An approach to preliminary sizing of turbo-electric aircraft with distributed propulsion

The increased awareness towards air transport pollution has pushed for ambitious sustainability objectives to achieve within year 2050. As new technologies emerge, researchers are investigating innovative aircraft and powertrain configurations to explore potential fuel-burn savings, either retrofitting an existing aircraft or defining a new conceptual design. This work investigates the possibilities given by a turbo-electric powertrain coupled with distributed electric propulsion on a regional turboprop aircraft, presenting a method for preliminary aircraft design and exploring the results offered by a simple evaluation of the aero-propulsive interactions. With the actual technology, a potential 5% reduction in fuel consumption should be achievable on a 500 nm mission with 42 passengers. Although it is not a disruptive result, this paves the way for further investigations, indicating where improvements may be achieved.