Global transportation has shifted toward electromobility to achieve net-zero emission, and in the next few decades, commercial electric aircraft is likely to become a reality. This transition has embarked on through the existing more electric aircraft (MEA), and the ultimate goal will be potentially achieved by hybrid-electric and all-electric airliners, along with green fuels, such as green hydrogen or supercritical CO2 (sCO2) and its potential Gg CO2 equivalent elimination—with or without combustion. Electric propulsion replaces conventional jet propulsors with electric fans powered by electric generators rotated by an engine, a combination of generators and energy storage, or just energy storage. An appealing idea is to distribute the electric fans along the aircraft wings or tails to improve aerodynamics, boost energy efficiency, and reduce carbon emissions and acoustic noise. Focusing on distributed electric propulsion (DEP) systems, this article reviews the state-of-the-art advancements in aircraft electrification. Three major DEP categories, i.e., turboelectric, hybrid-electric, and all-electric propulsion technologies, are investigated. Although all of them utilize electric fans as propulsors, their system structures and power generation stages are different. Hence, comprehensive considerations are required to optimize the DEP system designs. Starting with the multifarious electrical system architectures proposed in the literature, a thorough review is conducted including the system parametric specifications, design considerations of power converters, the power electronics devices’ characteristics in cryogenic conditions, and various energy storage systems. This review aims to provide a reference to researchers, engineers, and policy-makers in aviation to accelerate the progress toward future net-zero emissions.

中文翻译：

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飞机分布式电力推进技术综述


全球交通已转向电动交通以实现净零排放，并且在未来几十年内，商用电动飞机很可能成为现实。这一转变是通过现有的多电动飞机 (MEA) 开始的，最终目标将有可能通过混合动力和全电动客机以及绿色燃料（例如绿色氢或超临界二氧化碳 (sCO2) 及其潜在的 Gg CO2 当量消除——无论是否燃烧。电力推进用电风扇取代了传统的喷气推进器，电风扇由发动机旋转的发电机、发电机和能量存储的组合或仅能量存储提供动力。一个有吸引力的想法是将电风扇分布在飞机机翼或尾部，以改善空气动力学、提高能源效率、减少碳排放和噪音。本文重点关注分布式电力推进 (DEP) 系统，回顾了飞机电气化领域的最新进展。研究了三个主要的 DEP 类别，即涡轮电动、混合动力电动和全电动推进技术。虽然都是利用电风扇作为推进器，但其系统结构和发电阶段不同。因此，需要综合考虑来优化 DEP 系统设计。从文献中提出的各种电气系统架构开始，对系统参数规格、功率转换器的设计考虑、电力电子器件在低温条件下的特性以及各种储能系统进行了彻底的审查。 本综述旨在为航空领域的研究人员、工程师和政策制定者提供参考，以加速未来净零排放的进展。