hotel and galley loads
adjusts the air pressure. In the Boeing 787, the ECS is
combine to a few kilowatts, the ECS has an estimated power
represented by large and small compressor units and fans
demand of 150 kW [39]. For flight control systems, the peak
[32, page: 11]. The system requires a compressor capacity
power demand is 20 kW [40]. The demand of auxiliary power
of 4 · 100 kW [20, page: 57].
for the electrical system itself, namely pumps for liquid
Heating blankets replace the typical WIPS and reduce the
cooling and fuel cells, is still unknown. In total, all non-
power consumption by half. Constant anti-ice protection or
propulsive loads of a regional cruiser airplane are expected to
sequential de-icing is achievable [32, page: 11].
be less than 300 kW. For a state-of-the-art MEA (Boing 787,
The hydraulic system controls the control surfaces and
400 pax), the power demand of all electric loads is given as
landing gear. For this purpose, two large compressor units
1 MVA [20]. Compared to this number, the above estimated
deliver a pressure of 34.5 MPa at approximately 7.95 m3 /h.
value seems reasonable. The largest power demand comes
Additional electric no speed controllable compressors and the
from the propulsion system. Here, a peak power of approxi-
main engines provide additional hydraulic system pressure.
mately 3.7 MW during take-off and climb, and descent can be
Due to the high system pressure, the hydraulic components
assumed, based on conventional turbines for a short-range air-
are smaller and save space and weight [20, page: 6].
craft [41]. At cruising speed and altitude, a continuous power
Electric components partly replace the hydraulic sys-
of approximately 0.6 times the peak power is needed [42].
tems, where Electro-Mechanical Actuators (EMA) and
Based on this data, an overall peak power demand of 4 MW is
Electro-Hydraulic Actuators (EHA) supplement the system.
estimated. In the literature, voltage levels of 540 V(±270 V)
EHA should preferably be used for primary control sur-
are proposed. This value is mainly determined by the cur-
faces, such as rudders, ailerons, and elevators. The sec-
rently available technology. The APU and the generators have
ondary control surfaces, such as flaps and slats, are pri-
a three-phase output with a voltage of 230 V, which can be
marily responsible for efficiency and comfort. Operation via
rectified to a DC voltage of 540 V or ±270 V without the
EMA is possible, although there is a risk of jamming [33,
need of additional DC/DC converters or transformers [10].
page: 3]. The brakes in the Boeing 787 can also be operated
For future AEAs, APU and Ground Power Unit (GPU) can
via EMA [20, page: 59].
be replaced with newer technologies like on-board fuel cells
Further optimization potential has the Electrical Taxiing,
or electric charging at the airport.
which avoids nitrogen dioxide, noise, and unnecessary fuel
As a result, an increased voltage level of 3 kV(±1.5 kV) is
consumption during taxiing. Also, the aircraft is independent
proposed in this paper. This has the advantage that the current
of ground vehicles [20, page: 61-61].
per conductor is decreased, therefore, the conductor diameter
The Active Laminar Flow Control System (ALFCS)
is smaller. As an example, by applying a high grid voltage of
accommodates a further increase in the efficiency of a
3 kV, a current of 617 A is needed to supply a peak power of
commercial aircraft. With the help of electric compressors,
1.85 MW for one propulsor. For a lower grid voltage of 540 V,
the aerodynamic drag of the aircraft is reduced [37].
a current of nearly 3.5 kA would be necessary. Consequently,
In the next Section V, the challenges posed to a high
the conductor mass of high power transmission lines can be
voltage electrical power supply system by the harsh environ-
reduced by a large factor. In the same time, current stress of
mental influences are highlighted.
the semiconductors is reduced, while increasing the require-
V. HVDC GRIDS FOR AIRCRAFT APPLICATION ments in power electronics packaging, as a high insulation is
In this section, a supply grid voltage for future AEAs will necessary.
be proposed. Only DC grid structures are considered, as all Especially for application in aircraft, environmental influ-
energy sources in an AEA are most likely to be DC (fuel ences cause stronger restrictions than for ground applications.
84194 VOLUME 8, 2020

This is further supported by the fact that the relative humidity

of the air inside the fuselage is below 20%, as it is conditioned
by the ECS. For power electronic systems placed in the wings
or the nacelle, dehumidifiers have to be considered as seen in
inverters for wind energy systems.
Next to air pressure and humidity, radiation limits the
application of high voltage systems in aircraft. Radiation
effects can be caused by primary or secondary sources. Pri-
mary radiation is direct cosmic radiation (mainly protons and
α-particles). At typical flight levels, cosmic radiation forms
a neutron shower via spallation at atmospheric molecules,
the so-called secondary radiation. As a result, damage due
to radiation can be divided in two effects. Firstly, device
parameters can be altered because of the Total Ionizing Dose
(TID). For given travel routes, the TID can be estimated based
on radiation data [45]. For example, a standard short-range
flight in an altitude of 6 km can result in a radiation dose of
200 µSv h−1 [46]. Based on published data, a strong impact
of the radiation dose on semiconductors used in short-range
FIGURE 3. Critical field strength in dependency of altitude.
aviation is not expected. In [47], Si Insulated Gate Bipolar
Transistors (IGBT) under radiation are investigated. By using
At a typical cruising altitude of 6 km for regional aircraft, a gamma radiation source, reduced gate threshold voltage
the air pressure is reduced to less than half of the air pressure and reduced turn-on and turn-off times could be observed,
at sea level, while the temperature is decreased to 250 K [43]. combined with a higher voltage overshoot at turn-off. How-
As a result, the critical field strength is drastically reduced ever, for a reduction of the gate threshold voltage of 1 V,
according to Paschen’s Law [44]. This is slightly compen- a flight time of above three million hours under abovemen-
sated by the lower air temperature, which increases the criti- tioned conditions would be necessary. Current research on the
cal field strength. In the fuselage, air pressure is controlled by effects of radiation on GaN devices is, for example, conducted
the ECS to a minimum value of 760 hPa, which is equivalent by the NASA [48]. As for Si, parameter variations due to
to an altitude of approximately 2.5 km (see Fig. 3). For non- the TID are unlikely to occur during the lifetime of power
pressurized locations, the critical field strength at a flight devices for the application in aviation. This is confirmed by
altitude of 6 km is reduced to 17.8 kV cm−1 . In the fuselage, research done in [49], [50] and [51]. Under heavy irradiation,
the critical field strength is 25 kV cm−1 , as long as the ECS drain saturation current, transconductance and gate threshold
is fully functional. In case of failure, the pressure can even voltage are reduced, the drain to source breakdown voltage
drop to ambient conditions. Power electronic systems need increases. However, the proton flux used in the accelerated
to be functional under these conditions. Therefore, creepage tests of 2 × 1015 cm−2 is equivalent to decades of operation
and clearance distances have to be designed to withstand the in low earth orbit. As a result, it can be concluded that device
lower air pressure. This leads to special designed packages parameter alteration due to TID is of no significance for
for power electronics. Another possibility is the potting of application in aircraft.
electronic systems. Consequences on the wiring harness are Secondly, power electronics can fail due to a single neu-
further discussed in Section IX. tron hitting the device (Single Event Effect (SEE)). If these
Humidity is another environmental effect, which can have high energy neutrons hit a silicon ion, a conductive plasma
an impact on the applicability of high voltage supply grids. can be formed, which spreads throughout the device [52].
Energy transmission systems and power electronic devices This effect is dependent on the applied drain-source voltage.
can be affected by moisture by short-circuiting of the contacts The device will be short-circuited by this discharge. During
through condensation, degrading the insulation materials for this time, the self-heating of the device can lead to a non-
cables and silicone gel used in power electronic modules, reversible destruction. As only a single event is necessary,
and reducing the blocking voltage of power semiconductors the probability of failure depends on the availability of high
through electrochemical migration and aluminum corrosion. energy neutrons, therefore on the neutron flux, which shows
The bias voltage has a strong impact on the lifetime of a dependency on the altitude, the geomagnetic location and
power semiconductor modules under high humidity. Devices on the solar activity. For a given location, the neutron flux
biased at 90% of their blocking voltage capability showed an in an altitude of 6 km can be increased by a factor of about
accelerated aging with a factor of two compared to devices 70, if compared to sea level [53]. As an example, estimated
biased at 65% of their blocking voltage capability. As power Failure in Time (FIT) rates for 1.7 kV SiC Metal Oxide Field-
electronic devices are usually operated below 60% of their Effect Transistors (MOSFET) in dependency of the altitude
rated voltage, a long lifetime of the devices can be expected. are given in Fig. 4. Data is based on results in [54]. It can be
VOLUME 8, 2020 84195

and therefore volume and weight of the wiring harness. For

lower power loads, a DC voltage of 800 V can be sufficiently
high, by still reducing wiring harness dimensions and at
the same time lowering system complexity. For example,
a three-level ANPC made of 1.2 kV SiC MOSFETs provides
sufficient blocking voltage capability based on the afore-
mentioned considerations on cosmic radiation. A detailed
drawing of a viable grid structure is given in Fig. 5.
VI. INITIAL PROPOSAL: ELECTRICAL ARCHITECTURE FOR

AN ELECTRICALLY POWERED SHORT-RANGE AIRCRAFT
This topic deals with the realization concept of an elec-
trically powered aircraft, the necessary development steps,
and the research approaches regarding electric components.
An initial electrical architecture, as given in Fig. 5, is pro-
posed. With the help of the estimations of electrification, see
Section III, it can be possible to realize an electrical power
of 10 MW in a high voltage electrical power supply system
FIGURE 4. Reduction of drain source voltage for higher altitudes. by 2050. Based on this initial diagram, the electrical sources,
the on-board grid, and the loads are discussed.
seen that in order to achieve a FIT rate of 1 (one failure in 109
hours ) at a flight level of 6 km, the grid voltage needs to be A. MISSION PROFILE OF A SHORT-RANGE AIRCRAFT
below 60 % of the device breakdown voltage. Three different aircraft types are available: short-range,
Generally, power semiconductors made of GaN and SiC medium-range, and long-range. Mission profile data origi-
promise better resistance to radiation than conventional nated from the design and optimization strategy in publi-
silicon devices. For instance, the displacement energy of cation [61]. The study concludes that even by optimizing
both SiC and GaN is considerably higher than for silicon the medium and short range, Flightpath 2050’s targets will
[55]–[57]. More details on the behavior of GaN and SiC under not be met. The short-range aircraft is far below the Euro-
radiation are given in Section VII-D. Based on the aforemen- pean Flightpath, although the overall drag of the aircraft is
tioned results, for a DC grid voltage of 3 kV, semiconductor reduced by 47 % as a result of aerodynamic optimizations
devices or combinations of single devices with a blocking [61, page: 15]. The use of new energy storage systems and
voltage of at least 6 kV are necessary. For example, first ver- alternative propulsion concepts is proposed. In future studies,
sions of 6.5 kV SiC MOSFETs are currently under investiga- the influence of substitution by electrical components has to
tion for drivetrains in railway applications [58]. Alternatively, be investigated. With these assumptions, further algorithm-
multilevel inverters made of devices with lower blocking based optimization of the electrical system can be carried
voltage can be applied, for example, Active Neutral Point out. The publication [62] shows the system optimization of
Clamped (ANPC), Switched Capacitor Converter (SCC), or a hybrid-electric aircraft. In addition, fault tree analyses have
Modular Multilevel Converter (MMC). The MMC configu- to be performed in order to determine reliability. The aim is
rations can be especially beneficial for motor inverters, as the to achieve a significant weight reduction with a high fault
voltage slew rate compared to conventional solutions can be tolerance.
reduced while still maintaining high switching speed and low Furthermore, the influence of small distributed drives on
switching losses [59], but they are usually of large volume aerodynamics should be verified. It may also be possible to
and weight and therefore not suitable for aircraft applications. use free-flow drives or boundary layer ingestion. Alternative
Nevertheless, newest research on power density improvement electric drives and flexible power supply create new degrees
show significant advancements in the passive components of aerodynamic design freedom [25, page: 2].
based on quasi two level operation and nonlinear inductor The proposal for a short-range aircraft is designed for
designs [60]. In Section VII, more details will be given. After 100 pax, has a range of 1, 000 km (540 NM) and reaches a
all, these solutions are of high complexity and investment cruising speed of 0.44 Mach at a flight altitude of 6, 000 m.
costs, and for high voltage SiC MOSFETs, the electric per- Based on initial estimates, a shaft power of 3.7 MW is
formance still needs to be investigated. required and the energy storage is to be designed as a battery.
Under these circumstances, a careful selection of the volt- Shaft power is within the technology estimation of less than
age levels is needed. As shown before, the main power 10 MW in 2050, as given in Section III.
demand during operation arises from the propulsion system.
For this reason, a dual-zone high voltage grid is a viable solu- B. ELECTRICAL SOURCES
tion. For supplying power to the propulsors, a voltage level of The proposed power supply system structure includes not
3 kV can be selected, in order to reduce the maximum current only batteries but also fuel cell systems. Despite the further
84196 VOLUME 8, 2020

FIGURE 5. Electric schematic of AEA.
VOLUME 8, 2020 84197

development of battery technology, the finite charging capac- [64, page: 7]. With these approaches, an environmentally
ity at the airports is a known limitation. Little ground times friendly and cost-effective battery can be built.
require extensive charging capabilities, which must be avail-
able at the airports. 3) FUEL CELL
1) CHARGING AT AIRPORTS
Highly compressed (e.g., 70 MPa) or liquid hydrogen is par-
ticularly interesting due to its gravimetric energy density
For an estimation, a constant power of 3 MW over the entire
(without tank 33.3 kWh/kg, gasoline about 11.6 kWh/kg),
flight profile (without take-off and landing process; without
but is characterized by a relatively low volumetric energy
peak power) is assumed. The travel time is 1.5 h, which
density [68]. Liquid hydrogen could also be used for super-
requires an energy of 4.5 MWh (without efficiency chain:
conductivity in the on-board grid. Superconductivity requires
electric machine, inverter, cable layers, converters, and bat-
very low operating temperatures, which could be ensured by
tery). To get the aircraft airworthy again within 30 min (cer-
the liquid aggregate state of hydrogen. The fuel cell system
tain State of Charge (SoC)), a charging capacity of 9 MW
currently still has small power densities of 2 kW/kg [34,
is required. It is also assumed that five small aircrafts will
page: 11]. Through the use of new materials, a power density
be handled at the same time. This leads to an electrical
of 10 kW/kg is to be achieved for the year 2050 [35, page: 6].
connection of the airport of 45 MW only for five short-range
A problem is its relatively poor efficiency. At the nominal
aircrafts. 45 MW is an enormous power input for today’s large
point, the fuel cell has an efficiency of about 60 %. For exam-
European airports. Long aircraft downtimes due to a more
ple, assuming the fuel cell stack has an electrical output power
massive fleet are not very attractive for airlines.
of 3 MW, there is a waste heat output of 2 MW. A portion
A replacement battery concept would be a possible alterna-
of the resulting waste heat can be used as heat output for the
tive to avoid the aircraft downtimes. A substantial electrical
WIPS and ECS. Dissipating unused heat from the aircraft will
output is nevertheless required, but could be well combined
be a challenge for the entire aircraft design. Waste water can
with regenerative energies.
be partly used as service water. However, the unused water in
The authors of this paper prefer the use of highly com-
the aircraft cannot be drained during the flight phase; it has
pressed or liquid hydrogen to overcome long downtimes. The
to be stored.
hydrogen has to be produced from renewable energies, oppo-
For the application of fuel cells in aviation, the functional
site to the conventional steam reforming process. A hydro-
reliability and the hazard-free operation has to be ensured.
gen economy grid could support transport from generation
It can be deducted, that fuel cells are generally suitable for
units (e.g., decentralized electrolyzer at wind power plants
the application in any vehicle propulsion. Fail-safe operation
to airports). An upcoming decentralized grid needs storage
can be guaranteed by paralleling multiple fuel cell systems as
facilities, whereby hydrogen production with electrolyzers
shown in Fig. 5. Hydrogen used as fuel has to be considered
could be a possible approach. Today, many wind turbines are
as potential safety hazard. Hydrogen will leak faster through
still being phased out at low electricity demand. According
breaches in the storage tank than any other gas. As a result,
to the report of the German Federal Wind Energy Associa-
tanks have to be closely monitored during operation and
tion, 5.518 TWh were regulated in 2017 (wasted energy) [63,
maintained regularly. Small quantities of escaped hydrogen
page: 2]. A significant disadvantage lies in the long and weak
are relatively harmless because it disperses rapidly and is
efficiency chains from the generation of electrical power to
therefore unlikely to accumulate in the concentration required
thrust.
for detonation. The ignition temperature of 560 ◦C is higher
2) BATTERY
than for jet fuel, but, like other gases, hydrogen can always be
ignited by a spark. In the end, hydrogen poses similar safety
The estimated technological limit for the pure use of batteries
hazards as other liquid and gaseous fuels and needs therefore
in an aircraft is a gravimetric energy density of 500 Wh/kg
to be handled with special care.
[64, page: 27]. Many scientists are working on increasing the
energy density of batteries (2017: 350 Wh/kg [65, page: 1]).
An improvement in energy density has already been achieved 4) COMBINATION OF FUEL CELL AND BATTERY
through the dispersing process of the sulfur cathode mate- The wiring system topology in Fig. 5 contains four fuel cell
rial and calendering process parameters for compacting the systems with batteries to overcome long downtimes. The
cathodes [65, pages: 6-7]. For the year 2030, a gravimetric wider fuselage contains the batteries and fuel. Two source
energy density of 500 Wh/kg (volumetric energy density combinations are responsible for one side. From the mission
1000 Wh/l) of solid-state battery (generation 4) is predicted profile-based analysis, the constant performance during the
[66, page: 9]. Another possibility is the combination of silicon flight phase is to be covered by the fuel cell system. With the
and sulfur. For a fast charge, the chemical and mechanical help of the batteries, the peak load during take-off is covered.
stability for Si wires from the solid electrolyte interface is The fuel cell is kept at a power level as constant as possible
of particular interest [67]. Lithium-air batteries could also so that the battery can also be charged by the fuel cell system
be a key technology as they promise high theoretic energy during flight operation. When landing, the battery is charged
densities (year 2030+: practical densities of 500 Wh/kg ≤) more strongly due to the low required load. This approach
84198 VOLUME 8, 2020

only needs a low charging power to be applied during ground 2) 800 V DC VOLTAGE
time. Further operating strategies are conceivable. A hybrid circuit breaker allows disconnecting the power sup-
Circuit breakers are represented by the hybrid switch, ply in the event of a fault. Two isolated converters generate the
which provides galvanic isolation. Disconnecting DC circuits 800 V (±400 V) level, which is available for smaller loads.
is a challenge because of the lack of the natural current zero The insulation is less complex compared to 3 kV (±1.5 kV).
crossing. The hybrid circuit breaker is mounted directly on The approach is to be close to the voltage in automotive, pho-
the batteries in order to be able to switch off quickly and tovoltaics, etc. SiC semiconductors with a breakdown voltage
without large cable impedance in the event of a short circuit. of 1700 V are preferable, as given in Section V. Otherwise,
The short-circuit behavior of the fuel cell is currently being a combination of SiC and GaN can be used to achieve a higher
investigated. power density. A high power density could also be reached in
In order to integrate the fuel cell in an optimal operating this power range (100 kW ≤ P < 200 kW) by a pure GaN
window and into the high voltage electrical power supply approach.
system, a power electronic converter (MEA, 2013: 5 kW/kg The mains can be separated by two hybrid circuit breakers
[69, page: 10]) is required. The stack level of the cells has a in case of possible fault conditions. Another hybrid circuit
significant influence on the converter topology. breaker can separate the grid structure in the event of a major
The integration of the batteries into the electrical power failure.
supply system is also significantly influenced by the stack
level. The question arises whether a converter is necessary 3) LOW VOLTAGE LEVEL
here. Without converters, the high voltage electrical system The 28 V on-board power supply for the avionics is generated
voltage would be dependent on the SoC of the batteries. from the 800 V (±400 V) on-board power supply. Two iso-
In addition, load flows and SoC of the distributed battery lated converters are available to generate the 28 V. A hybrid
systems can be better controlled by power electronics. A large circuit breaker per string ensures fail-safe operation.
number of variants to integrate fuel cells into the on-board Distributed isolated converters provide electrical power
power supply system is possible. Further investigations have for the galley, multimedia applications, lighting, etc. The
to be done. converters connect the 800 V electrical power supply with the
low DC voltage.
C. ELECTRICAL DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM Converters based on GaN are beneficial for generating the
The electrical power supply system, as given in Fig. 5, con- low voltage level and the 28 V for avionics. High switching
sists of two primary voltage levels (3 kV and 800 V). DC volt- frequencies (200 kHz ≤ fs < 1 MHz) at lower power levels
ages are preferred to decouple sources and loads. We propose can lead to very power-dense converters.
several voltage levels. Power electronic converters enable an
energy change between several voltage levels. D. ELECTRICAL LOADS
The largest electrical load is represented by the electri-
1) 3 kV DC VOLTAGE
cal drives (electrical machines 2017: 10 kVA/kg, 2050:
40 kVA/kg for long-range aircraft [23, page: 655]) gener-
The 3 kV level (±1.5 kV) connects the large loads, especially
ating the thrust. An output of 3.7 MW of mechanical shaft
the electrical drive of the aircraft. The sources should be
power per engine is required. The publication [70] presents a
located very close to the inverters, which enables the shortest
hybrid ANPC inverter (SiC and Si) with a power density of
possible cable lengths.
12 kVA/kg. A summary of NASA’s research projects on new
The voltage for the transmission of such high power should
machine concepts and inverters with very high power density
be as high as possible to reduce weight. The design of the
data is given in the publication [71]. For example:
insulation is an essential criterion for avoiding arcing. Due
to the harsh environmental conditions (temperature, humid- • Inverter: General Electric
ity, and pressure), creepage and clearance distances change – continuous power: PN = 1 MW
drastically, as given in Section V. It represents a significant – specific power goal: 19 kW/kg
challenge for the design of power-dense power electronics • Electrical Machine: NASA Glenn Research Center
and electrical machines.
Evidence of safe operation must be provided in further – continuous power: PN = 1.4 MW
investigations - the voltage level results from the possible – specific power goal: 16 kW/kg
breakdown voltage capability of future wide bandgap semi- The smaller loads are the ECS (P = 150 kW) and the
conductors (6.5 kV). An important design criterion of power WIPS (P = 35 kW), as estimated in Section V. The primary
electronics is the consideration of cosmic radiation, as given and secondary control surfaces are operated by EMA, EHA.
in Section V. As there is a less danger due to cosmic radia- Hydraulic pumps, which generate the system pressure, are
tion during ground time (sea level), it would be possible to also used. The hydraulic system supplements the operation
increase the on-board voltage for a possible charging process of the control surfaces and enables the landing gear to be
(e.g., 3.6 kV or even higher). extended.
VOLUME 8, 2020 84199

For emission-free taxiing, an inverter-controlled wheel hub

machine is available. Furthermore, distributed isolated con-
verters generate a DC voltage for small low voltage loads.
VII. POWER ELECTRONICS

The AEA proposal, as given in Fig. 5, contains many power
electronic components, such as different DC/DC converters
and inverters.
This publication focuses on DC/DC converters in the on-
board power supply system of an AEA. Different types of
converters are required for the DC on-board power supply to
operate at different voltage levels.
Hybrid circuit breakers are another field of application for
FIGURE 6. Wide bandgap semiconductor vs. Si-based semiconductors.
power semiconductors. The DC on-board network requires
circuit breakers which can safely disconnect parts of the
power supply in the event of a fault. Hybrid switches use Sili-
field stop and injection enhancement. However, the IGBT has
con (Si)-based semiconductors to extinguish the arc, as given
reached its physical limits of the blocking voltage capability
in Section VIII.
at 6.5 kV. The silicon-based components have an operating
In aviation, semiconductors are subject to harsh environ-
temperature of less than 175 ◦ C, and the switching speed is
mental influences, such as low temperature, low pressure,
limited [72, page: 1].
low humidity, and cosmic radiation. The replacement of
The reliability of the components has been dramatically
conventional components requires a particular high power
improved through the manufacturing process and the mount-
density. Besides, the components have to be fault-tolerant and
ing and joining technology. Furthermore, the parts have been
highly reliable. Special conditions and component targets are
tested over many years in a wide range of applications
contrary.
[72, page: 1].
A. SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGY
Applications differ in power and voltage range. The most 2) SILICON CARBIDE
suitable semiconductor is used, which allows the highest effi- SiC, a wide bandgap semiconducting material, could be a
ciency in this power and voltage range at a specific switching possible technology to achieve high power densities. The
frequency. Fig. 6 shows the different power levels correlating hexagonal crystal structure 4H offers the largest bandgap of
with their typical range of switching frequencies and the SiC compounds. Compared to Si, there is not only a higher
typically used semiconductor. The physical limit of silicon- bandgap, but also a better thermal conductivity due to the
based components in terms of high power and high switching smaller intrinsic carrier density. Furthermore, there is also a
frequency is reached. The power density of components is higher critical field strength of SiC, which leads to a smaller
a particular focus of aviation. A high switching frequency drift layer thickness. A smaller chip area with equal conduc-
of the semiconductors enables a weight reduction of passive tion resistance can be achieved by high doping of the drift
components. Further essential criteria are the current carrying layer. The smaller chip area, in turn, leads to lower parasitic
capacity and the voltage blocking capability of the semicon- capacitances, enabling a higher slew rate [72].
ductors. Materials, such as SiC and GaN, offer an increase in In addition to the abovementioned excellent properties of
the working range due to their physical properties. Silicon- SiC, the compound has a stable native oxide. However, in the
based semiconductors also continue to be of interest for some early beginning of the SiC technique, only low channel mobil-
components. ities could be achieved. The problems were high interface trap
densities. A significant reduction of the trap densities at the
1) SILICON SiC/SiO2 interface was achieved by post-oxidation annealing
Silicon-based semiconductor components have been under in the manufacturing process in NO gas. Trap densities could
continuous development for almost 50 years. This technology be further reduced by a combination of NO and hydrogen
has opened up a multitude of different fields of application. annealing [73].
The further development of various technologies, such as In many applications, such as regenerative energy technol-
IGBT and Si-based MOSFET, covers a wide power range. ogy and electric mobility, market entry has been expected for
For example, Si MOSFETs with trench gate structures years. SiC wafers are 30 times more expensive than Si wafers
dominate the market up to 600 V [72, page: 1]. A further (data of the year 2015). The production is very complicated
optimization of the MOSFET structure is the so-called super because SiC has a polytypism crystal structure and extreme
junction. thermodynamic properties [72], [74]. CREE has planned
The IGBT covers a market segment from 600 V to 6.5 kV. a factory for 8" wafers in 2024 (currently 6") [75]. Si is
For blocking voltages up to 6.5 kV, the IGBTs are based on a available in 12" wafers.
84200 VOLUME 8, 2020

There are many different optimization approaches, which TABLE 1. Comparison of high voltage blocking SiC devices.
can be applied to achieve weight reduction using SiC. The
smaller losses (switching and conduction losses) and the
higher operating temperature can lead to a reduced cooling
effort. Otherwise, a higher switching frequency can be used
with the same power dissipation compared to Si counterparts.
The increased switching frequency leads to a drastic reduc-
tion of the passive components. On the other hand, for high-
switching speed applications, Electromagnetic Compatibility
(EMC) must be taken into account [72].
For the substitution of conventional propulsion systems,
high power densities must be achieved. SiC could represent
a solution in high blocking voltage ranges to realize a highly
power-dense electrical power train. A comparison of the high blocking semiconductors is
The proposed on-board electrical system structure in Fig. 5 shown in Table 1. The turn-on and turn-off energy losses
contains converters with very high electrical power. Espe- result from double-pulse tests of the manufacturers [58],
cially the converters for connecting the fuel cell and the [76], [77]. It is difficult to compare the data because the
battery to the high voltage electrical power supply system semiconductors were measured under different environmen-
(3 kV) have to deliver very high power. Two high power tal conditions and in different test setups (e.g., Tj,test ). Another
electronic converters generate the second system voltage difference is the package technology (e.g., single test chip
level 800 V. or module). Several parallel-connected single chips can form
Today, SiC modules or discrete components are commer- a switch in a module (e.g., single switch half-bridge, full-
cially available up to 1.7 kV. The cosmic radiation requires a bridge). In module configuration, higher gate resistances
reduction of the level of the blocking voltage [72, page: 2]. are used to enable the parallel-connected single chips to
For a 3 kV DC electrical power supply system, at least be switched on simultaneously. Furthermore, the packaging
four commercially available series-connected switches are and joining technology is more complicated, which leads
necessary. to parasitic components (e.g., parasitic inductances in the
In different investigations, different manufacturers have commutation mesh).
investigated modules or discrete components up to 15 kV. An estimation of the maximum permitted switching fre-
Those semiconductors are not commercially available by quency depends strongly on the packaging technology and
now. The architecture of these semiconductors is planar. The the design of the cooling system. In the publication [77,
blocking voltage of 6.5 kV is particularly interesting for the page: 249], switching frequencies above 10 kHz are men-
use in the proposed aircraft electrical system, as given in tioned for hard switching applications. With soft-switching
Section V. In the publication [76], ROHM Semiconductor converters, a further increase of the switching frequency is
presents a metrological comparison using double-pulse test- possible.
ing of 6.5 kV Si IGBTs and SiC MOSFETs. In comparison to A further step in the development of high blocking SiC
the Si IGBT counterpart, a 75 % loss reduction is achieved. semiconductors is the transition from planar structures to the
Mitsubishi’s publication [58] offers the full SiC power mod- so-called trench gate. It allows the chip area to be further
ule (so-called HV100, half-bridge module) with integrated reduced. The chip size, in turn, influences parasitic capac-
Shottky Barrier Diode (SBD) in SiC MOSFETs. One of itances, which affect the switching behavior. In the trench
the emphasized features of the module is its power density. gate, the gate oxide must be shielded from the high electric
Also, the integrated SBD leads to minimal turn-off losses. field strengths. The MeV Al+ implementation enables the
The 6.5 kV SiC semiconductor presented by CREE reduces insertion of hexagonal buried p-base regions [80].
switching losses by a factor of 10 under the same thermal With newer methods of packaging and joining technol-
environmental conditions as a commercial IGBT [77]. Addi- ogy based on sintering, smaller leakage inductances, higher
tionally, the publication offers a comparison of different gate reliability concerning mechanical stability in temperature
runner designs. The semiconductor manufacturer CREE sup- swings, and a higher power density of the power modules
plies the first verifications (ramped time-dependent dielectric can be achieved. Concerning the high voltage slew rates,
breakdown) for the reliability of the gate oxide. Besides, a further reduction of the parasitic leakage inductance is
10 kV and 15 kV SiC MOSFETs are also demonstrated [78]. necessary [81].
A power electronic transformerless design with 15 kV SiC
MOSFETs is shown for a medium voltage application. Due 3) GALLIUM NITRIDE
to the use of high-blocking switches, there are high slew rates Power semiconductors made of GaN are commercially avail-
(170 kVµs−1 ) [79]. The publication [79, page: 5] highlights able for low voltage (VBRR < 200 V) and grid applications
the parasitic ground currents over 10 A caused by those high (VBRR = 650 V). They have found first commercial applica-
slew rates and unwanted ground capacitance. tion for low power DC voltage supplies for server or telecom
VOLUME 8, 2020 84201

equipment. An application in an aircraft design is not known The extrinsic model states that growing lower defect sub-
to this date. Benefits of using GaN power switches are due to strates increases reliability. It requires cleaner oxide or
their low output capacitance caused by small device dimen- defects during fabrication have to be reduced
sions [82]. As a result, they are especially suitable for high [88, pages: 3-5]. [88] and [89] argue against intrinsic defects.
frequency operation. Size and volume of passive components The publication [89] determines the oxide reliability using
can be reduced, which is a key advantage for the application the Weibull distribution for extrinsic defects. The publica-
in aircraft [83]. This weight and volume reduction has a huge tion [90] points out that extrinsic errors are also still caused by
impact on the whole aircraft system. Savings can also be due local high electric field strengths. In another publication [91],
to higher efficiency and therefore lower cooling demand [84]. three error mechanisms are identified using the Weibull distri-
Manufacturing is currently done on Si substrates due to bution on 3C-SiC MOS capacitors. Two error mechanisms are
availability, low cost and the possible use of known CMOS of extrinsic nature (fabrication). The third mechanism occurs
processes. For 650 V devices, wafer sizes up to 8" are used in this study at high field strengths (>8.5 MV/cm) and is due
with a yield of up to 97% [85, page: 4]. Current research to electron impact ionization in SiO2 .
trends include the integration of functional blocks (gate The semiconductor manufacturers have different states in
driver, sensors, passive components) with power devices in the gate oxide reliability. SiC is a young technology (approx.
one chip [86] as well as higher blocking voltage devices. 16 years) compared to Si (approx. 70 years), and further
In this respect, poly-AlN is investigated as buffer material, field experience will be gained. Oxide reliability remains a
as its thermal coefficient of expansion is closer to that of GaN. problem.
As a result, higher quality GaN buffer layers with a thickness The stability of the threshold voltage of SiC MOSFETs is
of 725 µm can be grown, enabling a higher breakdown volt- essential. There are two phenomena to be separated, threshold
age [85, page: 5]. hysteresis and bias temperature instability (bti). Hysteresis is
an intrinsic and reversible effect. With the help of a reduced
B. RELIABILITY AND SAFETY negative gate-source voltage, the hysteresis loop can be kept
For use in aircraft with enormous electrical powers, more very small. Through a procedure presented in the publica-
investigations and optimizations have to be done. A particular tion [92], long-term drift effects by bti can be separated from
focus is on the reliability of the components. The design hysteresis effects. The drift of the threshold voltage caused by
of power electronic switches, passive components, solder bti is known and can be predicted. It is possible to consider
joints, and microelectronics in a power electronic converter loss changes of SiC power semiconductors and increased
must be reliable over their entire service life. The service junction temperature stress over product lifetime.
time of an aircraft under harsh environmental conditions is The reliability of GaN devices is under current investiga-
100,000 hours [87, page: 2]. tion. Results in [94] and [95] promise a high reliability of GaN
The problems of cosmic radiation, humidity and mini- devices under hard environmental conditions. Commercially
mized pressure have already been discussed in the previous available 650 V devices are qualified according to the JEDEC
Section V. Solid State Technology Association (JEDEC) tests including
In the Focus Point Matrix in the publication [87, page: 5]., 1000 hours of high temperature reverse bias [96].
the stressors vibration and mechanical shock on power elec-
tronic components are rated as secondary. Average temper- C. SHORT-CIRCUIT CAPABILITY
ature, temperature cycle, and humidity are more essential The short-circuit current capability of the SiC components
stressors. Further experience to prevent mechanical stress is also an essential criterion for the power electronic com-
has been gained in the automotive industry. Passive compo- ponent. Si IGBTs offer a higher short-circuit current capa-
nents or bus bars are often mechanically stabilized with gap bility compared to SiC MOSFETs. The chip areas of SiC
filler. An additional degree of freedom is also offered by the MOSFETs are smaller, resulting in a smaller Short-Circuit
location of the components in the aircraft design to prevent Withstand Time (SCWT), and Critical Short-Circuit Energy
mechanical stress. Test cases are listed in MIL-810. (CSCE). Very high junction temperatures (over 1500 ◦ C) may
SiC semiconductors currently have unreliable gate oxide, be present, depending on the investigation [93]. Trench gate
which has not yet been completely solved. The issue of gate structures have a small short-circuit current capability due
oxide reliability in SiC components is well known. The rela- to the smaller chip area and the associated higher current
tively high error rates are due to the high field strength at the densities [97]. It is possible to use intelligent and fast driver
gate oxide. In literature, there are many investigations on this concepts to prevent the destruction of the semiconductor.
topic, whereby some investigations contradict or complement The behavior of GaN devices under short-circuit condi-
each other. The failures are divided into intrinsic and extrinsic tions is under current investigation. A strong dependency
models. For the intrinsic model, there is a built-in gate oxide of the carrier mobility on the device temperature is char-
weakness in the metal-oxide-semiconductor structure, which acteristic. As a consequence, the drain current is strongly
could be caused by trap-assisted tunneling. These studies decreased after reaching the initial saturation current, due
refer to time-dependent breakdown data. Thus, the oxide on to high initial losses and therefore a strong self-heating of
SiC can never have the same reliability as the oxide on Si. the device, which will reduce the drain saturation current.
84202 VOLUME 8, 2020

Additionally, the strong heating of the device leads to a large threshold voltage, drain saturation current and drain source
gate leakage current, which will decrease the gate voltage and breakdown voltage [51]. However, the here applied doses far
by that further reduce the drain saturation current. These two exceed any possible radiation dose during flight operation.
effects act as negative feedback and help to increase the time Consequently, TID is of no significance for aircraft operation.
to failure during short-circuit occurrence [98]–[100]. For SEE, first results have been gained by simulation in [49].
Next to the device temperature, the behavior of GaN One effect is that, after impact of a neutron, a conductive
switches during short circuit is strongly dependant on the plasma is formed in the active region of the device. Hereby,
applied drain to source voltage. In [99], enhancement mode a parasitic bipolar transistor can be turned on (Single Event
GaN switches with a rated voltage of VDS = 650 V were Burnout (SEB)). This effect seems to be of minor significance
tested. These switches will typically be applied at a DC link for GaN devices. Secondly, charge accumulation below the
voltage of 400 V. It could be demonstrated that for reduced gate is possible. Both mechanisms only lead to a transient
DC bias below 350 V, the devices could withstand more than triggering of the device, the drain current cannot be sustained,
10 µs under short circuit. After increasing the DC bias to thus, a device burnout is avoided. The highest effect on the
400 V, the time to failure was reduced to 600 ns, which is drain current amplitude is by the drain source voltage bias
far less than delay times of typical short-circuit protection during the neutron impact. Other factors, like the location and
measures. By decreasing the gate voltage to VGS = 4 V angle of impact as well as the penetration depth, show lower
compared to the standard 6 V, the time to failure could be impact. For a voltage bias close to the rated voltage, a large
extended above 10 µs, again due to the negative feedback displacement current occurs after the heavy ion impact. This
effect explained above. However, as this will also increase current can reach values of 0.1 A µm−1 and leads to the
conduction losses during normal operation, it is not a feasible thermal destruction of the device. Also, Single Event Gate
measure to increase the robustness to short circuits. Rupture (SEGR) has been found to be a possible reason for a
The actual physical mechanics during short circuit are cur- SEE in GaN devices. After all, GaN High Electron Mobility
rently investigated as well. For depletion mode GaN devices, Transistors (HEMTs) are generally more radiation robust
the device temperature at failure did not exceed 150 ◦C, than silicon counterparts, as stated before [55]. As a result,
as presented in [100]. As a result, a thermal failure of the radiation hardening of the devices can possibly be avoided.
device was rejected as primary cause for the device destruc- This process usually decreases the electrical performance of
tion. Instead a accumulation of holes due to impact ioniza- the device massively. If the radiation hardness of GaN can
tion during short circuit could lead to a destruction of the be confirmed in further studies, their application in aircraft
gate structure. For the preferred enhancement mode devices, systems has to be preferred over silicon and maybe also
deeper analyses of the failure mechanism are still to be done. silicon carbide devices.
But generally speaking, the currently available lateral GaN
switches show much smaller time to failure than compara- E. TOPOLOGIES
ble Si and SiC switches. Therefore, the improvement of the There are many restrictions on the design of a DC/DC con-
device structure of GaN switches to enhance the short-circuit verter in aviation; some of them are contradictory. In particu-
robustness is an important task for future developments. lar, the harsh environmental influences, such as air pressure,
temperature, and humidity, affect the clearance and creep-
D. COSMIC RADIATION age distances within the converter have to be considered.
For SiC devices, the trench gate structure and the associated More considerable distances between individual conductors
chip size reduction have a positive contribution to robustness inevitably lead to larger leakage inductances, which must be
against cosmic radiation. With a smaller chip area, the proba- kept as low as possible for switching losses and immunity to
bility of contact of the chip area with a neutron is reduced. cosmic radiation. Parasitic inductances and high rates of cur-
A substantially reduced operating voltage to the blocking rent change can lead to voltage overshoot at semiconductors.
voltage prevents damage due to cosmic radiation. The semi- By the use of wide bandgap devices, a reduction of the heat
conductors must also be well cooled in order to reduce the sink effort can be achieved. Additionally, the cosmic radiation
dielectric strength of the chip. Thus, the latching sensitiv- must be considered, as it significantly influences the power
ity can be minimized. Furthermore, the choice of topology density of the converter.
as well as the design strongly affect the robustness against Section VII-A2 deals with the issue of high slew rates and
cosmic radiation. A long duty cycle of the semiconductors the resulting Electromagnetic Interference (EMI). A trade-
minimizes the probability of cosmic radiation-based destruc- off has to be found between switching speed (losses in the
tion during the blocking phase. The semiconductor should semiconductor and cooling effort / minimizing passive com-
be conductive for as long as possible over the switching ponents) and the EMC (filter efforts and shielding) of the
period. It reduces the probability of a parasitic turn-on by a DC/DC converters.
neutron [101], [102]. A converter design might have parasitic ground capaci-
Especially radiation hardness is in favor of GaN devices tances, which can lead to problems in EMC. For example,
over conventional silicon semiconductor. Parameter alter- a semiconductor module can have a large parasitic capac-
ation due to irradiation (TID) can be observed for gate itance of the switching node/capacitive node against the
VOLUME 8, 2020 84203

FIGURE 7. Interleaved step-up converter.
backside of the Direct Copper Bonding (DCB) or a large

parasitic capacitance against its base plate. FIGURE 8. GaN-based ANPC inverter for an input voltage of 800 V
(±400 V).
Furthermore, all components must be designed to be as
fault-tolerant (sum of all catastrophic failures of aircraft:
FIT: 1 · 10−7 ) and reliable as possible [34, pages: 6-8]. The (PoL) inverters can be used for supplying avionics, hotel and
design of the converter from passive and active components galley loads from a 800 V DC grid. To take into account
is very challenging under the influence of the requirements the reduced maximum breakdown voltage due to cosmic
and conditions mentioned above. radiation, multilevel inverters with five levels need to be
realized based on the currently available devices, even for a
1) NON-ISOLATED CONVERTERS 800 V DC grid. As devices with higher voltage rating will be
A non-isolated topology could be used to integrate the sources available in the future [85, page:5], device count can probably
into the electrical power supply system. In publications [69] be reduced. SCC are especially promising. Because of the
and [103] on a MEA and a fuel cell-powered small electric reduced inductance value and lower device stress, they can be
aircraft, step-up converters are used. The converter for the designed towards high power density at a high voltage gain
battery has to be bidirectional to enable charging and dis- and relatively high efficiency, but come with high require-
charging, while the converter connecting the fuel cell can be ments in their design and especially EMI aspects [107]. For
unidirectional [69], [103]. higher power demands, ANPC converters can be used with
Fig. 7 shows a step-up converter that can be further opti- paralleled output stages (see Fig. 8). While GaN devices prin-
mized by interleaving, synchronous rectification, and cou- cipally allow parallelisation [108], filter design and layout
pled inductors. For maximum efficiency of this converter, considerations can be simplified by using interleaved GaN
the input voltage should be as close as possible to the output half bridges. By using a high number of interleaving stages,
voltage. This requirement affects the stack level of the battery the system redundancy is increased as well. As a drawback,
and the fuel cell. The converter is characterized above all a high number of inductors is necessary, but typically with
by a small number of semiconductors; half-bridge modules less overall weight and volume due to a partial compensation
can be used. Additionally, good scalability and modularity of the ripple currents. For higher blocking voltages, MMC
can be achieved utilizing interleaving. Also, it is easier to can be used. Conventional MMC require large module capac-
integrate smaller inductors into an existing cooling concept. itances and are therefore not suited for weight- and volume-
Due to the multiphase principle and the use of specific duty sensitive applications. By using the so-called quasi-two-level
cycles, ripple currents of the sources are minimized by can- mode, module capacitance can be drastically reduced [109].
celling effects. With the aid of the coupled inductors, a further After detailed study, these systems could find an application
size reduction of these is possible [104]. A very powerful in future AEA supply grids.
interleaved step-up converter (100 kW, input voltage 600 V,
without EMI filter) for automotive applications is presented 2) ISOLATED CONVERTERS
in [105]. A power density of 25 kW/kg is achieved with com- Fig. 9 shows a possible topology of an isolated DC/DC
mercially available devices. The publication [69, page: 10] converter. The Dual Active Bridge (DAB) is a bidirectional
presents a DC/DC converter for a MEA with a power density isolated converter and conventionally consists of four half
of 5 kW/kg. bridges. Due to high switching frequencies, the weight and
As both rated current and rated voltage are typically lower volume of the transformer can be reduced. The transformer
for GaN devices compared to available SiC MOSFET and can achieve a significant voltage amplification ratio, with
Si IGBT, the application will be limited to low and medium respect to the possible stack level. In comparison to the non-
power converters, if not massively parallelized. The usage of isolated converter, there is an increased complexity.
smaller distributed converter systems requires a suitable grid The leakage inductance is mainly responsible for the trans-
structure, but will also lead to a more meshed and redundant mittable power. The soft-switching operation of DAB can
supply grid [106]. As shown in Fig. 5, small Point of Load be achieved with the resonance of leakage inductance and
84204 VOLUME 8, 2020

FIGURE 10. Operation strategy for a reliable AEA system.
FIGURE 9. Dual active bridge.
drain-source capacitances. The semiconductors on the

inverter side (depends on power flow) can operate under Zero
Voltage Switching (ZVS). It allows switching losses to be
reduced, less cooling is required, or higher switching frequen-
cies are possible. ZVS is determined by the charging process
of the drain-source capacitances and the leakage inductance. FIGURE 11. Possible services provided by the protective devices in
various failure scenarios.
ZVS cannot be achieved for the entire working range under
the standard Single Phase Shift Modulation (SPS). The lim-
itation lies in the magnetically stored energy in the leakage designs of other converter types. In addition, it is challenging
inductance. The semiconductors are in a blocking state over to handle various input and output voltages.
half of the duty cycle [110]. Power transmission using phase- VIII. TECHNOLOGIES FOR CIRCUIT BREAKERS FOR AEA
shift modulation has advantages concerning cosmic radia- Within the aircraft proposal, Fig. 5, switching operations have
tion. The duty cycle of the semiconductor in this modulation to be performed to connect and disconnect parts of the elec-
method is a maximum of 50 %. An optimized control strategy trical power supply system in the event of occurring failures.
of DAB is the Expand Phase Shift Modulation (EPS), which In this section, the safety component Circuit Breaker (CB), its
increases the operating range of the ZVS and minimizes need and function will be discussed. Subsequently, different
circulating currents. Triple Phase Shift Modulation (TPS) has concepts will be compared to determine an optimal solu-
three degrees of control, extends the ZVS range to no load, tion for the technical requirements in AEA. Then different
reduces RMS currents and peak currents, and minimizes the technologies for this solution will be discussed and assessed
transformer. Another option is a multiphase system [111]. regarding the special requirements. Furthermore, the environ-
The publication [112] presents a 100 kW isolated DC/DC mental influences on the components will be outlined.
converter for renewable energies with a power density of
1.2 kW/kg (air-cooled, not gravimetric or volumetric power- A. HIGH VOLTAGE SWITCH REQUIREMENTS IN AN AEA
dense optimized). To reduce the losses in the wiring harness and the weight
The switching frequency of the DAB can be further of the distribution equipment, higher voltages above the low
increased with a resonant tank consisting of a capacitance and voltage level are needed, Section V. This leads to different
an inductance on each side. It is also known as the CLLC equipment in the aircraft which is basically known from the
converter. The variable switching frequency between two high voltage technique.
resonant poles allows the output voltage to be adjusted. Zero The operation strategy and possible failure scenarios of the
current switching is available on the rectifying side. A dis- European Plan for Aviation Safety EPAS define the require-
advantage in contrast to DAB is the low bidirectional trans- ments concerning future circuit breakers.
mission speed [111]. One challenge of the CLLC converter On the one hand, the operation strategy of the EPAS has
is synchronous rectification [113]. For an accurate standard to control and ensure multiple values and system parameters,
Fundamental Harmonic Analysis (FHA), the highly voltage- as can be seen in Fig. 10.
dependent output capacitances of semiconductors have to be Hence, future circuit breakers must provide a low on-state
taken into account. The output capacitance of many semi- resistance to increase the efficiency. Furthermore, for the
conductors changes during the switching process. Further- inclusion into the operation strategy, they have to be remotly
more, no loss calculation is possible with the standard FHA switchable by a control unit or the staff.
methodology, but a loss calculation is essential for a power- On the other hand, all possible failure scenarios have to be
dense design of the converter. Publication [114] enables a loss recognized, they lead to additional requirements concerning
evaluation in the time domain. The time domain enables a future switches. Thus, multiple factors have to be considered
loss consideration to be carried out in the same way as for within a failure assessment, Fig. 11:
VOLUME 8, 2020 84205

Generally, circuit breakers within an aircraft have different only occur under extreme conditions during emergencies.
tasks to fulfill, the first priority of the operation strategy is to After such an extreme condition- a mandatory check and
ensure a reliable energy distribution during the whole oper- maintenance of the safety equipment should include a check
ating time by controlling the power flow. The most challeng- and a potentially change of the circuit breaker.
ing operation is a switching operation during an occurring Contact- or on-state resistance have to be as small as
short-circuit failure which has to be fullfilled by the circuit possible to reduce the losses of the circuit breakers and to
breaker. For nominal switching operations, an integration into establish an overall energy-efficient system. Furthermore,
an intelligent control unit is recommended to enhance its the reduction of these losses prevents unacceptable warming
functionality. Furthermore, a fail-safe mode of the circuit of the circuit breaker due to resistive losses.
breaker is needed to exclude the operation of a damaged Additionally, it may occur that components suited for
breaker by ensuring a full galvanic separation. application in explosion-protected areas have to be installed.
However, circuit breakers are available for DC currents at This may be necessary near fuel or hydrogen supply to avoid
this voltage level but they do not meet the requirements in dangerous scenarios. Hot-spots and electrical discharges are
terms of weight, volume and especially environmental con- expected to enhance the risk of an explosion. Therefore,
ditions (example: gravimetric power density of 115 kW/kg, the circuit breaker should be specially developed to avoid
for a 3 kV with 800 A molded circuit breaker for railway an enhanced risk. However, a systematic assessment of the
applications [115]). Thus, a research and development pro- potential ignition sources is in any case necessary.
cess for a functional aircraft circuit breaker is needed. The A galvanic separation of the contacts is needed in all high
main parameters for this process are: voltage grids, [118]. It is required to ensure the safety of crew
• Short-circuit current and technicians during maintenance intervals.
• Inductive or capacitive behavior of the energy distribu- The switching time has an influence on the possible short-
tion grid circuit current, [119]. To reduce the occurring short-circuit
• Nominal current of the energy distribution grid current, the detection and the interruption has to be optimized.
• Weight and volume A fast switching process will reduce the stress within the
• Voltage level distribution grid.
• Environmental conditions Finally, a circuit breaker which is not affected by electro-
magnetic interference during operation is mandatory [120].
The high power requirements of the aircraft during climb
Interference by inverters and atmospheric influences will
make the usage of energy storage systems with high short
occur during operation and is not allowed to affect the cir-
circuit power unavoidable. This has to be considered during
cuit breaker under all circumstances. Therefore, the circuit
short-circuit and nominal current calculations. Furthermore,
breaker has to be resistant against EMI. During its devel-
the cable design and routing will influence the complex
opment process, it is inevitable to respect newest technical
impedance of the wiring harness which has to be considered
requirements regarding EMC optimization.
in the failure calculation as well. The circuit breakers have to
Depending on the topology of the energy distribution grid,
be weight- and volume-optimized for a reasonable use on an
a suitable failure detection hardware and software has to
aircraft. With an increased grid voltage, the clearing distances
coordinate and control the switches, as proposed in [121]. The
of the circuit breaker have to be adjusted to meet the environ-
detection algorithm has to detect, characterize and localize
mental conditions regarding altitude and temperature [116].
the failure. With this information, a selective switching oper-
Additional parameters for the development and design are:
ation has to be triggered. Uncommon failures, which lead to
• Number of switching operations blinding [122], [123] or tripping of multiple switches [124]
• Contact- or on-state resistance of conventional circuit breakers, have to be avoided through
• Explosion protection this algorithm. This coordinated switching is of particular
• Possible galvanic isolation importance for the safe operation of the energy distribution
• Switching time grid and leads to the smallest possible interference of the
• EMC resistance aircraft. Actual control mechanisms limit the efficiency of
The number of switching operations which should be per- the system. No suitable protection ultimately leads to higher
formed by the circuit breaker (nominal and short circuit) weight in the equipment in order to establish the highest
has to be defined. It is recommended that nominal switching possible safety requirements which should be applied for
operations should exceed 10,000 to lower the need for main- energy distribution in an AEA.
tenance during the whole lifetime of the aircraft. To reduce
weight of the circuit breaker, it may be possible to reduce
the nominal operations, but also with increasing wear. Such B. POSSIBLE CIRCUIT BREAKER TECHNOLOGIES
circuit breakers have to be repetitive changed during more In general, different circuit breaker concepts are applica-
frequent maintenance periods. The number of operations for ble in an energy distribution grid of an aircraft. However,
short circuit currents should exceed three operations to pro- the abovementioned requirements should be discussed for
vide an additionally safety margin [117]. Short-circuits may different concepts in order to propose the best suitable circuit
84206 VOLUME 8, 2020

by these devices. Higher voltage levels are not available at

the moment, however, in the near future, SSCB could be
developed using new types of power semiconductors with
higher blocking voltages. The sizing of the SSCB is in prin-
cipal depending on the short-circuit calculation with respect
to inductive loads and nominal current flow. Additionally to
the power semiconductor and the control unit, an overvoltage
protection is needed within the SSCB. For the further SSCB
development, the occurring inductive loads should be consid-
ered as one main sizing parameter.
However, using this principle, no galvanic isolation is pro-
vided which is a disadvantage considering the personal safety.
Furthermore, with the power semiconductors in the main path
of the SSCB, the on-state resistance is increased compared
to all mechanical circuit breakers. The increase compared to
mechanical circuit breaker depends on the semiconductors.
In a first approach an increase of three orders of magnitude
is a first permissible generalisation. This leads to comparable
high losses and the possible formation of hotspots on the cir-
cuit board, especially considering the high nominal currents
during climb. A suitable cooling design is necessary which
increases the weight of the SSCB significantly.
Principally, the SSCB is a low risk considering explosion
protection, however, hotspots and surface charges still have
to be considered in the risk assessment.
FIGURE 12. Examples for circuit breaker: (1) vacuum interrupter [125], (2)
Solid state circuit breaker [126], (3) circuit breaker with arc chamber [115],
(4) sketch of hybrid circuit breaker [127], (5) high voltage fuse [128]. 3) CIRCUIT BREAKER WITH ARC CHAMBER
Circuit breakers with arc chambers are available for different
applications (for example, electrical vehicles, manufacturing
breaker for this new application considering the high volt-
facilities or rail applications). Applications for several MW
ages, Fig. 12.
switching capability are available and state of the art. The cir-
cuit breaker can securely provide this high switching power
1) VACUUM INTERRUPTER even with high voltages up to 3 kV, [115].
Typical circuit breakers in the medium voltage level are During the breaking process, a controlled arc is ignited
vacuum interrupters. Considering the special environmental and driven into the arc chamber (consisting of arc splitter
conditions in an aircraft, they provide an excellent dielectric blades or ceramic blades). The arc voltage rises above grid
strength which is not affected by the reduced pressure in all voltage level. As a result, the arc is extinguished within
operation heights. Furthermore, through hermetic encapsula- several milliseconds. Bidirectional DC as well as AC currents
tion and low contact resistances in the area of several µ, can be forced safely to zero, applying this principle. How-
they provide advantages considering the explosion protection ever, mechanical complex geometries are necessary which
assessment of the system. Currents up to 63.5 kA at several increases the weight of this circuit breaker technology. Fur-
10 kV are switchable providing a galvanic separation. How- thermore, the weight increases even more for AEA appli-
ever, direct currents are not yet interruptible due to the miss- cation because of the special conditions in aircraft [116].
ing repetitive current zero crossing. Additionally, the weight Here, the creeping and air distances of the contacts have
of these circuit breakers is enhanced due to the motor drives to be increased due to the lower air pressure. The contact
which are necessary to move the contact in the vacuum. resistance can be kept low within several µ, resulting in
However, for AC distribution systems with high voltages, only few electrical losses. However, the explosion protection
this may be a technology which should be considered in a of the system has to be considered exhaustively because of the
protection system assessment. appearance of hot plasma and gases within the arc chamber
during arc quenching. Depending on the location of opera-
2) ELECTRONIC CIRCUIT BREAKER tion, a capsulation of the circuit breaker can be necessary.
Solid State Circuit Breakers (SSCB) or Solid State Power In most cases, CB with arc chambers establishes a galvanic
Controllers (SSPC) are the state of the art for energy dis- separation. The number of operations for nominal currents is
tribution in aircrafts up to DC voltages of 270 V [120]. limited to several thousand because of occurring erosion at
DC and AC voltages of variable frequencies are controllable the switching contacts.
VOLUME 8, 2020 84207

Additionally, it shall be mentioned that circuit breakers TABLE 2. Possible circuit breaker for AEAs.
with reduced weight are in principal possible and able to
control high arc voltages but at the expense of switching oper-
ations due to the use of forced vaporizing polymers, [129].
4) HYBRID CIRCUIT BREAKER

A combination of an arc-based circuit breaker and power
semiconductor has been described in many research and
development projects in the last years [119], [127]. This type
of switch unites advantages of both switching principles with
reduced weight and volume requirements. Cooling systems to
protect the power electronic equipment are not necessary but
an overvoltage protection is mandatory. The cooling can be
avoided, since the current during on-state is conducted by the
electrical contacts with their low forward resistance. Com-
plex and heavy arc chambers are avoided since the switch-
off process is carried out by the power electronic part of
the hybrid circuit breaker. The occurring contact erosion is
strongly reduced in contrast to other switching principles; as a
result, the service life of a hybrid switch is strongly extended.
Hybrid circuit breakers are realizable in different
topologies, [119], [127], [130]–[132]. Using this switching
principle leads to several different possibilities for galvanic
separation, current capacity, dielectric strength, weight and a reliable assumption for this application is not possible at the
volume. moment.
5) FUSES C. HYBRID CIRCUIT BREAKER TOPOLOGIES

In principal, fuses provide a good switching performance For further consideration, the hybrid switch will be discussed
with low volume and weight of the components. Furthermore, in terms of possible topologies. Different topologies can
there are several possibilities to trigger fuses remotely, for affect some decision criteria as marked in Table 2. At the
example, by a failure detection algorithm [122]. However, moment, different possible topologies are under develop-
the missing possibility to switch-on is in case of emergency ment. The different approaches can be sub-classified into:
in an aircraft is substantial. 1) Arc-free circuit breaker
2) Circuit breaker with reduced arc occurrence
6) CONCLUSION OF CIRCUIT BREAKER TECHNOLOGIES 3) Circuit breaker with optimized arc chamber
The result of to the discussed circuit breaker principles have Every topology provides its own advantages and disadvan-
been summarized in Table 2. In this table, parameters which tages during its operation within an AEA, which will be
are beneficial for an application of this circuit breaker within discussed below. However, every topology can be realized for
an AEA are marked with ‘‘+’’ and even better with ‘‘++’’. bi-directional switching.
Non-beneficial, but no parameters which exclude this tech-
nology, are marked with ‘‘o’’. Finally, parameters which pre- 1) TOPOLOGY
vent the application of this technology within an AEA are
Askan published in [132] an approach for circuit breakers up
marked with ‘‘−’’.
to 125 A at a voltage level of 380 V. This circuit breaker is
The hybrid switch theoretically provides an acceptable
suitable for suppressing short-circuit currents up to 20 kA.
trade-off for the regarded parameters. Some parameters here
The possible maximum time constant for the switching pro-
are dependent on the chosen circuit breaker topology as dis-
cess is not mentioned in this publication. The principal topol-
cussed below. However, the table is concluded for all switches
ogy consists of, Fig. 13:
as a first rough estimation, thus no actual circuit breaker in the
assumed area of operation and for this application is available • Mechanical switches (MS)
at the moment. For the hybrid switch, the values in the table • Auxiliary power electronic switches in the main path
were extrapolated, and assuming [127], they were measured (APES)
for voltages up to 475 V, a time constant up to 3 ms and • Power electronic switches in the switching part of the
currents of up to 200 A. These values are derived from a hybrid topology (MPES)
model switch for scientific purposes and can be increased In the main branch of the switch topology, the MOSFET of
scientifically in industry products. However, voltages over the APES is chosen with low on-state resistance. The forward
3 kV will need a different design lack of discrete IGBTs, thus losses are mentioned with several 10 W, linearl extrapolated
84208 VOLUME 8, 2020

FIGURE 15. Hybrid switch topology 3.
FIGURE 13. Hybrid switch topology 1. In this topology, the Power Electronics (PE) is in parallel
connection to a mechanical switch. During a switching pro-
cess, MS1 opens and draws an arc. With an occurring arc volt-
age, the PE drive switches the PE on. The current commutates
from the main branch onto the power electronics. The arc
deionizes within a known time period [133]. With a sufficient
dielectric strength of Mechanical Switch MS1, the power
electronics is switched off. The current is suppressed to zero
by a varistor within PE. For the following galvanic separation
switch MS2 has to be opened afterwards.
FIGURE 14. Hybrid switch topology 2. An advantage of this topology is the simple construction of
the device. With the intentionally arc formation the voltage
to the assumed area of operation, leading to forward losses of supply for the driver circuit can be used from the arc voltage
several hundred watts. itself [127], [134]. Furthermore, the on-state resistance is
During the switching process, the current commutates from small, thus only one mechanical contact with typical con-
the main branch to the switching branch with the MPES. tact resistances of several micro ohms is conducting during
This is where the switching process with the main power switch-on.
electronic takes place. After current zero, MS2 can be opened A disadvantage of this topology is that the explosion pro-
to achieve a galvanically separated state of the circuit breaker. tection is reduced, as an arc is necessary for the driver circuit.
One important advantage of this topology is the theoretically Furthermore, the contact erosion is not completely avoided
completely arc-free switching process by the APES in the through the arc in MS1. But in contrast to typical circuit
main path. The explosion protection of this switching prin- breakers with arc chambers, the erosion is strongly decreased.
ciple is superior for the regarded hybrid switch topologies, Like Fig. 13, this switch has no fail safe, thus with a failure
however, the MOSFET provides a significant barrier layer in the power electronics a switch-off is not possible anymore.
capacity. This will result in a large changing current when
the mechanical switch is closed, which may cause a pre- 3) TOPOLOGY
strike arc. This has to be considered in an explosion protection The robustness possibility for a hybrid switch is given
assessment. in Fig. 15 and consists of:
A disadvantage of this topology is that for the operation • Mechanical switch in the main branch
of the driver circuit, an external voltage supply for the APES • Power electronics for the switching process
and the MPES is necessary. Here redundancy for the use in • Circuit breaker for fail-safe
an aircraft has to be considered in the development process. The functionality of this switching topology is comparable
Furthermore, a failure of one part of the power electronic to Fig. 14. Thus, after switch-off through the power electron-
equipment leads to a complete failure of the whole device ics, a special designed circuit breaker establishes the galvanic
where the device will remain conductive; no fail-safe state is separation, [127]. This provides the advantage that in the
possible. case of a failure of the power electronics, the circuit breaker
will establish a fail-safe state. In contrast to conventional
2) TOPOLOGY circuit breakers with arc chamber, this circuit breaker can be
Topology 2) of a hybrid switch is given in Fig. 14 and is pub- distinctly lighter, so that only one switching operation under
lished by Bösche et al. [127]. This approach was successfully load is necessary.
demonstrated for voltages up to 475 V and currents of 200 A As in Fig. 14, the arc voltage can directly supply the driver.
with a time constant of 3 ms. Topology 2) consists of: Disadvantages are the slightly increased weight, and the
• Mechanical switch in the main branch doubled contact resistance, so that two switches in series
• Power electronics for the switching process connection are necessary.
• Mechanical switch for galvanic separation in the switch- However, every topology and switching technology has its
ing branch own superior advantages. An assessment of the topology for
VOLUME 8, 2020 84209

the given area of operation within the system is necessary.

For a highly trustworthy operation of the power distribution,
topology 3) is recommended. But this component has to be
included into the maintenance periods. If an additional explo-
sion protection is needed, the use of a completely molded
hybrid switch should be considered.
IX. WIRING HARNESS

FIGURE 16. Possible cable structure for high voltage distribution for AEA.
Currently, a direct current distribution with voltage levels
up to ±270 V is used in MEAs [135]–[137]. To enable a
minimize the risk of arcing [151]. However, due to the wiring
technology change to AEAs an increase of the supply voltage
praxis in electrical aircraft electrical field enhancements can
is necessary in order to reduce the weight of the electrical
be the consequence and lead to PD [152], [153]. Further-
power transmission system, [20], [138]. With the actual sup-
more, high operating temperatures due to high distribution
ply voltage, the equipment weight of the energy supply is too
currents could lead to a faster aging of the cables and have
high for an application in the aviation, due to the occurring
to be tested in PD-tests before the cable design is selected
high nominal currents for the overall electrical demand of an
[149], [154], [155]. Solutions to eliminate PDs could be
AEA, e.g. Section VI.
developed in future research projects, like the use of screened
The increase of the supply voltage up to several kilovolts
cables [156] and new insulation materials which provide
is needed to achieve a weight-optimized distribution grid
better PD resistance sheathes [157]. Surface charges of dif-
[139], [140]. The use of a higher supply voltage provides
ferent insulation materials could lead to electrostatic dis-
new opportunities considering electrical aircraft components,
charges. Discharges with comparably low energy could ignite
however, serious challenges have to be carefully solved in
hydrogen which is a possible energy source of an AEA, e.g.
several preceding research projects.
Section VI. With regard to the lower ignition propensity a risk
On the one hand, new grid technologies are under devel-
assessment with regard to explosion protection is needed for
opment and have to be further developed and analyzed, [8],
the use of any distribution cable within an AEA powered by
[140], [141]. Among others, load flow calculations, failure
a fuel cell.
scenario assessment and failure current calculations have sig-
The dimensioning of power cables is highly dependent
nificant influence on these grid technologies. The grid design
on the temperature behaviour of the cable [158]. For the
with its components has the significance of a key technology
development of new types of cables especially designed for
for the whole AEA.
high power transmission on board of an aircraft, there are
On the other hand, distribution components, switchgear
some physical limits regarding the temperature behaviour.
(Section VIII) and power transmission lines, have to be
In contrast to current cables, the calculation under full load is
changed drastically to meet the requirements for the oper-
necessary to provide weight-optimized components. Current
ation in the aviation [116], [142]. The main challenges for
dimensioning regulations only calculate with partial load of
the transmission lines to make higher voltages available are
the cables [142] Chapter 3.8.8.1.1. Physical limitations in
among others:
cable development are:
• Arcing • A strongly limited convection due to the lower air pres-
• Partial discharge (Partial Discharge (PD)) sure (depending on the flight altitude)
• Surface charges • Heat conduction only at the connectors
• Thermal management • Possibly limited radiation losses due to thermal stability
• Conductor material of insulation materials
The selection of the conductor material is discussed and
Arcing is a major risk during the operation of an air- assumed in several publications [139], [159]. For high trans-
craft [143], [144]. The risk and the potential damage mission, powers aluminum is mainly preferred as conductor
increased significantly with the use of a DC supply volt- material due to the ratio of weight to power transmis-
age [145]. Publications point out that the use of aluminum sion [139]. However, apart from the fact that the calculation
conductors could increase the possible damage of an occur- is based on the design for the traditional power transmission
ring arcing [143]. Thus, an appropriate choice of insulation on board [139] and not on the not yet defined special case
material of the cables is needed [145], [146]. Furthermore, HVDC, there are restrictions by the Federal Aviation Admin-
switchgears with fault arc detection and sufficient switching istration (FAA) which limit the use of aluminum as conductor
capability are essential for a safe operation of an AEA [147]. material [142]. Among others, these restrictions are:
Especially for meshed DC-grids, further research is needed to • No approval of aluminum cables on engines
ensure a safe operation [148]. The occurrence of PD in DC- • No mounting on areas with severe vibrations
systems is a known issue [149], [150]. The occurrence of PD A principal cable structure is shown in Fig. 16:
within the wiring harness has to be excluded to increase the Here, conductor shield and insulation screen fulfill the
reliability of the insulation of the distribution cables and to tasks of a field grading. The insulation material could be
84210 VOLUME 8, 2020

classic materials like PTFE, ETFE, PI [145], maybe even during the next years. For the application in a 3 kV HVDC
materials adapted from HVDC transmission cables like power system of an AEA, multilevel topologies like ANPC
XLPE [157] have to be considered, taking into account or MMC are needed. The higher number of used switches
the abovementioned boundary conditions. The jacket serves leads to increased complexity. Therefore, the application of
as mechanical protection and consists of plastic materials GaN devices is most likely in smaller PoL and medium power
like PVC. converters far below 1 MW power. The reduction of passive
In conclusion, there are many research projects ongoing component size is possible due to higher switching frequency
which will enable us to design better and more reliable but has to be balanced against EMI issues. The reliability of
high-power transmission cables in the future. However, more GaN is completely under investigation.
research efforts especially for the aviation are needed to The need of a galvanic isolation in power electronic topolo-
take the transmission voltage and transmission power to a gies is under discussion. At a first glance, non-isolated
new feasible level. Interesting studies with high potential are topologies like synchronous bidirectional converters promise
currently being carried out. They discuss and suggest differ- lower weight. If the output voltage of the sources is in the
ent new technology solutions like superconductivity [160], range of the HVDC voltage level of 3 kV (±1.5 kV), this
selective protection of DC grids [121] and many more. converter type delivers high efficiency. Due to the absence
of a transformer, the effort for EMI filtering will increase in
X. CONCLUSION AND OUTLOOK comparison to isolated converters. The EMI filtering com-
The air transportation sector today produces a large amount plexity depends on several factors like switching frequency,
of CO2 emissions. Additionally, fossil energy resources are modulation strategy, design of the circuit, magnetic compo-
limited. Like in transportation on rail and on the road, new nent and cooling path. Investigations are required to get a
concepts are needed for air transportation. Approaches for concrete design.
sustainable air transport are based on synthetic fuels or elec- The use of circuit breakers in an AEA is discussed with
trochemical sources followed by consequent electrification. several different types which are rated in conclusion. The
The first step towards more electrification are MEAs like Air- selection process of CBs is rather complex and has to
bus A 380 and Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner with approximately consider different requirements like environmental condi-
1 MVA electrical power at maximum. Here, the electrical tions and aircraft standards, they influence the component
power is generated by four generators of the conventional parameters, such as short-circuit current and supply voltage.
main engines. For future AEAs, hydrogen and batteries are For a highly reliable operation of the power distribution
suggested as the only energy sources which deliver electrical system, a hybrid circuit breaker is a viable alternative to
energy to an electrical power system of an aircraft. the current SSCBs, as they provide promising capabilities
The goal of this publication is the discussion about future regarding galvanic isolation, gravimetric power density and
electrical power systems for an AEA with a maximum power supply voltage. The hybrid circuit breaker could be a key
demand of 3.7 MW for short-range flights. Important elec- component to enable fully electrified aviation. The hybrid
trical components in the power system are power converters, CB provides a good trade-off for the main requirements as
cables, and safety switches. Highest power density for all of given in Table 2. However, considering the current research
these components is a must. Due to the high energy demand, and development effort, the area of operation of these CB
the conventional AC distribution system has to be replaced by will increase significantly in the next years. Furthermore,
a DC system with an increased voltage level. for the operation of hybrid switches in an AEA, several
Fast-switching wide bandgap semiconductors, based on open questions have to be answered: dielectric restoration
SiC and GaN, are a promising approach to follow the dis- of the arc within the CB, the behavior of the dielectric
cussed path. Assuming two-level power electronic converters, strength within the CB, EMC, influence of cosmic radiation
6.5 kV SiC semiconductors seem to be a viable solution to on the power semiconductors, thermal management in an
operate at a DC voltage of 3 kV(±1.5 kV), while also allow- environment of reduced air pressure and explosion protection.
ing for a high switching frequency and therefore size reduc- Additionally, the CB has to be included in the maintenance
tion of passive components. Reliability and safety are still periods.
open issues. Gate oxide reliability and short-circuit capability Concerning the wiring harness, many questions remain
are still under critical discussion. For high altitudes, also cos- unanswered. Several important design parameters like alti-
mic radiation has to be considered. Decreased reliability due tude, grid structure, voltage level and nominal current level
to cosmic radiation is currently examined. However, espe- are unknown. Also, the behavior of the materials has to
cially wide bandgap devices promise an increased rugged- be investigated for the proposed cables, concerning arcing,
ness to radiation compared with conventional Si switches. partial discharge, surface charges, thermal management and
The demand for high voltage and high switching frequency conductor materials.
devices for the application in AEA could further drive SiC All the issues discussed will have to be examined in detail
semiconductor development and use. GaN devices are com- in the coming years. Many research efforts are currently in
mercially available today with lower voltage ratings up to progress, and a promising solution should be available within
650 V. A strong blocking voltage increase seems unlikely the required time frame.
VOLUME 8, 2020 84211

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VOLUME 8, 2020 84215

HENDRIK SCHEFER was born in Heide, REGINE MALLWITZ (Member, IEEE) received
Germany, in 1991. He received the B.Eng. degree the Dipl.-Ing. degree in electrical engineering
from the Flensburg University of Applied Sci- at the Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg,
ences, in 2016, the master’s degree from the in 1994, and the Ph.D. degree from the University
Institute for Electrical Machines, Traction and of Kassel, in 1999. She was working on pulse
Drives, TU Braunschweig, in 2018. He is currently power problems in gas and solid lasers at Lambda
pursuing the Ph.D. degree with the Institute for Physik GmbH (currently Coherent), Göttingen,
Electrical Machines, Traction and Drives, in 2019. and LISA Laser Products OHG Lindau, Germany.
He spent a short time as a Hardware Development She entered the company Eupec GmbH (currently
Engineer at Panasonic Industrial Devices Europe, Infineon), Warstein, as a Research and Develop-
Lüneburg. His research interests include SiC semiconductors and reliability ment Engineer, in 1999, and was responsible for the development of the
in power-dense applications. 1700V IGBT module family until 2004. From 2005 to 2013, she was with
SMA Solar Technology AG. In 2013, she was an appointed Professor for
Renewable Energies and Electromobility at the Fulda University of Applied
Sciences. Since 2014, she has been a Professor of power electronics at TU
Braunschweig with a strong research focus on mobility. Her special scientific
interests are in the application of fast switching power semiconductors.
JENS FRIEBE (Member, IEEE) was born in

LEON FAUTH (Member, IEEE) was born in Göttingen, Germany. He received the B.Sc., M.Sc.,
Hannover, Germany, in 1991. He received the and Dr.-Ing. degree in electrical engineering from
B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in electrical engineer- the University Kassel, Germany. He has been
ing from Leibniz University Hannover, in 2018, responsible for the research area of passive compo-
where he is currently pursuing the Ph.D. degree nents in power electronics at the Institute for Drive
in electrical engineering. Since 2018, he has also Systems and Power Electronics, Leibniz Uni-
been a Research Assistant at the Institute for Drive versity Hannover, Germany, since January 2018.
Systems and Power Electronics, Leibniz Univer- Before that, he worked for more than 13 years
sity Hannover. His research interests include GaN at SMA Solar Technology, Germany, in the field
power devices, high power ultrasonic applications, of PV-inverter topologies, wide bandgap semiconductors, magnetic compo-
and hybrid topologies. nents, control strategies for high switching frequencies, and power electron-
ics packaging. He invented more than 30 granted patents in the field of power
electronics.
MICHAEL KURRAT (Member, IEEE) received

the Dipl.-Ing. degree in electrical engineering and
the Dr.-Ing. degree from the University of Dort-
TOBIAS H. KOPP was born in Hannover, mund, Germany, in 1988 and 1993, respectively.
Germany, in 1985. He received the Dipl.-Ing. He previously worked at the Felten and Guil-
degree from the Technical University of Braun- leaume Switchgear Division, Krefeld, Germany.
schweig, Germany, in 2012. Since 2013, he has Since 2001, he has been a Professor with the
been a Scientific Assistant at the Institute for High Institute for High Voltage Technology and Electri-
Voltage Technology and Electrical Power Systems cal Power Systems, elenia, Technische Universität
(elenia), Technical University of Braunschweig. Braunschweig, Germany, where he has been the
His current research interests include surge protec- Managing Director, since 2005. Since 2017, he has been the Dean of the
tive devices, vacuum interrupters, and low voltage Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Information Technology, Physics.
circuit breakers.
84216 VOLUME 8, 2020

Discussion On Electric Power Supply Systems For All Electric Aircraft

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Received February 24, 2020, accepted April 3, 2020, date of publication May 6, 2020, date of current version May

Discussion on Electric Power Supply Systems

REGINE MALLWITZ1 , (Member, IEEE), JENS FRIEBE 2 , (Member, IEEE),

Corresponding author: Regine Mallwitz (r.mallwitz@tu-braunschweig.de)

AEA All Electric Aircraft EMA Electro-Mechanical Actuators

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FIGURE 2. Electric schematic of MEA.

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This is further supported by the fact that the relative humidity

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and therefore volume and weight of the wiring harness. For

VI. INITIAL PROPOSAL: ELECTRICAL ARCHITECTURE FOR

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FIGURE 5. Electric schematic of AEA.

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For emission-free taxiing, an inverter-controlled wheel hub

VII. POWER ELECTRONICS

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FIGURE 7. Interleaved step-up converter.

backside of the Direct Copper Bonding (DCB) or a large

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FIGURE 10. Operation strategy for a reliable AEA system.

FIGURE 9. Dual active bridge.

drain-source capacitances. The semiconductors on the

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by these devices. Higher voltage levels are not available at

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4) HYBRID CIRCUIT BREAKER

5) FUSES C. HYBRID CIRCUIT BREAKER TOPOLOGIES

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FIGURE 15. Hybrid switch topology 3.

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the given area of operation within the system is necessary.

IX. WIRING HARNESS

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JENS FRIEBE (Member, IEEE) was born in

MICHAEL KURRAT (Member, IEEE) received

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