Session: 01-12 Whole Engine Performance and Novel Concepts III

Paper Number: 104109

104109 - Progress Toward Climate-Friendly Aviation in the ARPA-E ASCEND and REEACH Programs 

The decarbonization of commercial aviation in the coming decades represents a formidable challenge.  For ranges of less than several hundred miles, all-electric battery-powered aircraft have the potential to be attractive solutions.   However, for longer ranges, the appreciably greater specific energy of fuels will continue to be required.  Nevertheless, our climate crisis mandates that these fuels must be produced synthesized in a carbon-neutral manner,.  Cand consequently, they will beare likely to be considerably more expensive than their fossil-derived counterparts.  Furthermore, uncertainty remains around which one(s) will be in our aviation future.  Many candidates pose on-board aircraft storage challenges in that they must either be stored at elevated pressure and/or at cryogenic temperatures—compromising their stored specific energies.  These challenges will result in even more impetus to convert stored on-board energy to propulsion power at ultra-high efficiency levels—regardless of whether that energy is contained stored within batteries or fuels.  Electrified propulsion systems are potential enablers for our transition to this future through their ability to facilitate the integration of disparate storage and conversion technologies into a single hybrid system that offers high conversion efficiency at an acceptable weight.  In this paper, progress made in the development of such systems within the ARPA-E ASCEND and REEACH programs is described.  

Presenting Author: H. Peter de Bock U.S. Department of Energy

Presenting Author Biography: Dr. Peter de Bock currently serves as Program Director at the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) for the US Department of Energy. At ARPA-E Dr. de Bock manages and supports teams in zero-carbon hybrid aviation propulsion systems through the ASCEND program and other projects related to the efficiency of electronic and thermal systems such as Data Centers.
Prior to joining ARPA-E, Dr. de Bock worked at GE Research as Principal Engineer Thermosciences. Dr. de Bock is the former chair of ASME K-16 committee on Heat Transfer in Electronics equipment and holds 50+ patents and publications.
Dr. de Bock received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati and holds MSc degrees from University of Twente in the Netherlands, and University of Warwick in the UK.

Authors:

H. Peter de Bock U.S. Department of Energy
David E. Tew U.S. Department of Energy
Zaiur Rahman Booz Allen Hamilton
Vivien Lecoustre Booz Allen Hamilton
Rosemary A. Cox-Galhotra Booz Allen Hamilton