The Anonymous Widower

Honeywell Introduces Power Source For Hybrid-Electric Aircraft

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Flying Magazine.

Honeywell have created a power source for hybrid-electric aircraft, that will run on a wide range of fuels including jet fuel, diesel and sustainable aviation fuel.

The Flying Magazine article is a must-read, which is mainly based on this press release from Honeywell, which is entitled Honeywell’s Newest Turbogenerator Will Power Hybrid-Electric Aircraft, Run On Biofuel.

The turbogenerator has two main parts.

Small Turbofan Provides The Power

These are details of the turbo fan.

• The small turbo fan is the auxiliary power unit or APU from an Airbus A 350 XWB.
• The APU is identified as a Honeywell HGT1700.
• Over four hundred of these APU’s have been delivered in Airbus A350 XWBs.
• It can run on jet fuel, diesel and sustainable aviation fuel.
• It can also run on Honeywell Green Jet Fuel.
• I suspect in the future, it will be able to run on hydrogen.

The APU is obviously well-proven technology, from a company with a large share in the airliner market.

Generator To Provide Electricity

These are details of the generator.

• It weighs 127 Kg or about two of me.
• It can generate a megawatt of electricity.

The generator sounds powerful to me.

The first demonstration of this turbogenerator system will occur in the third quarter of 2021, with ongoing development and qualification to follow.

Honeywell says this about their collaboration with Faradair and other companies.

In December, Honeywell signed a memorandum of understanding with British startup Faradair Aerospace to collaborate on systems and a turbogeneration unit that will run on sustainable aviation fuel to power Faradair’s Bio Electric Hybrid Aircraft (BEHA). Faradair intends to deliver 300 hybrid-electric BEHAs into service by 2030, of which 150 will be in a firefighting configuration. Honeywell is in advanced discussions with several other potential turbogenerator customers, working to help define power requirements based on mission profiles required by various manufacturers.

I can see a lot of customers for this turbogenerator.

And not all will be in aviation!

March 12, 2021 - Posted by AnonW | Energy, Transport/Travel | Aviation, Faradair BEHA, Honeywell, Sustainable Aviation Fuel