An Energy Efficiency Optimization Method for Fixed Pitch Propeller Electric Aircraft Propulsion Systems

As a key component of electric aircrafts, electric propulsion systems provide sufficient thrust for electric aircrafts. By improving its efficiency, the power consumed by the electric propulsion system can be reduced. Therefore, the maximum range of electric aircrafts, which is limited by the energy density of batteries, can be further increased. Upon investigating the power demand and the energy consumption of the electric propulsion system in each flight profile phase of fixed pitch propellers electric aircrafts, this paper proposes a novel energy efficiency optimization method tailored for fixed pitch propeller electric aircrafts by minimizing the total energy consumption of one flight over the maximum efficiency of the propeller. The proposed method is adopted to the design of a fixed pitch propeller electric aircraft. Experimental results suggest that the tested fixed propeller electric aircraft designed can achieve better energy efficiency while reducing energy consumption by more than 10%.