21 Century

ARTICLE IN PRESS
Progress in Aerospace Sciences 40 (2004) 199235

www.elsevier.com/locate/pacrosci
Propulsion and power for 21st century aviation

Arun K. Sehra, Woodrow Whitlow Jr.
a
NASA Glenn Research Center, 21000 Brookpark Road, MS 3-6 Cleveland, OH 44135, USA
b
NASA Kennedy Space Center, Kennedy Space Center, FL 32899, USA
Abstract
Air transportation in the new millennium will require revolutionary solutions to meet public demand for improving
safety, reliability, environmental compatibility, and affordability. NASAs vision for 21st century aircraft is to develop
propulsion systems that are intelligent, highly efcient, virtually inaudible (outside airport boundaries), and have near
zero harmful emissions (CO2 and NOx). This vision includes intelligent engines capable of adapting to changing internal
and external conditions to optimally accomplish missions with either minimal or no human intervention. Distributed
vectored propulsion will replace current two to four wing mounted and fuselage mounted engine congurations with a
large number of small, mini, or micro engines. Other innovative concepts, such as the pulse detonation engine (PDE),
which potentially can replace conventional gas turbine engines, also are reviewed. It is envisioned that a hydrogen
economy will drive the propulsion system revolution towards the ultimate goal of silent aircrafts with zero harmful
emissions. Finally, it is envisioned that electric drive propulsion based on fuel cell power will generate electric power,
which in turn will drive propulsors to produce the desired thrust. This paper reviews future propulsion and power
concepts that are under development at the National Aeronautics and Space Administrations (NASA) John H. Glenn
Research Center at Lewis Field, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Contents
1.
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
2.
Aeropropulsion vision for 21st century aviation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
3.
Gas turbine revolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3.1. Intelligent computing and controls strategies. . . . . .
3.2. Smart components for noise and emission reduction
3.2.1. Noise reduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.2.2. Nitrogen oxide emission reduction . . . . . . .
3.2.3. CO2 emissions reduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.3. Adaptive technologies and systems. . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.3.1. Flow control and management . . . . . . . . .
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Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-216-433-3397; fax: +1-216-977-7537.
E-mail address: arun.k.sehra@nasa.gov (A.K. Sehra).

0376-0421/$ - see front matter Published by Elsevier Ltd.
doi:10.1016/j.paerosci.2004.06.003
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203
203
205
205
206
208
210
210
ARTICLE IN PRESS
A.K. Sehra, W. Whitlow Jr. / Progress in Aerospace Sciences 40 (2004) 199235
200
Nomenclature
CMC
CO
CO2
c
cd
cl
cp
Delta H/U2
Fj
GH2
LH2
ceramic matrix composites

carbon monoxide
carbon dioxide
airfoil chord
sectional drag coefcient
sectional lift coefcient
pressure coefcient
stage work (change in total enthalpy
divided by the square of blade mean
rotational speed)
jet force
gaseous hydrogen
liquid hydrogen
3.3.2.
3.3.3.
3.3.4.
M
Mj
MN
MMC
NOx
PMC
SFC
SOx
U
UN
a
y
Mach number
tail-jet Mach number at nozzle exit plane
free-stream Mach number
metal matrix composites
nitrogen oxide
polymer matrix composites
specic fuel consumption
sulfur oxide
axial velocity
free-stream axial velocity
angle of attack
jet ap angle
Morphing structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210

Adaptive materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Adaptive cycles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
4.
Engine conguration revolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4.1. Distributed vectored propulsion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.1.1. Distributed engines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.1.2. Common-core multi-fans/propulsors . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.1.3. Distributed exhaust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.1.4. Blended-wing-body aircraft with distributed propulsion .
4.1.5. Distributed propulsion concept for supersonic transport
4.1.6. Cross ow fan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.1.7. Pulse detonation engines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.1.8. Exoskeletal engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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211
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217
218
218
5.
Fuel infrastructure and alternate energy and power revolutions .

5.1. Hydrogen powered gas turbine engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.1.1. Hydrogen economy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.1.2. Aircraft technology needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.2. Fuel cell based power and propulsion . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.2.1. Fuel cell power system for commercial aviation .
5.3. Electric drive propulsion for light aircraft. . . . . . . . . . . .
5.3.1. Technology status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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232
6.
Concluding remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
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Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
1. Introduction
The future world economy is envisioned to be truly
global, where national boundaries become diffused by
interdependent commerce. This future vision only can be
realized if there is a revolutionary change in transporta-
tion systems, enabling greater mobility of people and

products with improved safety, timeliness and convenience. Propulsion and power capabilities are the
foundation on which future subsonic and supersonic
transport (SST) aircraft will shape the aviation landscape and establish this global conduit of commerce.
ARTICLE IN PRESS
Propulsion innovations have been the fundamental

driver for progress in air transportation. Enormous
advances in propulsion performance and efciency have
made it possible for aircraft to travel at higher speeds
over longer distances while carrying larger payloads.
This has increased capacity by orders of magnitude since
the advent of air travel. Fig. 1 illustrates how advances
in propulsion systems have revolutionized aviation
during the past 40 or so years. The Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) and commercial sectors are
forecasting another dramatic growth in commercial air
transportation in the next 1025 years. Once again,
propulsion systems will lead the next air transportation
revolution to meet the challenges of 21st century
aviation.
Having recently completed the rst 100 years of
powered ight, the aviation community is well poised to
meet challenges of the new millennium. Safety, capacity,
economy, and environmental concerns remain the
themes and challenges for NASA and its industry
partners in the 21st century. The public needs to get to
destinations faster and cheaper, with improved quality
of travel while allowing aviation to expand to meet the
increased demand for service. Future aeropropulsion
systems will be required to operate over a wide range
of ight regimes, while providing unprecedented
high levels of safety and reliability. They will need to
be much more energy efcient throughout their ight
envelopes while keeping atmospheric pollutant and
noise emissions to harmless levels. In addition, they will
201
need to be inexpensive to develop, manufacture, and

operate.
Around the turn of the last century, the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) developed the following set of objectives to revolutionize
aviation during the next 25 years. These objectives are
focused on increasing safety, reducing harmful emissions
and noise, and increasing capacity and mobility of air
transportation. More recently NASA has expanded the
safety objective to include security of aircraft, however,
no quantitative objective has yet been developed.
Safety:
Reduce aviations fatal accident rate by a factor of

ve within 10 years and by a factor of 10 within 25
years.
Emissions reduction:
NOx: Reduce NOx emissions by 70% within 10 years

and by 80% within 25 years (using the 1996 ICAO

standard as the baseline).
CO2: Reduce CO2 emissions by 25% within 10 years
and by 50% within 25 years (using 1997 subsonic
aircraft technology as the baseline).
Noise reduction:
Reduce perceived noise levels of future aircraft by a

factor of 2 (10 decibels) within 10 years and by a
factor of 4 (20 decibels) within 25 years, using 1997
subsonic aircraft technology as the baseline.
Fig. 1. Propulsion system leads the aviation revolution.
ARTICLE IN PRESS
202
Capacity:
Triple the capacity of the aviation system within 25

years when compared with 1997 levels.
Mobility:
Intercity: Reduce intercity door-to-door time by half

research approach triggered by thresholds of technology

revolutions and national needs to realize our vision for
21st century air transportation (Fig. 2).
These revolutions are described below:
The gas turbine revolution (as characterized by ultra-
in 10 years and by two-thirds in 25 years.

Intercontinental: Reduce long haul transcontinental
travel time by half in 25 years.
The extended objective (beyond 25 years) for protecting the environment is to have virtually emission-less
and silent aircraft by achieving zero nitrogen oxide
(NOx) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and ensuring
that aircrafts are inaudible outside of airport boundaries.
This paper presents details of NASAs propulsion
technology vision that was developed to meet the abovementioned objectives. It also provides details of various
propulsion and power system concepts, system studies,
and the areas of technology development efforts
currently underway at NASA Glenn to meet this
technology vision.
2. Aeropropulsion vision for 21st century aviation

During the past ve years, NASA has developed a
research direction aimed at developing aeropropulsion
technologies that will allow the aviation industry to
achieve an air transportation system that meets the
above objectives. The ultimate goal of protecting the
environment is to develop an emission-less, silent
aircraft. NASA proposes a phased aeropropulsion
efcient intelligent engines) focuses on component

design and systems operability that lead to compact,
intelligent, and efcient propulsion systems for
subsonic and supersonic transports. Adaptive controls and smart components will be an integral part of
the propulsion system design.
The engine configuration revolution (as characterized
by innovative and distributed vectored propulsion
systems) will lead to smart engine operations and
distributed vectored propulsion systems. Distributed
engine and exhaust concepts will be an integral part
of advanced airframe designs. During this revolution,
other innovative propulsion system concepts, such as
pulse detonation engines (PDE), also will be developed and evaluated.
The fuel infrastructure revolution will result in the
possibility of using alternate energy sources such as
low carbon fuels, hydrogen and hybrid systems for
low emissions propulsion concepts. Notably the use
of hydrogen fuel in a gas turbine engines and fuelcell-based aircraft power generation will be explored.
The alternate energy and power revolution will result
in innovative technologies, propulsion components,
and engine systems that will maximize the efciency
and performance of next-generation subsonic and
supersonic aircraft while having no adverse impact on
the environment. Research will focus on fuel cells and
other high-energy power sources for powering nongas turbine propulsion concepts with near zero NOx
Fig. 2. Propulsion system revolutions enabling mobility.
ARTICLE IN PRESS
and CO2 emissions and that are inaudible outside

the airport boundaries. It is envisioned that such a
system will enable 24-h, turn-key air transportation
operation.
NASA will transfer high-risk research and technology
products from each revolution to its industry partners
for inclusion in their propulsion congurations. This
process will occur by building upon innovation successes
from preceding phases to enable new congurations.
Revolutionary propulsion ideas will be enabled as
NASA pursues research and technology development
that support its long-term vision of the air transportation system.
The following sections present a detailed description
of propulsion technology concepts/ innovations that are
under investigation at NASA.
3. Gas turbine revolution

Since the gas turbine engines rst application for
aircraft propulsion almost 60 years ago, a virtual
revolution has been underway to improve their performance. The goal has been to reduce fuel burn, improve
safety and reliability, and reduce the environmental
impact of harmful emissions and noise. It is believed
that further advancements in aircraft gas turbine engine
technology will continue for another 2530 years, at
which point the gas turbine revolution will culminate
with the development of what NASA calls intelligent
engines. These engines will be self-thinking, selfadjusting (without human intervention), and able to
operate at optimum conditions to achieve pre-specied
customer requirements during the entire ground and
ight envelop. For example, during take-off and
approach, the engine will optimize geometry and air
ow in to achieve minimum noise and emissions. During
cruise operation, it will optimize itself to reduce
fuel burn.
Increases in by-pass-ratio (BPR) enabled by hightemperature, high-pressure cores have ushered in a
sustained era of quiet, fuel-efcient subsonic propulsion.
Future improvements in commercial core specic power
output are limited by the growing sensitivity to the
impacts of NOx emissions and the physical size of the
core-powered propulsor (or fan) for any given thrust
class of engine. Historically, rst-generation high-bypass
turbofan engines introduced prior to 1985 were designed
to meet the nations energy crisis challenge. These
propulsion systems introduced components developed
using early three-dimensional aerodynamic and computer aided design methods and incorporated the rst
generation of superalloy materials, ceramic coatings and
polymer matrix composites (PMCs). Second-generation
aircraft gas turbine engines, introduced prior to 1995,
203
had continued emphasis on fuel-burn reduction, but also

were designed to meet emerging noise and emissions
challenges. These higher BPR turbofan engines incorporated advanced materials for still higher cycle
temperatures and pressures that resulted in greater core
specic power and overall efciency. Aiding these
turbine engine developments were advancements in
supercomputing and the introduction of parallel processing that allowed multi-blade row computer analysis and
modeling of unsteady ow phenomena. The current
generation of turbofan engine technology research
focuses on meeting an increasing diversity of applications requirements (civil transports, ghter aircraft,
high-Mach number, high-altitude, etc.). This research
places emphasis on reducing environmental impact and
affordable performance gains in the wake of lost US
market share and declining research budgets. The global
economy and ecological concerns are driving more
physics-based modeling of component-integrated propulsion systems, with greater emphasis on reduced
computational time. This design/analysis capability is
being combined with advances in traditional disciplines
(aerodynamics, materials, controls, etc.) to usher in the
next generation of technology innovations.
The next generation turbine engine (intelligent engine)
technologies will be focused in the following three
strategic areas and are reviewed in this section:
Intelligent computing and controls strategies

Smart components with active (or passive) control for
noise and emissions reduction and improved performance

Adaptive technologies and systems.
3.1. Intelligent computing and controls strategies

In addition to current efforts on physics-based
modeling for multi-disciplinary (aerodynamic, thermodynamic, and structural) analysis of propulsion systems,
next-generation computing processes will have several
new features. For example, the intelligent computational
environment will do the following: provide need-based
information to individuals from different disciplines;
provide the level of uncertainty in computed results
caused by engine-to-engine geometric variations, operating conditions, and numerical errors (probabilistic
methods); select the optimum number of processors for
computing; and determine the use of appropriate codes
for the desired level of delity in the design and analysis
processes. Researchers at NASA Glenn are developing a
computational environment, the Numerical Propulsion
System Simulation (NPSS), for the design and analysis
of any conceivable propulsion system [1]. The NPSS
(Fig. 3) focuses on integrating multiple disciplines such
as thermodynamics, aerodynamics, structures, and heat
transfer. It captures the concept of numerical zooming
ARTICLE IN PRESS
204
Fig. 3. Numerical propulsion system simulation: Component integration, discipline integration and variable delity analysis
(zooming).
between zero-dimensional to one-, two-, and threedimensional analysis codes. The vision in developing the
NPSS is to create a numerical test cell that enables
overnight full engine simulations on cost-effective
computing platforms. Numerical zooming between
NPSS engine simulations and higher-delity representations of the engine components (fan, compressor,
combustor, turbines, etc.) already has been demonstrated. Future augmentations will address the abovementioned intelligent computing concepts.
In the area of sensors and controls, future research
will transform recent successes in physics-based multidisciplinary modeling into real-time propulsion health
monitoring and management for improved safety and
reduced maintenance costs. Further developments in
adaptive on-board engine models, advanced component
design techniques coupled with material-embedded
nanosensors and evolving information-technology capabilities (computational processing speed, data acquisition and dissemination, etc.) will allow for real-time
engine condition monitoring and performance optimization. Such progress will provide several benets including continuous real-time trending of engine health,
synthesized sensor values that can be used in sensor
validation logic and estimations of immeasurable engine
parameters such as thrust and component stability
margins that can be used in feedback control logic.
The concept of model-based controls and diagnostics,
shown in Fig. 4, provides prognostic and diagnostic
capabilities and fault accommodation, preventing po-
tential failures or reducing their severity [2]. Component

health can be diagnosed through interpretation of highresponse pressure measurements, and affordable engine
crack detection instrumentation is needed for operation
within harsh engine environments.
Aircraft engine life-extending control is another
method developed at NASA Glenn that can improve
aviation safety [3]. The controller design utilizes damage
models to monitor critical engine parts damage rate and
accumulation. Required technologies include sensors for
crack detection and measurement, stress measurement,
and tip clearance measurement. All of these sensors
must be capable of operating in harsh engine conditions.
In 2001, researchers developed a model-based diagnostic method using neural networks and genetic
algorithms [4]. Neural networks were used to estimate
engines internal health, and genetic algorithms were
applied for sensor bias detection and estimation. Results
showed that the approach is promising for reliable
aircraft engine diagnostics.
Those same researchers also applied a bank of
Kalman lters to aircraft gas turbine engine sensor
and actuator fault detection and isolation (FDI) in
conjunction with component fault detection [5]. Each of
the multiple lters is designed to detect a specic or
actuator fault, and if a fault does occur, all lters except
the one using the correct hypothesis produce large
estimation errors, isolating the specic fault. The
researchers applied the FDI approach to a non-inear
engine simulation for nominal and aged conditions. This
ARTICLE IN PRESS
205
Fig. 4. Model-based controls and diagnostics.
approach, which utilizes an on-board engine model, is

possible due to the increase of digital computational
power. In their work, Kobayashi and Simon [4,5]
demonstrated the ability to detect and isolate sensor
and actuator bias errors when faults are caused by
foreign object damage, and the method is robust in the
presence of engine degradation.
The vision for the future is to make various engine
systems function more autonomously from the cockpit
using biologically inspired intelligent engine controls
akin to the human bodys involuntary nervous system.
This advance will enable event- or outcome-based
decisions from the voluntary cockpit control for safer
aircraft operation of increasingly complex aviation
systems.
3.2. Smart components for noise and emission reduction
The research effort for smart components is directed
at active and passive control strategies to improve
performance (increased efciency and operability), and
reduce noise and harmful emissions. For performance
improvement, NASAs research has demonstrated that
rotating stall and surge instability can be signicantly
delayed by actively or passively controlling (steady or
uctuating) compressor bleed. It also has been demonstrated recently that blade loading and efciency can
be signicantly enhanced by ow injection/suction on
the airfoil suction surface. Several concepts, discussed in
the following sections for noise and emissions, will also
help to improve the engine performance.
3.2.1. Noise reduction
For noise reduction, key engine components that need
to be addressed are the fan, Inlet, and exhaust nozzle.
Aspirated fans with trailing edge blowing (active or

passive) have shown signicant reduction in rotor-stator
interaction as well as broad band noise. Inlet and nozzle
technologies will focus on noise reduction and propulsion system operability impacts. Advanced modeling
techniques will allow designers to capitalize on natural
acoustic phenomena (such as ground reection/dissipation of noise) to reduce the observable noise footprint of
future aircraft such that it is contained within the airport
boundary. Enhanced mixing technologies, such as
chevrons and naturally aspirating ejectors, will be
optimized to passively reduce nozzle jet noise without
sacricing performance. Additional active noise suppression, such as pulsating acoustic liners, will also be
employed in future inlet and nozzle systems.
In rotor trailing edge blowing whereby the velocity
decit from the viscous wake of rotor blades is reduced
by injecting air into the wake from a trailing edge slot
was demonstrated for low-speed fan noise reduction [6].
Fig. 5 shows a model of a composite hollow rotor blade
with the pressure side skin removed to show internal
ow passages. The passages are designed to deliver the
injected ow at the design pressure and ow rate to ll
the wake momentum decit. Substantial reduction in fan
tone levels was achieved by lling the viscous wakes at a
blowing rate of 1.61.8% of the fan mass ow rate.
Fig. 6 shows a typical result in which trailing edge
blowing caused a more uniform mean ow prole. The
inset shows that the wake harmonic amplitudes were
reduced by more than a factor of two for the rst
four harmonics. This indicates the potential for signicant noise level reductions using wake management
technology.
Aspirated fans and compressor stages with boundary
layer suction, active or passive, can help to drastically
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Fig. 7. Test package installed in aspirated compressor rig.

Fig. 5. Active noise control fan hollow blade with pressure side
skin removed.
Fig. 8. Aspirated compressor pressure ratio performance map.
Fig. 6. Effect of fan trailing edge blowing on mean ow prole.
ratios of about 1.3:1 and 1.8:1, respectively. This

technology is considered as key to development of light
weight fans for very-high-bypass-ratio engines.
reduce the rotor tip speed for the same pressure ratio,
thereby reducing the noise generated by rotor blade
passage shock. Two recent research efforts led by
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have
shown that the airfoil aspiration can lead to increasing
the stage work level (DH=U 2 ) by a factor of two. Figs. 7
and 8 show the test hardware and performance map of a
MIT-designed fan stage with a tip speed of 1500 ft/s that
was tested at NASA Glenn Research Center [7]. This
stage achieved a pressure ratio in excess of 3.1:1 at a
design aspiration ow fraction of 1.8% of the inlet ow
rate. An earlier aspirated fan design tested by MIT [8]
demonstrated a pressure ratio of 1.6:1 at a tip speed of
750 ft/s. Typical state-of-the-art fan and compressor
stages with 750 and 1500 ft/s tip speeds produce pressure
3.2.2. Nitrogen oxide emission reduction

The International Civil Aviation Organization
(ICAO) Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection is addressing worldwide concerns about local air
quality and climate change. While not yet a signicant
concern at the global level, aircraft emissions already
are a major concern in some communities. Several
European airports are imposing landing fees based on
aircraft emissions and in the United States, some of the
busiest commercial airports are unable to increase
ight operations because they are located in areas
whose air pollution levels consistently exceed the
national standard. To enable further expansion of
airport operations, NOx emissions from future aircraft
engines must be reduced in order to limit the resulting
ground-level ozone. Even with todays best technology
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improvements, global NOx and CO2 emissions are

projected to increase by 400% and 300%, respectively,
by 2050.
Demands for decreasing NOx emissions while increasing performance have resulted in advanced combustor
designs that are dependent on effective fuelair mixing
and lean operation. Lean-burning, low-emissions combustors are susceptible to combustion instabilities
typically caused by the interaction of the uctuating
heat release from the combustion process with naturally
occurring acoustic resonances [9]. Due to non-uniformities in the fuelair mixing and the combustion
process, hot areas that can be zones of increased NOx
formation exist in the combustor exit plane. The
elimination of hot streaksreduction in pattern factorcan contribute to emissions reduction. It is also
desirable to maintain a combustion zone fuelair
mixture ratio near stoichiometric to minimize the
formation of carbon monoxide (CO) and unburned
hydrocarbons (UHCs). However, mixture ratios near
stoichiometric result in high ame temperatures and
increased NOx production. Control of the fuelair ratio
is required to minimize the production of CO, UHCs,
and NOx.
Active combustion control research at NASA Glenn
includes combustion instability control, burner pattern
factor control, and emission minimizing control [10].
A neural network-based control approach, shown in
Fig. 9, was developed to attenuate thermo-acoustic
instabilities observed in a lean premix-prevaporize (LPP)
combustor ame tube. A burner pattern factor control
system that is capable of producing a more uniform
combustor exit temperature has been developed [10].
The active distribution system delivers the required total
fuel ow and, based on feedback from temperature
sensors at the combustor exit plane, the control system
sends signals to redistribute the total fuel inside the
combustor. This process results in as uniform a
temperature distribution at the exit plane as possible.

Preliminary testing showed that this method produced
up to 52% reduction in pattern factor and up to 7%
NOx reduction. At some engine operating conditions,
slight increases in CO (1%) and UHC (2%) were
observed.
An alternative to LPP systems is lean-direct injection
(LDI) combustion in which the fuel is injected directly
into the ame zone. While the potential for either autoignition or ashback is not present, it is important to
achieve ne atomization and mixing of the fuel and air
quickly and uniformly. This results in low ame
temperatures and NOx levels near those of LPP systems.
In 2001, Glenn researchers developed a lean-direct-wallinjection combustor concept in which fuel is injected
into a swirling airow from a fuel injector located on the
combustor wall or mixer wall [11]. The basic conguration is shown in Fig. 10. A 75% NOx reduction from the
1996 ICAO standard was obtained using this technology
over a range of engine pressure ratios.
In 2002, Tacina et al. demonstrated a multipoint,
lean-direct injection concept that had 25 and 36 fuel
injectors in the size of a conventional single fuel injector
[12]. The researchers used an integrated-module approach for the construction in which photo-chemically
etched laminates, diffusion bonded together, combine
the fuel injectors, air swirlers, and fuel manifold into a
single element (Fig. 11). The top of Fig. 11 shows the
etched laminates, and the ame tube conguration is
shown in the bottom of the gure. Flame tube tests of
Fig. 9. Neural combustion instability control approach.
Fig. 10. Lean-direct-wall-injection combustor concept.
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Fig. 11. Multipoint integrated module.
this technology resulted in greater than 80% reduction

in NOx emissions from the 1996 ICAO standard,
and a 151 combustor sector test of the LDI concept
using 36 injectors (Fig. 12) demonstrated a 70% NOx
reduction [13].
An LDI concept that is a multiplex fuel injector
concept (Fig. 13) containing multipoint fuel injection
tips and multi-burning zones was developed to reduce
NOx emissions from advanced high-pressure aircraft gas
turbine engines at all power conditions [14]. Flame tube
tests of the multiplex LDI concept with 49 equally
spaced injector tips demonstrated NOx levels that are
the same as the 25-point method developed at NASA
Glenn [13] but slightly more than those obtained using
the 36-point method reported in the same reference.
3.2.3. CO2 emissions reduction
While NOx reduction will require advanced combustion technology, current efforts regarding CO2 emissions
reduction are focused on reducing fuel burn through
increased performance and efciency. Propulsion system
performance can be improved by improving engine
Fig. 12. 36-point, integrated module, 151 sector.
thermal efciency and propulsive efciency. Higher

bypass ratio is the key to improving propulsive
efciency. Use of aspirated fans, and core-driven fans
(see next section) are two concepts being investigated to
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Fig. 13. Multiplex fuel injector module.
increase the engines bypass ratio. To increase engine

thermal efciency beyond the state of the art, various
component efciencies and overall engine pressure ratios
and temperature need to be increased signicantly.
Whereas smart component technology (discussed in
the previous section) is the primary focus for improving
component efciency, technology development is underway for engine cycle pressure ratios as high as 55:160:1
with turbine inlet temperatures exceeding 1700 1C.
Advanced high-temperature materials that will lead to
reduced NOx and CO2 emissions are being developed as
part of NASA Glenns Ultra-Efcient Engine Technology (UEET) Project [15]. Meeting the goals of UEET
project requires overall engine pressure ratios as high as
60:1 and turbine inlet temperatures exceeding 1700 1C.
Achieving an overall engine pressure ratio of up to 60:1
requires high-temperature disk alloys with temperature
capabilities in the 700760 1C range. Researchers from
NASA, General Electric Aircraft Engines (GEAE), and
Pratt & Whitney (P&W) developed a nickel-based
powder disk superalloy for commercial and military
engines that can withstand temperatures over 700 1C, an
80 1C increase over production disk alloys. The alloy
was scaled up successfully to produce forgings typical of
Boeing 737 aircraft engines (Fig. 14), and over one
million hours of testing demonstrated that the alloy has
a balanced set of material properties that far exceed
state-of-the-art production material.
The strategy for increasing turbine inlet temperature
is to improve the capabilities of single-crystal nickelbased alloys and thermal barrier coatings (TBCs).
Single-crystal nickel-base alloys have the potential to
increase temperature capability by 40 1C [15]. One goal
is to develop computational tools using multiscale
models for the design of single crystal nickel-base alloys.
Researchers at NASA Glenn and Ohio Aerospace
Institute (OAI), North Olmsted, Ohio, have developed
Fig. 14. Boeing 737-size disk forging from new alloy.
computational tools to design alloys at the atomistic

level [16]. Coatings that will provide capability for a
165 1C increase in temperature gradient across the
coating and surface temperature as compared to stateof-the-art yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) TBCs are
under development. The approach is to develop lowthermal conductivity ceramic coatings that would be
stable at higher surface temperatures and under large
thermal gradients. Preliminary experiments showed that
the thermal conductivity of YSZ coatings could be
lowered by up to 66% by adding various alloying
oxides.
Silicon carbide (SiC) ber reinforced silicon carbide
(SiC/SiC) ceramic matrix composite (CMC) materials
for combustor liners allow for higher temperature
operation capability for gas turbine engines. Elimination
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or reduction of lm cooling of the liner results in lower

NOx emissions [17]. Near-term efforts are underway to
develop 1480 1C system by developing a CMC with
1315 1C temperature capability and a coating with a
165 1C temperature gradient [15]. Use of SiC nanotubes
as reinforcement for CMCs is being explored to develop
a CMC system with 1650 1C capability. Vapor phase
growth of SiC nanotubes by chemical vapor deposition
and functionalizing the surface of carbon nanotubes to
form SiC are being pursued as methods to produce SiC
nanotubes.
3.3. Adaptive technologies and systems
Adaptive technologies for turbine engines will center
on ow control and management, morphing structures,
adaptive materials, and adaptive cycles. These technologies will improve performance and operability, utilizing
research in uidics, structures and material system
capabilities, and advanced variable cycle engine congurations. Fundamental uidic technology will enable
virtual aerodynamic shapes, providing inlet and
nozzle area control and peak compressor and turbine
efciency operation over a wide range of ight speeds.
As discussed in the previous subsection, trailing edge
blowing and circulation control for turbomachinery will
provide improved loading and efciency as well as
reduced wake-induced acoustics. Similar application of
this technology to airfoil leading edges likewise will
contribute to virtual camber changes as well as
improved operability margins by reducing aerodynamic
stall of high-performance, sharp edges.
3.3.1. Flow control and management
Active and passive redistribution of boundary layer
ows within the engine will have a profound effect on
the overall propulsion performance of propulsion
systems and their weight by minimizing mechanical
actuation and associated life and leakage losses. For
example, controlling turbine ow area using uidics and
active seals will enable re-optimization of the engine
BPR between takeoff and cruise. This concept will
reconcile design constraints for reduced takeoff emissions and improved cruise fuel-efciency across the ight
envelopes of transport aircraft. Computational modeling will be extremely challenging for these designs to
minimize the losses associated with low-Reynoldsnumber ows for uidics. New propulsion conguration
concepts, employing reverse-ow components or concentrically congured owpaths will benet most from
uidics due to the short ducting distance and natural
radial migration of ow from the high-pressure core
outward. Advancements in ejector design methods also
will contribute to uidic engine adaptability by exploiting natural aerodynamic aspiration rather than active
energy-debit pumping of boundary layer control ow.
Acoustical uidic control of inlet and nozzle boundary

layers could be teamed with actively pulsed, noise
attenuating liners, thereby maximizing the dual applicability of a single integrated technology.
3.3.2. Morphing structures
Mechanical and structural variability will become
easier to implement with the advent of active/passive
shape-memory materials and tailored aeroelastic design
capability, or morphing. Similar in effect to using
uidic technologies to obtain virtual changes in geometries, future shape-memory materials will be employed in
a variety of component areas. Anti-icing technology
could be used to change engine inlet characteristics such
as lip radius and sharpness between takeoff and cruise,
enabling high takeoff airow without compromising the
high cruise efciency and low drag afforded by a sharper
inlet lip. Variable-geometry inlets and nozzle contraction area variability will improve engine performance
and operability without the additional weight required
for mechanical actuation. Application of shape-memory
materials to turbomachinery will result in the ability to
do airfoil camber reshaping (for loading and efciency
optimization and operability) and to have variable
leading edge sharpness similar to those made possible
by uidic virtual shaping. Fluidic and shape-memory
adaptable airfoil research also will be applicable to
aircraft congurations (particularly for viscous drag
reduction, trim drag reduction, and circulation control
for wings and empennages). Large changes in internal
engine temperature environments and speeds readily
provide untapped thermal and centrifugal forces that
can be used for passive, structural shape control.
Variable-speed gearboxes that provide optimum matching of engine high- and low-pressure spool speeds
throughout the ight envelope and that maximize
gearbox utility are another potential application for
shape-memory materials.
3.3.3. Adaptive materials
Future material systems will be designed not only for
their properties, but also for their unique functionality.
Crystalline-grown metallics optimized for their application-specic grain boundary properties may contain
lattice-encoded DNA-like properties. These materials
will be capable of changing grain boundary size through
active and/or passive stimuli, thereby preventing component failures. Similarly, chemically encoded properties
for coatings and compliant layers will provide passive
self-healing protection against surface delamination,
oxidation, and spalling. Future matrix bers (used in
metal-matrix composite, CMC, and PMC materials) not
only will provide structural reinforcement, but also will
serve as an embedded conduit for information exchange
to and from the intelligent engine controls, as discussed
in the previous subsection. High-conductivity bers such
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Fig. 15. Nanoscale materials.
as carbon nanotubes (Fig. 15) will simulate a system for

passive collection of component diagnostic data. These
same bers also may be used to supply messages and
adjust the conguration either to optimize operating
characteristics or to prevent/control component failures.
3.3.4. Adaptive cycles
Thermodynamic cycle modications and accompanying structural owpath changes also will result in
propulsion system adaptability. Counter-rotating, concentric-spool engines employing blade-on-blade technologies and advanced materials will stretch the limits of
variable cycle engines. These propulsion systems use
structural concepts that will enable the use of extremely
low-weight (strength-compromised) composites by turning the turbomachinery inside out, putting the blades
in compressive rather than tensile stress. Blade row
counter-rotation will further reduce the required rotational spool speed per turbomachinery loading, enabling
acoustically superior, tip-shrouded, counter-rotating
fans. Other modied Brayton cycle adaptations will
include off-axis cores powering ultra-high-pressure
combustion and serving as topping cycles to obtain
peak-power takeoff thrust without compromising the
optimum cycle operation for cruise. Inter-turbine and

even inter-stage turbine combustion congurations are
being investigated for their large impacts on cycle
adaptability over diverse missions. These modied
Brayton cycles also intrinsically offer leaner combustion
and reduced emissions but challenge state-of-the-art
practices for maintaining stability.
The next section focuses on new and innovative
concepts for optimum deployment of intelligent engines
in an airframe for lower cost, increased reliability and
safety, and reduced emissions and noise.
4. Engine conguration revolution

For over 40 years, the shape and architecture of
commercial jet aircraft has remained virtually unchanged. Typical large commercial aircraft architecture
retains the original Boeing 707 shape, swept wings (with
either two or four wing mounted engines) attached to a
cylindrical (or oval-shaped) fuselage. A few minor
changes to this architecture include fuselage mounted
engines for small- and medium-sized commercial jets,
high-BPR turbofan engines, and winglets at the wing
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tips. The authors assert that this model does not

represent the optimum engine-airframe architecture.
Rather, an optimum architecture should have a fully
integrated airframe and propulsion system.
This section reviews conceptual design studies conducted on distributed vectored propulsion, and other
innovative concepts such as pulse detonation and
exoskeletal engines.
4.1. Distributed vectored propulsion
With the advent of the high-BPR turbofan, research
has promoted higher-temperature, more thermally
efcient, smaller cores to power larger and larger fans
for propulsion. These smaller, ultra-efcient cores
someday will reach practical economic limits in manufacturing size. Similarly, engine companies also will
reach limits in their ability to manufacture and integrate
the larger fans with aircraft. Presently, the state-of-theart design BPR continues to grow, resulting in larger
fans (eventually requiring gearing), increased aircraft
integration challenges (necessitating high wing aircraft
designs, etc.), and growing fan acoustic challenges. To
circumvent these eventual limits, technologies affording
highly integrated propulsion and airframe congurations must be pursued. Airframe-integrated propulsion
and power congurations centered on distributed
propulsion and capitalizing on technologies realized
through the gas turbine revolution will usher in the nextgeneration air transportation system. The distributed
propulsion concept is based on replacing the conventionally small number of large size, discrete engines with
a large number of small, mini, or micro propulsion
systems as dened in Table 1.
Distributed propulsion broadly describes a variety of
congurations that can be classied into three main
categories: distributed engines (including small, mini,
and micro engine systems), common-core multi-fans,
and distributed exhaust. In each of the three categories,
the forward thrust delivered by the propulsion system
remains the same as that for the conventional large
engine counterpart (mass ow times exhaust velocity).
Strategic distribution of the exhausting mass ow
affords direct and indirect propulsion and airframe
system performance benets that ultimately can enable
new aircraft missions beyond what is achievable with
state-of-the-art turbofan concepts.
In general, engines in all three categories will produce
lower thermal efciencies using state-of-the-art technology
(due principally to reduced component efciencies from

size, increased transmission losses, increased internal
nozzle and inlet viscous losses, etc.). Through the
infusion of innovative propulsion technologies, the
losses associated with each individual propulsion system
thrust will be mitigated, and the airframe/mission
benets enabled by distributed propulsion will be fully
realized. The most protable technologies to mitigate
these losses are those that only can (or most fully) be
realized in the small scale (i.e., ow/circulation control
through micro-turbines, foil/air bearings, concentric
engines/core). The most protable systems benets are
those that result from airframe congurations that are
realized by these propulsion congurations (i.e., tailless
propulsion controlled aircraft, noise mitigation, supersonic cruise aircraft weight and drag reductions, etc.).
The common-core, multi-fan concept can help increase
propulsive efciency through increased bypass ratio.
4.1.1. Distributed engines
Distributed engines are decentralized propulsion
systems that utilize smaller powerplants that are
deployed over (or embedded into) the aircraft. Examples
of this type of propulsion system might include small or
mini engines (Fig. 16) deployed across the wingspan and
fuselage, and micro-turbine engines (Fig. 17) embedded
in the aircraft surface for ow/circulation-control and
thrust. Performance penalties associated with miniengine systems principally are due to boundary layer
effects of uid being on the same geometric scale as the
propulsion system. The challenge of manufacturing
tolerances that can be met economically in these engines
also impacts their performance and cost. Therefore,
mini- and microengine propulsion systems must
provide benets that offset these performance and cost
penalties. Such could include noise and drag reduction, a
superior integrated aircraft/engine system, and reduced
acquisition cost (through high-volume production).
Laterally distributed engines will afford similar
aerodynamic and acoustic benets as those described
for the high-aspect-ratio wing trailing edge nozzle.
Additional aircraft integration of supporting uidic
technologies using distributed engines could provide
more dramatic transport mission impacts.
Systems studies have shown that as much as 35% of
total aircraft fuel burn reduction might be realized from
boundary layer ingestion by employing small- to miniengine distributed propulsion systems. This performance
benet may be enhanced in a hybrid system utilizing
Table 1
Maximum thrust of various engine classes
Engine class
Micro
Mini
Small
Medium
Large
Max thrast (lb)
o10
10 to o100
100 to o1000
1000 to o10,000
10,000o
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Fig. 16. Distributed engines embedded in the wing and body.
Fig. 17. Radial inow turbine of a micro engine.
micro engines to energize the low-momentum boundary

layer ow. This benet only can be realized if the microengine fuel consumption is low (again scavenging of
waste heat would be advantageous as described in the
section on Distributed Exhaust). Because of their size,
small- and mini- engines may be constructed using
extremely high specic-strength composite materials
with less statistical failure due to defects. The reduced
size allows practical, cost-effective manufacturing of
these advanced-material structures. Success of smalland miniengine propulsion systems deployed laterally
across the wing is dependent upon exploiting technologies (such as bladed discs and centrifugal compressors)
that are best realized in the reduced size.
Micro-engines can provide distributed propulsion and
exhibit the potential to obtain large thrust-to-weight
ratios. Because of their size, these propulsion systems
have the following as primary technical challenges: lowReynolds-number uid effects; engine manufacturing
tolerances and corresponding impacts on seals and
clearances; 3-D turbomachinery shapes; and combustion
efciency. Currently, parts at the micro-scale only can be
produced in two dimensions. This limitation on the
rotating components can be overcome with improve-
ments in materials and manufacturing technologies.

Technologies are being developed that will enable threedimensional airfoil shaping and allow new micro-scale
engine congurations with reduced stress concentrations
inherent in the current two-dimensional prototypes.
Other factors affecting the structural/mechanical design
of these micro-engines are high rotational speeds, which
may exceed two million revolutions per minute (RPMs).
These high speeds are achievable due to reduced-scale
inertial loads, but demand non-lubricated air-bearings
to avoid the common modes of failure observed in
research prototypes.
Though the physical engine scale is decreased, the
chemical reaction times remain constant and will require
technology innovation to regain lost combustion efciency. A general rule for mini- and micro-engines is that
SFC and thrust-to-weight ratio increase as thrust and
size decrease. To become a viable primary propulsion
source, SFC reductions to near current macro-engine
levels must accompany the increased thrust-to-weight
ratios already achievable in mini- and micro- engines.
Distributed engine concepts will enable a variety of
attractive airframe congurations leading to performance and operational benets. Large engine production rates, lower development cost and cycle time, and
elimination of on-the-wing engine maintenance by
replacing entire engines could reduce the life cycle cost
by as much as 50%. Aircraft safety will be enhanced
through engine redundancy and semi-redundant aircraft
propulsion control. Dual use of the airframe structure
will dramatically reduce overall system weight, and
afford system noise reduction opportunities beyond
those attainable with large engines. Principal technologies that will afford the greatest potential for realizing
micro-engine propulsion success include the following:
innovative combustion techniques; processing of SiC
and other advanced materials for improved 3-D designs;
and integral autonomous controls coupled with submicro sensors assuring engine array reliability.
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4.1.2. Common-core multi-fans/propulsors

Common-core, multi-fans/propulsors are multiple
thrust fans powered by a central engine core (Fig. 18).
The advantage of these congurations is that they
provide ultra-high-BPR engines with higher propulsive
efciency without necessitating radical airframe changes
to accommodate a single large turbofan engine. The
principle challenges of this approach are power transmission weight and performance losses. These challenges
may be mitigated somewhat by the variable gearbox
technologies previously developed under the gas turbine
revolution, or by employing blade-on-blade manifolded
tip-turbines on the fans. These challenges also could be
circumvented using direct-drive tandem fans (i.e., axially
aligned fans with separate inlets for and aft of the
common core) rather than the side-by-side conguration. Another potential conguration uses the core
exhaust to drive two off-axis turbines that are attached
to direct-drive fans. Multi-fan cores will require
innovative separate inlets to realize their full BPR and
aircraft integration benet, which also will require
lightweight structures and possibly ow control to
minimize weight and inlet performance losses.
The commonly shared performance challenges associated with all forms of distributed propulsion (lowReynolds number ows, boundary-layer interactions,
and fuel management systems) will be surpassed during
this research phase using those technologies and
discipline capabilities (aerodynamic, mechanical, materials, structures, manufacturing, etc.) outlined for the
gas turbine revolution. The highly integrated distributed
vectored propulsion systems for future subsonic and
SSTs will incorporate vertical/short-takeoff and landing
(V/STOL) and Propulsion Controlled Aircraft (PCA)
capabilities, and capitalize on intelligent, self-healing
properties.
strategic deployment of thrust on the aircraft. Distributed exhaust congurations suffer performance penalties
as a result of nozzle viscous losses and likely only will be
used for aircraft systems exhibiting extreme sensitivity to
low-speed lift and/or cruise drag. Therefore, distributed
exhaust systems will be better suited to supersonic cruise
applications in which noise-sizing for takeoff eld length
and sustained supersonic cruise drag are the most
dominant and least reconcilable constraints (Fig. 19).
High-aspect-ratio nozzles for commercial supersonic
cruise vehicles offer the potential for noise and nozzle
weight reduction. The projected sideline noise reduction
using a wing trailing edge 2-D mixer/ejector nozzle with
comparatively small exhaust height may be as much as
10 dB (due to increased ambient jet mixing, improved
ejector internal penetration and mixing, and increased
liner attenuability resulting from naturally higher
frequencies and surface areas). In addition, the highaspect-ratio geometrically produces a shorter nozzle for
an equal nozzle pressure ratio and provides the potential
for shared structural loading with the wing. This
conguration will culminate in as much as 50%
equivalent nozzle weight reduction and propulsion
related cruise drag. Increased low-speed lift via wing
trailing edge ap blowing and thrust vectoring will also
be achieved through this conguration, and reduce the
required take-off eld length and affording community
and approach noise reductions.
Hybrid systems incorporating distributed/thrust vectored exhaust and micro-engines for ow control and
actuator power also are attractive. To reduce the
performance losses resulting from increased nozzle
surface areas and increased internal ow turning,
micro-engines can be incorporated for boundary layer
control and cooling. Instead of active dedicated microfuel/combustors, this approach might employ passive
methods to utilize waste heat from the nozzle to power
4.1.3. Distributed exhaust

Propulsion systems with distributed exhaust use a
central engine power plant with a ducted nozzle(s) for
Fig. 18. Common-core, multi-propulsor engines.
Fig. 19. Supersonic airplane with high aspect ratio nozzle.
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the micro-engines. Scavenging waste heat will reduce

exhaust temperatures as well as increase effectiveness of
the primary distributed propulsion system. Micro
engines also might be congured to facilitate virtual
shape control through uidic reshaping of the
primary nozzles, which reduces or eliminates mechanical
actuation while reducing internal viscous losses and
waste heat.
Several studies are underway in the US to evaluate the
concept of distributed propulsion. These include an
embedded wing propulsion (EWP) system applied to a
800-passenger blended-wing-body (BWB) aircraft, application of distributed propulsion to SST, and use of
cross ow fans for embedded distributed propulsion for
subsonic aircraft. Results of these studies are presented
below.
4.1.4. Blended-wing-body aircraft with distributed
propulsion
To demonstrate the feasibility of propulsion systems
using embedded wing engines, an 800-passenger BWB
transport aircraft with engines distributed along the
215
wing span was chosen as the baseline model for study

[18]. From the beginning of this study, engine sizing was
an issue and it was decided that a moderately small sized
engine, such as General Electrics CF34, with low SFC
was more ideal for the large BWB with EWP. Table 2
shows the number of engines required to power the
aircraft [19]. In addition, it was determined that
modication of the original BWB payload volume
structure should be avoided so that there is minimal
impact on overall vehicle structure. These two requirements led to two EWP designs: one with the engines
buried in the wing (Fig. 20) and another with the engines
integrated with the wing trailing edge (Fig. 21). Fig. 20
shows a conguration with the engines buried inside the
wing between the payload volume and the outer
wing. This conguration has inlets and nozzles near
the wing leading edge and trailing edge respectively, and
provides direct powered lift using thrust-vectoring
nozzles. Fig. 21 shows a conguration with the engines
integrated within the wing trailing edge. For this
conguration, higher propulsive efciency may be
achieved by ingesting all or a large amount of upper
Table 2
Conventional engine selection comparison for 800-passenger BWB with Embedded Wing Propulsion concept
Engines
General electric GE-9 0
General electric CF34
Williams international FJ22
Length (in)
Weight (Ib)
Thrust (Ib)
Diameter of fan (in)
Number of engines reqd
193
16700
90000
123
2
129
2400
12700
45.6
14
41
80
700
14.5
264
Fig. 20. Conguration A. A notional EWP conguration with engines all buried in the wing using a baseline 800 passenger BWB
conguration.
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Fig. 21. Conguration B. A notional EWP conguration with engines all integrated with wing trailing edge using a baseline 800passenger BWB conguration.
Fig. 22. NACA 0012 airfoil with thrust vectoring tail-jet or jet ap by truncating the last 15% chord and replacing it with jet ow.
wing surface boundary layer ow. The benets of

ingesting either wakes or boundary layer ows to
propulsive efciency have been described [20]. However,
because the inlets ingest thick boundary layer ow from
the wing upper surface, the pressure recovery and ow
distortion at the engine fan face plane may be
compromised. In addition, powered lift for the conguration shown in Fig. 21 would be difcult to achieve
due to the nozzle being located near the vehicle trailing
edge and away from the center of gravity, causing large
pitching movements.
In order to assess the benets of thrust vectoring near
the wing trailing edge, simple two-dimensional computational uid dynamics (CFD) simulations were performed using a NACA 0012 airfoil, truncating the last
15% of airfoil chord and replacing it with a thrust
vectoring jet ow or jet ap. Fig. 22 shows the related
geometry. For this initial study, an inlet is not included
in the geometry for simplicity and due to an as yet
undened inlet conguration. In addition, this studys
intent was primarily to demonstrate the effect of the
airfoil trailing edge thrust vectoring jet on airfoil
pressure distribution, lift and drag. For the simulation,
a general purpose NavierStokes CFD code (WIND)
[21] was used and a turbulent (Spalart-Allmaras oneequation) model was implemented. Table 3 shows the
computational boundary conditions in the free stream
and at the jet nozzle exit plane. Fig. 23 shows the effect
of the jet at the end of modied airfoil on lift and drag
coefcients. The lift and drag coefcients are based on
free stream conditions and the original untruncated
NACA 0012 airfoil chord length. They are calculated by
integrating only the upper and lower airfoil surface
pressure distributions without including the vectored jet
force contribution to the lift. In addition, the momen-
Table 3
Flow conditions for NACA 0012 airfoil jet ap CFD study
Mach No.
Total pressure (psia)
Total temperature (1C)
Free stream
Tail-jet at nozzle
exit plane
0.2
14.7
520
0.95
22.15
520
tum or ram drag of the airow in the jet is not

incorporated into the force accounting. The study was
performed at the low speed condition of M 1 0:2 with
M j 0:95 while varying angle-of-attack, a; and jet
angle, y: Positive y implies that the jet ow is leaving
downward from the airfoil trailing edge nozzle, providing both powered lift and thrust at the same time. At a
xed y 301 and various positive as, the lift coefcients
are all positive and increase as a increases, proving that
the trailing edge jets provide extra circulation around
airfoil as if there is a ap near the trailing edge. Also,
drag coefcients are very low and, in fact, for a lower
than 121, they are negative suggesting that there is
forward thrust, (i.e., a large airfoil leading edge suction
force) rather than a net drag on the airfoil. However,
it is noted that, because the jet is at a vectored angle,
there is a loss in net axial jet force that corresponds to
F j 1 cosy; which must be accounted for during
overall vehicle force calculations.
4.1.5. Distributed propulsion concept for supersonic
transport
For SST vehicle design, the Georgia Institute of
Technology (Georgia Tech), Atlanta, Georgia is leading
systems analyses on business jet and 300-passenger sized
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Fig. 23. Effect on lift and drag coefcients by varying angle-of-attack (a) and jet angle (y) at M 1 0:2; Re(/ft)=1.388 106,
Mj 0:95:
vehicle concepts. Traditional supersonic aircraft typically incorporate podded engines designed for the
supersonic environment but conceptually similar to a
subsonic aircraft. Isolated propulsion system pods cause
vehicle penalties that the analyses being conducted at
Georgia Tech will help to quantify.
In a supersonic ight, added drag (wave drag) results
from the shock waves generated by the vehicle.
Depending on the vehicle conguration, this wave drag
may constitute from 10% to 50% of the overall vehicle
drag. In addition to wave drag, shock waves will
coalesce to varying degrees to cause a sonic boom at
the ground. A signicant contribution to the boom
signature is caused by propulsion system pods. By
carefully integrating propulsion pods into the wing
structure, a novel conguration that will reduce wave
drag and thus have greater overall mission efciency
might be possible. Such a notional vehicle concept is
shown in Fig. 24. For this concept, two conceptual
propulsion systems are being considered: traditional
gas turbine engines for the near term; and for longerterm horizons, a novel propulsion system, utilizing
distributed power and perhaps electric fuel cell power.
To produce the required lift, additional swept wing
panels outboard of the engine nacelle panels may be
required.
In terms of supersonic wing design, the delta platform
is a compromise between subsonic and supersonic
aerodynamics. The low lift curve slope causes low wing
loading and compromised supersonic cruise performance. Analysts in Georgia Techs Advanced System
Design Laboratory have developed and continually
update a system level approach to vehicle/mission
design. The tools that are being developed will be
coupled with propulsion system sizing, low- and highspeed aerodynamics, sonic boom prediction, and elements of structural design to create a fully integrated
aircraft concept. An optimal vehicle design will be
synthesized and evaluated, and nal comparisons will be
made to the evolved High Speed Civil Transport
Fig. 24. A baseline concept for SST with embedded propulsion

system.
(HSCT) developed as part of NASAs High Speed

Research (HSR) Program.
In addition to deployment of conventional gas turbine
engines, NASA has also investigated several other
innovative propulsion concepts to improve overall
propulsion system performance and reduce its weight.
Three of these concepts, cross ow fan, pulse detonation
engines and exoskeletal engines, are described next.
4.1.6. Cross flow fan
For low speed applications, the concept of a cross
ow fan or transverse fan has been proposed and
investigated for many years. The fan is a two-dimensional spanwide propulsor that is integrated within a
wing structure to distribute the thrust along the
wingspan. Fig. 25 shows one such conguration where
the fan ingests the air from the wing upper and lower
surfaces and ejects the air toward the wing trailing edge
[22]. In this conguration, two gas generators mounted
at the wing-root and the wing-tip transmit power to the
transverse fan rotors that are placed near the wing
trailing edge and connected by ex-couplings or
universal joints. However, due to low performance of
the fan and difculty of installation within an aircraft
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Fig. 25. A cross-ow fan or transverse fan concept applied to

aircraft wing.
wing structure, the concept was never put into practice.

Under NASAs Revolutionary Aeropropulsion Concepts Project, there are efforts by the US Naval PostGraduate School and Syracuse University to improve
fan performance by using advanced experimental and
CFD techniques to analyze the concept at a vehicle
systems level. It is hoped that, at the end of these studies,
a high-performance cross ow fan may be realized and
applied to future air vehicles with short take-off and
landing, and efcient cruise capabilities.
4.1.7. Pulse detonation engines
PDEs have potential as a revolutionary means for
achieving low-cost, high-efciency propulsion. Used as
an airbreather or as a rocket, PDEs offer many unique
advantages over more conventional means of propulsion. NASA is exploring the use of pulse detonation
combustion for all areas of aeropropulsion, including
commercial aviation.
PDEs operate quite differently from gas turbine
engines in the process of producing thrust. While a gas
turbine engine must utilize some of its energy to
mechanically compress air prior to increasing its
temperature during combustion, PDEs utilize energy
from detonation waves (mechanical shock and combustion waves) to accomplish pressure and temperature
increases. The PDE cycle uses constant volume combustion and potentially can be more efcient than the
constant pressure cycle used in gas turbine engines.
Conceptually, the basic PDE and its operation are
simple (Fig. 26). The engine itself can be as simple as a
combustion chamber with an air inlet and valving to
control incoming airow and a nozzle to control the
manner in which hot gases expand and generate thrust
more efciently. A PDEs main moving parts may be
high-speed valves that allow fuel and air to enter the
combustion chamber during each cycle, and combustion
products to be exhausted out of the combustion
chamber in a controlled manner. A detonation wave,
produced during combustion, is a high-speed (greater
than approximately Mach 5) pressure wave that puts
enough energy into the fuelair mixture to cause rapid
heat release within a very small region immediately
behind the pressure wave. As the detonation wave
moves through the combustion chamber, the temperature and pressure of the now reacted fuel and air are
increased. The combustion chambers increased average
internal pressure ultimately is responsible for the thrust
produced by the PDE. Like a ramjet, this basic concept
can be used directly in the Mach 24 range but with
higher efciency than the ramjet, and it has the potential
to generate sea-level-static thrust.
At NASA Glenn, studies are underway to utilize pulse
detonation combustion in a hybrid gas turbine engine
for subsonic commercial aircraft applications. These
studies consider the potential system-level benets of
using PDEs instead of current propulsion systems,
including improved efciency and SFC, as well as the
potential for conguration variations and airframe
integration benets. An advanced hybrid PDE concept,
in which the conventional combustor is replaced by a
pulse detonation combustor, is presented in Fig. 27.
Initial studies have indicated a potential for 10% or
more reduction in cruise SFC.
Some key technology issues that need to be resolved
prior to this technologys application include the
following:
Detonation

frequency to achieve specic power

comparable to gas turbine engine
Structural robustness and fatigue
Noise associated with hybrid PDEs
NOx emissions
Thermal management
Integration issues.
4.1.8. Exoskeletal engine

The exoskeletal engine concept (Fig. 28) represents a
paradigm shift in turbomachinery design [23]. This
concept utilizes a drum-type rotor design for the
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219
Fig. 26. Pulse detonation engine operation.
Fig. 27. Advanced hybrid PDE concept.
Fig. 28. Exoskeletal engine concept.
turbomachinery, in which rotor blades are attached to

the outer rotating drum. As a result, the blades primarily
are in radial compression as opposed to radial tension,
and bearings are located between the outer ring and the
engine shell. For large engines, one of the major
challenges is in bearing design, and magnetic bearings
have been suggested as a possible solution to this
problem. The drum rotor design allows the turbomachinery to be manufactured using CMC materials that
can operate at higher temperatures than the metal alloys
that typically are used in turbomachinery components.
This is a benecial feature for hypersonic propulsion
systems, where high stagnation temperatures can exceed
the limits of traditional turbomachinery materials.
The above two sections were focused on next
generation propulsion systems that will be powered by
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220
conventional hydrocarbon fuels. The primary emphasis

was on advances in technologies needed for intelligent
gas turbine engines and more innovative deployment of
engines within an airframe. The next section, which
combines fuel infrastructure and alternate energy and
power revolutions, addresses technology challenges for
use of alternate fuels (such as hydrogen) in gas turbines
and the application of fuel cells for aircraft power and
propulsion.
5. Fuel infrastructure and alternate energy and power

revolutions
While the timing remains debatable, the 21st century
almost assuredly will see the emergence of an all-electric
economy in which electricity will be the common
currency. It will be produced, stored, converted and
consumed as other exchange medium are today.
Preceding this inevitable era is the likelihood of a
hydrogen-fuel economy. The ever-increasing global
energy consumption rate for electric ground power and
heavy use of hydrocarbon fuels in the transportation
industries will continue to drain global reserves of crude
oil and will have even greater impacts on emissions.
Depletion of crude oil reserves and the associated dollar
per barrel price increase will the rening of new oil
resources (i.e. from shale oil). This will sustain the
hydrocarbon fuel economy well into the 21st century but
at a signicantly more tenuous economic level. Global
environmental impacts from hydrocarbon emissions
(predominantly the greenhouse gas CO2) will likely
accelerate the introduction of cleaner alternative energy
sources and more efcient utilization systems for the
ground power and transportation industries.
While nuclear energy seemingly remains the next
ground power alternative, the transportation industry
must constrain itself to other alternatives in maintaining
a safe environment for the public. Energy alternatives
for the transportation industry will include low-carbon
fuels and additives, hydrogen fuel, stored electrochemical, and electromechanical energy sources. Future 21st
Century aeropropulsion and aviation systems must
adapt to best utilize these energy sources. The cost
associated with infrastructure changes and the sustained
use of legacy aviation systems logically demands a
transition period as new energy sources are introduced.
Hybrid propulsion systems will be required to meet the
challenges of transition and the timely introduction of
edgling new power systems.
A global hydrogen consumption rate for future power
demands a practical, cost-effective production rate. This
implies hydrogen production from water, using a netpositive (and as yet undetermined) energy means. Safety
issues (whether real or perceived) also will govern the
production, distribution, and storage of hydrogen.
Complexities associated with hydrogen production and

densication compounded by safety issues will likely
result in centralized reneries. These will be similar to
present-day hydrocarbon fuel reneries, despite the
global availability of water. Furthermore, energy
storage and consumption by the majority of the nonaviation transportation industry (i.e. automotive) likely
will be from distributed electricity rather than directly
from hydrogen. The aviation transportation segment is
the only possible exception to the electric currency
model. This is due to large take-off power requirements
favoring hydrogen combustion systems over edgling
electrochemical systems on a per weight basis. Therefore, airports may therefore require on-site hydrogen
handling. Early acceptance of hydrogen at controlledaccess airport facilities will also promote the introduction of hybrid combustion/electric propulsion such as
the gas-turbine/fuel-cell.
In summary, the 21st century will see an environmentally inspired transportation system revolution from
hydrocarbon combustion power to electric power.
Hydrogen fuel and hybrid combustion/electric systems
are possibilities for bridging the transitions.
This section presents two potential alternate energy
systems for aviation application that are being pursued
at NASA Glenn. This section also presents a detailed
study conducted at NASAs Glenn Research Center to
investigate an electrically powered light aircraft using
proton exchange fuel cell.
Hydrogen powered gas turbine engine

Fuel cell based power and propulsion.
5.1. Hydrogen powered gas turbine engine
The concept of hydrogen powered gas turbine aircraft
has been around for over half a century. A number of
hydrogen-based propulsion systems and aircraft concepts for subsonic and supersonic ight have been
evaluated over the years. Brewer compiled a detailed
account of many of these projects [24]. The earliest ight
of a hydrogen-based propulsion system was in 1956,
when one engine of a B-57 (Fig. 29) was own on
hydrogen by the NACA Lewis Flight Propulsion
Laboratory, today known as NASA Glenn. Other work
in that era include project Suntan [25], a Mach 2.5
reconnaissance aircraft developed by Lockheed Skunk
Works for the US Air Force. Although the project was
cancelled in 1959, advances were made in propulsion
system development with testing of the Pratt & Whitney
304 engine. While the promise of hydrogen-fueled gas
turbine engines was never realized in the 1950s, the
lessons learned provided critical steps to the use of
hydrogen in the nations space program.
Unfortunately, since those early B-57 ights and
project Suntan, much of the work on hydrogen for gas
ARTICLE IN PRESS
Fig. 29. 1956-NASA Glenn Research Center B-57 with

hydrogen-fueled engine.
turbine engines has been limited to paper studies.

Interest in hydrogen aircraft tends to peak during times
when concerns for energy supplies are high. Some of the
most comprehensive studies were by Lockheed with
funding from NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA [26,27]. These studies examined design and
operation issues for a 400-passenger subsonic hydrogenfueled aircraft, with a range of 5500-nmi at Mach 0.85.
While proven feasible, this aircraft concept always is
limited by the hydrogens storage volume and infrastructure needs to supply the fuel. Hence, as fossil fuels
availability and cost eased from the 1970s energy
crunch, interest in aircraft powered by hydrogen fuel
waned.
As fuel costs steadied in the 1980s and 1990s, air
travel increased dramatically, as did transportation by
all forms of motorized vehicles. During the same period,
there was an increased awareness of the effects that
emissions such as CO2 and NOx were having on the
environment. Pressure to reduce emissions mounted,
and research was initiated to reduce aircraft emissions
while maintaining high fuel burn efciencies. Tremendous strides were made in reducing emissions from gas
turbine engines burning conventional jet fuels. However,
in many circles it was felt that more could be done, in
particular with a switch to hydrogen. Hydrogen offers a
signicant benet to reducing emissions by completely
eliminating CO, CO2, sulfur oxides (SOx), UHC, and
smoke.
During the last two decades, several groups began reexamining the concept of hydrogen-fueled transport
aircraft. Efforts by Russian aircraft manufacturer
Tupolev led to the building and ying of a TU-155
modied to y on hydrogen [28,29]. As with past efforts,
the cost and availability of hydrogen became limiting
factors and the project was converted to liqueed
natural gas. Despite difculties with hydrogen, work
continued in Europe on hydrogen-fueled aircraft. Some
work continued within the framework of a GermanRussian project to develop a hydrogen-fueled demon-
221
Fig. 30. European Cryoplane concept.
strator based on the Dornier 328 Jet [30]. One of the

most prominent efforts was the European Aerospace
and Defense Society (EADS) Cryoplane (Fig. 30), which
examined technology needs for a large commercial
transport based on the Airbus A310 [31]. In the United
States, NASA Glenn initiated the Zero CO2 Emissions
Technology (ZCET) project to conduct system studies
and conduct research on technologies for hydrogenfueled aircraft. A study also was completed at NASA
Langley to examine the potential aircraft conguration
benets that could be realized with a hydrogen system
[32]. Another aspect to the ZCET study [33] was the
examination of hydrogen-fueled aircraft powered by
fuel-cell propulsion systems. A second study [34] funded
by NASAs Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA
also examined the possibility of hydrogen-fueled ight
with fuel-cell aircraft. Results from those studies
indicate that while many technical challenges exist,
with steady technology maturation, ight of aircraft
powered by fuel-cell propulsion systems can become a
reality.
5.1.1. Hydrogen economy
When the topic of hydrogen-fueled aircraft is introduced, two of the most common questions asked are
Where will the hydrogen come from? and Doesnt
making hydrogen create even more CO2? Certainly
those are valid questions and ones that do not have easy
answers. While hydrogen is one of the most common
elements, it is not found in a pure state and must be
produced from some other source such as methane or
water. Current production methods are very energy
intensive, with the primary method being steam methane
reformation. An added challenge to manufacturing
hydrogen is the amount of CO2 created in the process.
Clearly there is a need not only to develop methods to
sequester CO2 from the current method, but also to
develop new, renewable manufacturing methods.
To address issues associated with developing a
hydrogen economy, the US Department of Energy
(DoE) has embarked on an ambitious hydrogen energy
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222
program. The program concentrates on ve critical

areas that must be addressed before hydrogen can
become a mainstream consumer energy source. These
areas include production, delivery, storage, conversion
applications, and public education and outreach. Details
of the plan can be found in the National Hydrogen
Energy Roadmap [35] that includes the following
statement:
Hydrogen holds the potential to provide a clean,
reliable, and affordable energy supply that can
enhance Americas economy, environment, and
security.
As a sign of hydrogens increased potential, President
Bush has proposed $1.2 billion for the development
of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and a hydrogen infrastructure.
One key area that the DOE program does not address
is aviation. As the nation moves towards hydrogen as
the primary source of transportation fuel, aviation must
keep pace. Debates persist regarding whether ground
power and transportation or aviation will convert to
hydrogen rst. Certainly the greatest impact to improve
the environment will come from converting ground
transportation and power. However, sufcient infrastructure must be in place to meet current standards of
consumer expectations. In the area of ground transportation, drivers expect to nd fuel easily and quickly and
if that cannot be met, gaining the general publics
acceptance will be difcult. One advantage for aviation
is that a current centralized system exists. Aircraft only
y point-to-point and at each location specialized
personnel are available to service the aircraft. Since
any use of hydrogen will create issues with storage and
delivery, the implementation into transportation will be
easier in a centralized depot type system such as
aviation. Based upon the studies mentioned earlier,
there are clearly issues that must be addressed before
hydrogen-fueled aircraft become common place. Hydrogens widespread use in aviation is still decades in the
future, but that fact is the clear reason for NASA to
investigate technologies capable of making hydrogen
aircraft a reality.
5.1.2. Aircraft technology needs
The development of a hydrogen-fueled aircraft has a
number of challenges that must be addressed before an
operational system can become a reality. An examination of key hydrogen properties can provide immediate
insight into the advantages and disadvantages of
hydrogen. Not only does hydrogen possess a tremendous amount of energy, but it is also an excellent heat
sink for component cooling. Of course, its disadvantages
include low volume and cryogenic temperatures. The
following comparison of properties between hydrogen
and common hydrocarbon fuels is provided as a

reference in Table 4.
In general terms the properties can be put in the
following context:
Hydrogen has 2.8 times the energy per pound as Jet A

and 2.4 times the energy per pound as Methane.
Hydrogen has 1/11 the density of Jet A and 1/6 the

density of Methane.
equivalent energy, Hydrogen has 4 times the
volume of Jet A and 2.5 times the volume of
Methane.
Hydrogen has 4.9 times the cooling capacity of Jet A
and 2.8 times the cooling capacity of Methane.
For
5.1.2.1. Aircraft configuration. The most immediate

impact a switch to hydrogen will have on aircraft is on
the design itself. Due to its low volume, even in a liquid
state, design changes must be made to the propellant
storage system. Fuel no longer can be stored easily in
wing fuel tanks. Over the years, a number of solutions
have been put forward, most of which address the
problem by incorporating various tank congurations in
the fuselage. The result is an increase in fuselage
diameter with a corresponding increase in aircraft drag.
There have been a number of designs with hydrogen
tanks located at a variety of locations in the fuselage,
including tanks along the top, tanks fore and aft, and
tank/compartment tandems. Fig. 31 shows an artists
conception of a fore and aft conguration. Issues with
fuselage tank congurations include the potential for
hydrogen leaks into the passenger cabin and the general
acceptance of propellants in the same structure as
passengers. A potential NASA concept based on the
modication of Boeings Sonic Cruiser design with
wing tanks located forward of the engines is presented
in Fig. 32.
The switch to hydrogen fuel has some advantages for
aircraft designs. Due to hydrogens higher heating value,
the amount of fuel mass required is lower. The result is a
net decrease in aircraft gross take-off weight (GTOW).
Some system studies indicate a potential 53% reduction
in aircraft GTOW. Resulting design changes include
Table 4
Comparison of properties between hydrogen and common
hydrocarbon fuels
Nominal composition
Molecular weight
Heat of combustion (BTU/lb)
Liquid density (lb/ft3)
Specic heat (BTU/lb-F)
Boiling point at 1 atm (F)
Hydrogen
Methane
Jet A
H2
2.016
51,590
4.43
2.32
423
CH4
16.04
21,500
26.4
0.84
258
CH1.93
168
18,400
50.6
0.47
332
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Fig. 31. 300-passenger hydrogen transport aircraft.
Fig. 32. Conceptual hydrogen cruiser with wing hydrogen

tanks.
smaller wing requirements and a reduction in engine

thrust requirements or even the number of engines
required. A simple analogy would be that of an aircraft
with a 747 fuselage ying with 737 wings and two
engines.
5.1.2.2. Propulsion system. As stated earlier, hydrogen
gas turbines have been developed and own in the past.
However, those systems did not need to address everincreasing environmental emissions regulations. The
elimination of CO, CO2, SOx, and smoke is a
tremendous benet, but hydrogens use does not
eliminate the potential for increased NOx production
due to higher ame temperatures. The problem can be
resolved for hydrogen systems by taking advantage of
the wide ammability range and running the combustion systems lean. Equivalent ame temperatures can be
reached without requiring hot, NOx producing zones
followed by quench or dilution ow. New, lean systems
also can reduce residence time and combustor lengths.
223
In 1999, the ZCET task was initiated to examine new

fuel nozzle designs to support lean hydrogen combustion. To date, several concepts utilizing lean direct, lean
pre-mixed, and hybrid combinations have been designed
and tested. Initial test results are encouraging and
demonstrate NOx levels lower than some state-of-the-art
hydrocarbon systems. A recent report from Pratt &
Whitney Canada (PWC) presents previously unreleased
experiment details that were performed on sector rigs
with hydrogen fuel nozzles [36]. This work was
conducted in the mid-1990s to support the European
Cryoplane Program that had the goal of converting a
Dornier 328 to hydrogen fuel. This work also shows
reductions in NOx emissions are possible with hydrogen
systems.
While the results from these tests are encouraging,
there still is work required to be completed before a
durable, high-performing propulsion system can be
developed. There are a number of technologies required
that have been addressed in system studies, but only to a
limited manner in operation. One of the keys to an
efcient hydrogen system will be the effective use of
hydrogen throughout the engine. Several possibilities
have been studied, including compressor air cooling,
turbine blade and/or air cooling, and nozzle heat
exchangers for fuel preparation. Additional modications to the fuel system design and control systems will
be required. Integration of any or all of these concepts
will require changes to existing engine designs.
5.1.2.3. Storage and delivery system. One of the
biggest challenges to hydrogen aircraft is storage. As
described earlier, issues with hydrogens volume not
only affect basic aerodynamic design, but also impact
basic vehicle structure. The key will be to maximize the
propellants available in a lightweight, low-boil-off
system. There have been a number of design options
proposed for tank structural integration, insulation, and
material selection. In recent years, advancements have
been made in lightweight composite and polymer tanks,
which could reduce propellant system weight. Advanced
materials for lightweight hydrogen tanks still require
signicant research and development. Many times, these
materials work well in small-scale demonstrations, but
application to large-scale or operational components has
proven to be difcult.
Other advances have been made in insulation, ow
control, and liquid level monitoring. Over the years,
work has been conducted to increase hydrogens density.
These areas include solid hydrogen, slush hydrogen, and
densied hydrogen. For example, densied propellants
may be able to provide a 9% increase in density by subcooling to 27 1R. Many of these systems may be
impractical for aircraft applications, but continued
research in the most promising areas can lead to a
practical implementation.
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224
Care must be taken to keep hydrogen feed systems

leak tight due to the small size of the hydrogen molecule.
Weight and packaging issues on the engine will require
changes to existing piping and tting designs. Reliable,
highly sensitive leak detection sensors also will be
required throughout the propulsion system. The sensors
and required support systems must be lightweight
and have the ability to withstand a wide range of
temperatures.
While advanced materials will have a role in the
development of hydrogen aircraft systems, many components still will be fabricated from common materials
in use today. For most components, this will not present
a problem, but care must be taken in the hydrogen
system to avoid embrittlement. Design and study efforts
are necessary to analyze components that will be in
contact with hydrogen. A determination if the part is
acceptable or if changes are required then must be made.
In general, liquid hydrogen storage systems are kept
slightly over ambient pressure. To deliver propellants to
the engine, a series of pumps will be required rst in the
storage tanks, then in boost pumps to pressurize the fuel
just upstream of the engine. A system to purge the
propellant system during down time between ights also
will be required.
Finally, while there are a number of hydrogen systems
ying in support of the space program, only the Space
Shuttle is reusable. Certainly, much has been learned
regarding the use of reusable feed systems from that
experience. However, the total life cycle time of the
Space Shuttle is orders of magnitude below aircraft
systems expected service life. Aircraft systems must y
for thousands of hours with no maintenance requirements. As a result, it is reasonable to expect that as
systems for hydrogen aircraft are developed, extended
life expectancies will result in changes to design and
inuence materials selection. Aircraft systems will also
be required to meet FAA Federal Airworthiness
Regulations (FAR).
5.1.2.4. Propellant operations. The processes to load
and manage hydrogen onboard aircraft will require new
methods to be developed. Todays airports are well
suited for a transition to the hydrogen economy because
while the infrastructure is not in place currently, many
operational aspects will be similar. Airports utilize a
variety of specialized equipment and highly trained
personnel. Of course, differences will exist with hydrogen that must be investigated. Advances in automated
fueling equipment can improve the safety and efciency
of the fueling process. Airlines should impose minimum
fueling time guidelines to maximize ight schedules.
Venting hydrogen on the ground and during ight are
operational issues that must be addressed. Ground
operations will require special attention to eliminate
large amounts of hydrogen collecting from multiple vent
sources. Aircraft start-up operations could be a challenge as the propellant feed system is pre-chilled.
In-ight operations also will benet from years of
spaceight experience. Operation in high acceleration
environments and g-loads should be well understood to
prevent issues such as propellant sloshing. However,
aircraft ight can impose some unique challenges for
multiple tank operations. Federal regulations will
require that aircraft be able to operate engines from
multiple fuel tanks and have the ability to transfer fuel
in-ight from tank-to-tank for safety. Impacts of
emergency procedures such as in-ight fuel jettison will
need further examination.
5.1.2.5. Environmental and safety issues. The use of
hydrogen as an aircraft fuel has tremendous environmental benets with the reduction of CO, CO2, SOx,
UHC, and smoke. The remaining emissions are trace
amounts of unburned hydrogen, water and NOx, each of
which has some environmental impacts. The impact of
NOx as a greenhouse gas is well known and as shown
earlier, steps can be taken to minimize these emissions.
Lesser known, but growing in potential signicance is
the effect of water vapor in the form of contrails and ice
crystals [37]. Water vapor also is classied as a greenhouse gas due to the formation of contrails, which act
like cirrus clouds. The effect is expected to intensify if
hydrogen aircraft become a reality because the amount
of water expelled is expected to be three times that of
todays engines. While that appears to be a major
increase, it should be pointed out that total emissions
from a hydrogen engine are still 2540% lower than an
engine running on hydrocarbon fuels, with water
replacing CO2. Additionally, the more harmful effect
of water in the atmosphere is generally thought to be
limited to stratospheric ight.
A more recent concern is the effect of hydrogen on the
atmosphere. It has been discussed in a recent paper [38]
that the additional hydrogen released into the atmosphere from a hydrogen economy also can act as a
greenhouse gas. The amount released from aircraft is
relatively small compared to ground power and transportation, as with todays emissions, the impact is still
important due to the location. The switch from
hydrocarbon-based fuels to hydrogen will not be with
out environmental impacts; the issues raised with both
water and hydrogen still require study.
Unfortunately, one of the rst things people think of
when they hear hydrogen is the Hindenburg. Common
misconception is the disaster was caused by hydrogen
when, in reality, the real culprit was re created by the
airships skin. As with any propellant, hydrogen is
dangerous when mishandled. However, after many years
of experience, the ability to operate safely has been
demonstrated, but more work will need to be done for
general public use. It should be pointed out that when
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gasoline was rst introduced, it was illegal to store in

garages.
Hydrogens wide ammability limit certainly is an
advantage for stable combustion, but it also makes
safety all that more important. Care must be taken to
avoid leaks in the system and ventilation must be
designed such that hydrogen pockets do not accumulate.
Despite difculties in keeping systems leak tight,
hydrogens low density and high diffusivity provide an
advantage if leaks occur. Unlike high-density hydrocarbon fuels, hydrogen will rise rapidly into the air and
away from the leak. Hydrocarbon fuels such as gasoline
will tend to puddle near the leak or, like methane, will
cloud near the ground. This causes a very dangerous
situation in the presence of ignition sources, as shown
below:
Flame duration for 32 gallons of fuel with ignition
[39]:
LH2 7 s
Propane 4 min
Gasoline 5 min
JP-4 7 min.
A more recent study [40] demonstrated the difference
between a hydrogen leak and a gasoline leak in identical
cars. The hydrogen leak developed a torch-like ame
that was extinguished when the fuel ran out, whereas
gasoline caused the re to spread and eventually engulf
the car.
Due to the vast array of experience Agency-wide,
NASA can play an important role in demonstrating the
safe and efcient use of hydrogen for transportation
systems. As the hydrogen economy reappears on the
horizon, the introduction of hydrogen fuel into the
aviation sector should be addressed. The elimination of
emissions from all aspects of the transportation system
225
will be a signicant contributor to improving the quality

of life for the public. Certainly, there are challenges to
conversion; dramatic change never is easy because
hydrogen aircraft have a number of technical challenges
to address. In some cases, the solution is a matter of
getting engineers to sit down and solve the problem. In
other areas the solution will require more research and
development.
5.2. Fuel cell based power and propulsion
Recent studies conducted at NASA indicate that fuel
cells are becoming a viable option for small aircraft
propulsion, Uninhabited Air Vehicles (UAVs), and
Auxiliary Power Units (APUs), and hold promise for
future large-scale commercial aircraft (Fig. 33). Doubling of fuel cell power densities can be achieved in the
next ve years, which would make electrically powered,
light, general aviation aircraft possible with no performance penalties compared to their conventionally
powered counterparts. A ve-fold increase in fuel cell
power density would enable electrically powered regional-/commuter- size aircraft. A ten-fold increase would
enable electrically powered, large commercial passenger
aircraft. Advanced fuel cell and power management
technologies will be needed to achieve comparable
aircraft performance and utility and to enable the design
of larger electric aircraft.
Preliminary results from a recent NASA study [33]
indicate that ight is possible using commercial off-theshelf (COTS) fuel cell and power management technology levels, albeit at reduced speed, climb rate, range,
and payload-carrying capability. Aircraft performance
appears sufcient to y a technology demonstration,
proof-of-concept type vehicle using todays automotivederived fuel cell and power systems. Only light aircraft
Fig. 33. Potential fuel cell evolution towards meeting future aircraft transportation needs.
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226
are anticipated to be feasible with near-term technology

due to their relatively low, automobile-like power
requirements.
The increase in power density also would make fuel
cell APUs for larger aircraft viable. NASA is working
with Boeing to explore a possibility of development and
demonstration of Fuel Cell APU for a large transport by
building upon recent DOE successes. Current gas
turbine APUs operate at about 14% load cycle efciency
contributing 20% of the airport ground based emissions.
A fuel cell APU will lead to much lower emissions, lower
noise, and could reduce aircraft fuel consumption as
well. A full-time, integrated power unit will improve
operational effectiveness by replacing multiple secondary power systems with a single sold-state device.
Benets of fuel-cell-powered aircraft are very low to
zero emissions, simpler, more reliable power and
propulsion systems providing increased safety and lower
maintenance costs, and greatly reduced noise from the
power generator portion of the propulsion systems.
Some of the critical challenges are fuel cell and power
management system weight and hydrogen fuel system
volume. Heat management is critical to the practical
operation of any fuel-cell-powered application and
requires more rigorous modeling. An efcient, safe
airport hydrogen-fueling infrastructure also must be in
place if electric aircraft are to be economically viable.
A global hydrogen economy also remains elusive.
Capitalizing on the micro-manufacturing technologies
characterized for distributed vectored propulsion, micro-fuel cells and other electrochemical and pure electric
storage devices (such as super batteries and capacitors)
will be made small enough and in sufcient quantities to
allow viable all-electric propulsion. These devices will be
integrated within the aircraft, taking full advantage of

structural load sharing and dual-functioning systems
(i.e. distributed propulsion and controls). These and
other electrical components (such as high-temperature
superconductors) will benet from the ever-improving
electronics industry in terms of their capability and
affordability. Further superconductivity advancements
in the later 21st century may introduce propulsioncontrolled ow eld capability, enabling practical high
eld-strength magnets and use of unseeded-magnetohydrodynamics for aircraft propulsion lift/thrust.
Electrically powered subsonic transports of the future
likely will be powered by small, distributed motors and
fans (Fig. 34). Similar to wing-span distributed engines,
these congurations will utilize remote fans and motors
to achieve forward propulsion, and may be coupled with
blown wing/aps for high lift at takeoff. The primary
advantage of these congurations is the use of a
centralized, highly efcient core power unit, which
may be in the form of fuel cells or centralized gas
turbine APUs. Electric power transmission to the
remote fans is a safer, more efcient approach than
independent, distributed fuel delivery systems (as would
be utilized by the distributed engines). In the case of the
APU conguration, excess APU power also could be
used in ight to meet the increasing passenger/aircraft
demand for electric power and communications. In the
case of multiple, side-by-side fans sharing a common
2-D wing integrated inlet, the benets of boundary layer
ingestion (previously discussed) also may be realized.
Primary challenges for this type of propulsion system
will be the motor weight (many small motors with
independent structuresinefcient power conversion
densityversus fewer, larger, heavier motors).
Fig. 34. Fuel-cell wing with distributed propulsors.
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Variable speed motors, leveraging the adaptive engine

and controls from the gas turbine revolution and the
distributed fans from the engine conguration revolution, will be produced from lightweight, superconducting technologies born of the alternate energy and power
revolution. The culmination of these and other contributing technologies in a single adaptive system will
power a variety of future transport aircraft, while
assuring safe environmentally friendly 24-h operation.
NASA has extensive experience with fuel cells, having
used them on manned space ight systems for over four
decades. Consequently, NASA Glenn has initiated an
effort to investigate and develop fuel cell technologies
for multiple aerospace applications. Two promising fuel
cell types currently being investigated are the proton
exchange membrane (PEM) and solid oxide fuel cell
(SOFC). Since their rst use on Gemini spacecraft in the
1960s, these fuel cells remained unutilized until the
automotive industry recently recognized their potential.
PEM fuel cells are low-temperature devices (80 1C)
offering quick startup time, but requiring relatively pure
hydrogen fuel. In contrast, SOFCs operate at high
temperatures (1000 1C) and tolerate higher levels of
impurities. This exibility allows SOFCs to use hydrocarbon fuels, which is an important factor considering
the maturity of our current liquid petroleum infrastructure. However, depending on the specic application,
either PEM fuel cells or SOFCs can be attractive.
NASA also is pursuing fuel cell technology for civil
UAVs because it offers enhanced scientic capabilities,
including enabling high-altitude, long-endurance missions. NASAs Helios aircraft reached altitudes approaching 100,000 feet using solar power in 2003. Future
plans include the development of a regenerative PEM
fuel cell to provide night-time power. Unique to NASAs
227
mission, the high-altitude aircraft application requires

PEM fuel cells to operate on pure oxygen, instead of the
air typical of terrestrial applications.
Fuel cells may also benet conventional UAVs by
providing greater power for payload and/or emergency
backup. Adding power to current UAV platforms used
for Earth science missions would allow more instrumentation, higher data-scan rates, and higher datatransmission rates to enhance scientic missions. Both
PEM fuel cells and SOFCs are potential candidates,
with SOFCs offering the advantage of utilizing a single,
conventional liquid fuel.
In addition, NASA is pursuing fuel cell technology for
power generation on commercial air transports. Systems
necessary to y the aircraft and accommodate passengers traditionally rely on auxiliary power units and
power extracted from the main engines. Future commercial aircraft will incorporate more-electric aircraft
architectures and will use fuel cells. Challenges remain,
however, to successfully apply the technology to
commercial ight systems. Fuel processing is critical
because the commercial air transportation sector will
depend on hydrocarbon fuel for the foreseeable future.
High-temperature SOFCs are best suited because of the
similarity in operating temperature with the fuel
reformation process, and they enable hybrid congurations (SOFCs and turboalternators) to increase efciency. Fig. 35 shows a roadmap for development of fuel
cell powered All Electric Aircraft.
This subsection presents details of the study conducted at NASA Glenn on (a) fuel cell power generation
for more electric commercial aircraft, and (b) electric
drive aircraft propulsion for light aircrafts. It is
envisioned that fuel cell based systems for these
applications will reach the desired level of reliability
Fig. 35. Roadmap for fuel cell powered All Electric Aircraft.
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228
and economic viability within next 10 to 15 years. Fuel

cell applications for propelling larger transport aircrafts,
however, are likely to take much longer period, beyond
25 years.
5.2.1. Fuel cell power system for commercial aviation
More-electric-aircraft (MEA) architecture is expected
to be the power system architecture in new commercial
aircraft designs. This architecture will replace hydraulics
and pneumatics with electrical components [41]. NASA
and industry are evaluating fuel-cell-powered full-time
power systems for implementation in MEA as a
replacement for gas-turbine-based power systems.
NASA is sponsoring studies to assess the benets of
utilizing a fuel cell source for power generation, in
contrast to the gas turbine approach [42]. A MEA
representing a Boeing 777 size airplane is illustrated in
Fig. 36.
Since the aircraft most likely will not carry a large,
bulky auxiliary hydrogen fuel tank, the fuel cell power
system must be capable of converting jet fuel into
hydrogen through the use of a jet fuel reformer. The
material makeup of SOFCs makes it less susceptible
than a PEM fuel cell to impurities, such as carbon
monoxide and sulfur, found in reformed fuels. For
SOFCs, in certain temperature ranges the carbon
monoxide can even act as a fuel, making the system
more fuel-efcient. Using reformed jet fuel in PEM fuel
cells would require the use of large, cumbersome
ltration and scrubber systems. SOFCs have the
potential to operate with less external reforming and
potentially could achieve higher efciencies.
Benets of fuel-cell-based systems are reduced fuel
burn, emissions, and noise. In a hydrocarbon-fueled
aircraft, a SOFC has the potential for 3540% fuel
efciency if used alone, and 5075% efciency if used in
combination with a gas turbine to extract useful energy
from exhaust heat. For comparison, the turbine- and
generator-based power systems used today have efciencies of 15% on the ground and 3540% in ight
[43]. Fuel-cell systems would provide in-ight electric
power and replace the generator entirely, thus reducing
main engine power requirements. Overall system fuel
savings, particularly on long-range ights, enables a
lighter airframe that compounds into further fuel
savings.
Since turbine-based auxiliary power systems account
for 20% of an aircrafts NOx emissions at the airport,
emissions reduction in this area would contribute
signicantly to improving local air quality near airports. Fuel cells also are inherently quiet, eliminating
noise on the ground when aircraft engines are not
running.
5.2.1.1. Fuel reformer types. There are three types of
processes available for hydrocarbon fuel reforming:
partial oxidation (and catalytic partial oxidation),
autothermal reforming, and steam reforming. NASA is
evaluating the jet fuel reformation process that would
provide the most compact, lightweight, and efcient
aircraft design. The illustration shows the working
process of each reformer. Steam reforming may yield
the highest efciency but requires a relatively heavy and
large reactor. Conversely, partial oxidation reforming is
the most compact but has the lowest conversion
efciency.
The overall system must take advantage of steam and
air for reformation. The reformer could operate on
hydrocarbon fuel and air (as a partial oxidation reactor),
on hydrocarbon fuel and steam (as a steam reformer), or
on hydrocarbon fuel, air, and steam (as an autothermal
reformer). In a simple reformer, jet fuel is injected and
mixed with air to achieve a uniform mixture and at
temperature prole before admission to the reactor
where a catalyst enables production of reformate
containing hydrogen, CO, and methane (CH4).
Fig. 36. Solid oxide fuel cell-based hybrid auxiliary power unit for More Electric Aircraft.
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5.2.1.2. Requirements and definition. Preliminary system assessment indicates that a commercial 305-passenger size aircraft would require 440 kW power and
0.5 kW/kg specic power density for the fuel cell system,
including balance of plant for the power generation
system. The state of the art is ve kW stacks in
development at a specic power target of 0.1 kW/kg.
The 0.1 kW/kg specic power density is sufcient for
ground-based applications, but a ve-fold increase is
needed to meet large commercial transport power
system requirements. It also is assumed that the fuel
cell system is a planar SOFC/gas turbine hybrid,
operated at 9501000 1C on Jet-A fuel to produce
440 kW. Fuel cell/gas turbine hybrid efciency is
6575% at cruise. Designs include an expansion turbine,
which produces power by expanding the hot fuel cell
exhaust, and contributes close to 20% of the total
electric power. A simplied balance of plant diagram
indicates that the overall fuel cell system includes the
hybrid fuel cell, fuel reformer and desulfurizer, power
conditioning system and recuperator/heat exchanger.
Acquisition cost needs to be considered. SOFC power
systems are expected to become cost-competitive with
turbine-based systems. The DoEs Solid State Energy
Conversion Alliance has a goal to reduce SOFC stack
costs to $400/kW at 310 kW for heavy stacks aimed at
distributed power applications. The balance of plant
costs may double this gure. The commercial aviation
approach is to develop for higher specic power through
higher temperature operation and higher overall efciency. This is in contrast to the ground and stationary
power approach to reduce cost through lower temperature. The aviation industry is formulating cost estimates
and business cases for aircraft fuel cell power system
feasibility, which would include a comprehensive treatment of all the cost elements.
Mass and volume are as important as cost and
efciency. Early system studies indicate that some parts
of a fuel cell power system may involve weight penalties.
These weight gains, however, are offset by weight
savings elsewhere in the system. Combined system
weight, including fuel and possibly water savings, for
example, will show a net weight benet. The fuel saving
is attributed to higher power generation efciency. The
fuel cell system also may have volume penalties but still
t well within the tail of the aircraft.
5.2.1.3. Enabling technology for solid oxide fuel cells on
JET-A fuel. NASA has focused on planar SOFC for
aviation applications due to power density and scale-up
considerations. SOFCs can be tubular or planar.
Tubular designs, developed by SiemensWestinghouse
for ground power generation at megawatt levels, are
more mature and in commercial service at 100 kW levels
but are heavy and have low efciency due to inherently
long conduction paths.
229
The high temperature of SOFC operation

(7001000 1C) is compatible with hydrocarbon reforming (700800 1C), but there are technical challenges to
direct internal reforming. SOFCs have the potential for
partial internal reforming of light hydrocarbons within
the fuel cell. There are several potential advantages of
internal reforming: (1) the fuel cell can supply needed
heat for reforming, or (2) steam for reforming is
generated in the anode. The endothermic reforming
reaction cools the fuel cell so external cooling requirements are reduced, thus allowing for a smaller and
lighter overall system. However, the Nickel (Ni)
catalysts in conventional Ni-YSZ anodes cause carbon
deposition.
Direct internal reforming has been demonstrated for
natural gas, methane, and ethanol, but not for heavier
hydrocarbon fuels such as Jet-A. Direct internal natural
gas reforming has been demonstrated in tubular SOFCs
and there has been some work on internal reforming of
natural gas in planar SOFC stacks. Power densities have
been obtained as high as 1.3 Watts per square centimeter
(W/cm2) at 800 1C in conventional Ni-YSZ/YSZ/LSM
(lanthanum strontium magnetite, LaxSr1xMnO3, x in
the range of 0.60.8) cells on methanol, 0.9 W/cm2 on
methane at very low fuel utilization, and 0.8 W/cm2 on
ethanol. However, for the methane case, power density
dropped to 0.35 W/cm2 after 90 h. There also are
technical challenges in controlling where reforming
takes place. The reaction is endothermic so catalysts
are placed to receive uniform heating along the fuel cell.
Ideally, this will be of benet in cooling the cell.
However, the reaction is very fast on Ni/YSZ anodes,
causing large thermal gradients within the anode.
5.2.1.4. Anode-supported planar SOFC for increased
power density. Early SOFCs were supported by thick
dense ceramic electrolytes, usually 100200 mm of YSZ,
which had high resistance. Electrode-supported structures are preferred because the electrolyte typically has
the highest resistance. Resistance was decreased by
transitioning to anode-supported structures with a thin
electrolyte, once techniques for fabricating thin dense
electrolytes on porous substrates had been mastered.
Anode-supported structures are preferred over cathodesupported because at 800 1C or lower, traditional
cathode materials also have high ohmic resistance and
large activation over potential losses. Typical anodesupported SOFCs today produce 0.060.125 kW/kg and
0.30.65 W/cm2. The cells have not been optimized for
light weight, and have anode substrates up to 5 mm
thick, though more often 3001500 mm.
State-of-the-art planar solid oxide fuel cells are an
anode-supported ceramic multilayer, which consists of a
porous Ni-YSZ cermet 3001500 mm thick, a dense YSZ
electrolyte 1020 mm thick, a 3050 mm thick cathode
of LSM with ceramic (LaCrO3) interconnects. This
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230
conguration has an area specic power density of

0.7 W/cm2 at 800 1C. Stack specic power densities up
to 0.2 kW/kg have been demonstrated in planar SOFC
at 15 kW total power [44].
For aviation applications, the approaches to increase
SOFC power density include weight reduction, highertemperature operation, and advanced new materials to
achieve area specic power densities as high as 2 W/cm2
for the cell and 1 W/cm2 for the stack.
5.2.1.5. High specific power density stacks. Stacks are
constructed by layering individual cells with a separating
interconnect layer that contains gas channels for fuel
and air transport. Sealing is required between the cell
and interconnect layer. To reduce the overall weight of
the SOFC stacks, the endplates and frames can be
replaced with lighter weight, heat-resistant titanium
alloys or ultra-lightweight lattice block materials. Ninety
percent of the weight resides in the interconnects and
manifold.
Development of long-life, reliable, high-temperature
seals that withstand thermal cycling, conditions common to all power system operations, is a major challenge
in SOFC design. Some ideas being pursued include glass
composite seals reinforced with bers in order to prevent
crack propagation during thermal cycling.
5.2.1.6. Fuel processor and desulfurizer challenges. One
of the primary barriers in hydrocarbon fuel reforming is
coking or deposition of carbon which deactivates the
reformer catalysts and plugs ow through the reformer.
Coking occurs when there is insufcient mixing so that
local conditions develop on the catalysts that promote
carbon deposition. NASA has had 30 years of experience designing fuel injectors and mixer technology for
low emissions combustors in aircraft engines. These
technologies can be transferred to the reformer to
improve mixing.
A major challenge with the use of jet fuel in a SOFC
power generation system is the fuel sulfur content.
SOFCs may be able to tolerate up to 200 parts per
million (ppm) sulfur. Ni catalysts are poisoned by sulfur
with irreversible loss of performance within hours.
Sulfur fouls the anode by reacting with the Ni to form
nickel sulde. Domestic jet fuel sulfur levels average
500 ppm sulfur (300700 ppm), according to the reneries. Sulfur content in jet fuel varies worldwide. The
world average for jet fuel is 400760 ppm sulfur, higher
than natural gas (10 ppm), designer gasoline (30 ppm),
or diesel (500 ppm). Sulfur levels as high as
10001200 ppm have been experienced. Current ASTM
specication on Jet-A is up to 3000 ppm sulfur. There is
industry concern that, when new regulations take effect,
lowering the sulfur in diesel fuel to 200 ppm and to
15 ppm by 2007, the sulfur content of jet fuel and naval
distillate may climb conversely. With only limited
experience with desulfurizers for logistics fuels running

hundreds of hours, desulfurization processes and/or
sulfur-tolerant approaches face some very challenging
requirements.
5.2.1.7. Balance of plant. Overall system weight can be
reduced by using lightweight materials and structures.
For example, heat exchanger weight can be reduced
signicantly using CMCs instead of metal alloys (CMC
density is one-third that of metals.) Advanced CMCs,
such as silicon carbide ber-reinforced silicon carbide
composite, have thermal conductivity similar to that of
high temperature alloys. CMC composite heat exchangers also would offer increased life and will be required
for heat exchanger temperatures above 800 1C.
5.3. Electric drive propulsion for light aircraft
NASA has conducted a more detailed systems study
of electric drive propulsion on very small general
aviation aircraft, two-seat kit planes with lightweight
composite airframes and MTOW under 1000 pounds.
A minimum of 60 kW were required for a MCR01 kit
plane originally powered by a Rotax 912 piston engine.
In addition, propulsion systems for two commercial
aircraft, the 50-place Embraer ERJ145 and the 100-place
Boeing 717, are analyzed at a less detailed level with
analysis focused on developing technology and system
requirements for the electric drive propulsion system.
These requirements dene system level weight and
efciency goals necessary for the electric drive system
to be performance competitive with current aircraft
capabilities. For more detail on the system modeling see
reference [45]. The study was conducted using the
current off-the-shelf technology as well as advanced
technology, as dened in Table 5.
Fig. 37 shows the payload-range comparison of the
MCR-01. With the Rotax 912 intermittent combustion
engine, the vehicle can y 800 nmi and carry a 170
pound pilot and a payload of about 160 pounds.
Substituting commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) technology electric drive system (with gaseous hydrogen fuel)
resulted in an aircraft with a range of about 150 nmi,
maximum of 130-pound pilot, and no payload. While
not an impressive vehicle, it was concluded that an
electric drive propulsion system on the MCR01 system
could be tested with COTS technology. With the liquid
hydrogen storage system the range increased to about
500 nmi, but there was no increase in pilot or payload
weight capability.
Weight breakdowns for the MCR01 with two
propulsion systems are shown in Figs. 38 and 39. When
comparing these weight breakdowns the rst thing that
becomes obvious is that the Rotax 912 propulsion
system in the MCR01 is less than a quarter of the
takeoff weight. The propulsion weight of the MCR01
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231
Table 5
Technology levels used in electric drive propulsion assessment
Off-the-shelf technology
Intermediate technology
Advanced technology
Based on commercially available

products
Based on current government and

industry research and development
Based on government and

university laboratory
demonstrations
Fuel cell stack
Automotive-derivative PEM fuel

cell stack
Fuel cell system
Automotive-derivative compressor,
heat exchangers, humidiers,
separator
New type of fuel cell with different

chemistry, higher power densities,
more efcient operation
Humidication, separation,
extensive cooling not required
Electric motor
Automotive-derivative permanent
magnet electric motor
Higher operating temperature

PEM fuel cell stack; higher power
densities
Integrated heat exchangers,
humidiers, separator into fuel cell;
lightweight, more efcient
compressor
Electric motor with advanced
cooling and more efcient design
Power
electronics
Automotive-derivative power
management and distribution
H2 storage
Mid-pressure (5000 psi) compressed

gas; liquid storage for longduration missions
Higher temperature materials (SiC)

and components; advanced
cooling; more efcient design
Improved high pressure composite
tanks; lightweight metal hydrides;
lightweight, low-temperature
chemical reformation
Superconducting electric motor

with very efcient and lightweight
design
Superconducting electronics for a
very efcient and lightweight
design
Liquid system design with low
boiloff, high safety; or fuel cell able
to use common liquid fuels directly
Fig. 38. Mass breakdown for the MCR01 with Rotox 912,
range 800 NM, 160 knots max speed, and take-off gross weight
of 990 pounds.
Fig. 37. Range-payload capability for Rotax 912 and electric
drive propulsion system 81 hp 130 kts.
with an electric drive system is over half the aircraft

take-off gross weight. The main contributors to the
electric propulsion system weight are the fuel cell, the
motor and the power management and distribution
system. Reducing the electric drive propulsion system
weight is the key to making a viable electric drive general
aviation aircraft.
The impact of advanced technology on weight
reduction, as shown in Fig. 40, shows that the electric
drive system with liquid hydrogen storage can exceed the
payload-range of that with Rotox engine while eliminating CO2 and NOx emissions. The advances in fuel cell
technology and hydrogen storage system are the key to
Fig. 39. Mass breakdown for the MCR01 with electric drive
propulsion, range 150 NM, 160 knots maximum speed, and
take-off gross weight of 990 pounds.
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232
Fig. 40. Comparison of advanced electric drive propulsion with

Rotax 912 on the MCR-01 aircraft (note: xed 81 hp).
Fig. 41. Hydrogen fuel storage options for 32 lbs of hydrogen

(800 NM cruise range for the MCR-01).
the viability of fuel cell based electric drive systems for

light aircrafts. Making fuel cell propulsion attractive will
require new aircraft designs to remove the constraints on
hydrogen storage volume.
As an alternative, NASA studies have also indicated
that a solid oxide fuel cell-gas turbine hybrid, with direct
internal reforming of methane, offers a 30% range
advantage over the PEM system.
5.3.1. Technology status
Several key technologies have been identied, including hydrogen fuel storage, fuel cells, electric motors, and
power management and distribution. NASA Glenn has
begun research addressing these areas. Ten methods of
hydrogen storage, including compressed and liquid
hydrogen, metal hydrides, and carbon nanotubes
(storage within nanotube structure, not making compressed gas tanks from nanotubes) are compared by
mass and volume using the best available industry and/
or physical data. The comparison is shown in Fig. 41.
Liquid hydrogen storage (or slush hydrogen) results in
the lowest mass storage and volume requirements to
store fuel. NASA is developing lightweight composite
tank materials to store pressurized gaseous hydrogen
and cryogenic liquid hydrogen for aviation and reusable
launch vehicles. A critical issue is that hydrogen diffuses
through composite materials, thereby causing leaks.
NASA is developing technologies to reduce leakage
without the weight of metallic liners.
NASA currently has a signicant effort in developing
new fuel cell technology. This technology programs
objective is to reduce fuel cell weight and increase
efciency. These technologies include developing novel
fuel cell components and system design. In addition, the
work also includes advanced materials development to
increase the PEM membrane operating temperature to
200 1C and develop ber-reinforced, bi-polar plates and
Fig. 42. Impact of fuel cell technology improvement on specic

weight.
end plates. The impact of these improvements is shown

in Fig. 42.
Efforts are also underway to develop technology for
lightweight, high-performance electric motors. The
major technology being addressed for the advanced
application is superconducting or cryogenic motors
cooled by liquid hydrogen fuel. One signicant activity
is to develop and test a 10 hp cryogenic motor. Current
hardware for this activity is shown in Fig. 43.
In addition, NASA is investigating a 450 hp, LH2
cooled motor design. A sketch of this design is shown
in Fig. 44. The goal is to develop cryogenic air-core
propulsion motors to eliminate the massive weight of
ARTICLE IN PRESS
233
Fig. 43. Glenn 10 hp cryogenic motor hardware.
Fig. 44. 450 hp, LH2 cooled motor design.
traditional iron core motors. NASA is also developing

cryogenic motor controllers for power conditioning to
reduce weight and radio frequency electromagnetic
interference.
6. Concluding remarks
Propulsion system advances have been the fundamental drivers toward the progress made in air
transportation and will continue into the 21st Century.
Enormous advances in propulsion performance, emissions and efciency have made it possible for aircraft to
travel at higher speeds safely over longer ranges. Over
the last ten years NASA, working with other federal
agencies and industry partners, have developed aero-
propulsion technologies that when fully implemented

will reduce aircraft emissions by 70%, engine noise levels
by 6 dB, and improve fuel consumption by 15%. To
continue this trend and achieve the ultimate goal of
an emissionless, silent aircraft, NASA has identied
a series of propulsion system technology revolutions
that will be essential to meet the challenge of 21st
Century commercial air transportation. Future propulsion system concepts have been presented including
intelligent engines, distributed vectored propulsion
systems based on mini/micro engines, and fuel cell
powered mini-fans. These advanced propulsion systems
hold the potential to enable continued improvements
in performance and emissions required to achieve
the vision of an affordable, emissionless, and silent
aircraft.
ARTICLE IN PRESS
234
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge the following
individuals at NASA Glenn for their contributions to
various sections of this paper: Jon Seidel for assessment
of several advanced concepts; Tim Smith for hydrogen
powered gas turbine engine; Anita Liang for fuel cell
based power and propulsion; Hyun Dae Kim for
embedded wing propulsion; Rich Deloof for pulse
detonation engine; Christos Chamis for exoskeletal
engine; Tim Wickenheiser for electric drive propulsion
for light aircraft; and Emery Adanich, Barbara Kakiris,
Eric Mindek for overall editorial support.
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ARTICLE IN PRESS

Progress in Aerospace Sciences 40 (2004) 199235

Propulsion and power for 21st century aviation

Aeropropulsion vision for 21st century aviation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Gas turbine revolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-216-433-3397; fax: +1-216-977-7537.

E-mail address: arun.k.sehra@nasa.gov (A.K. Sehra).

ceramic matrix composites

Morphing structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210

Engine conguration revolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Fuel infrastructure and alternate energy and power revolutions .

Concluding remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

tion systems, enabling greater mobility of people and

Propulsion innovations have been the fundamental

need to be inexpensive to develop, manufacture, and

Reduce aviations fatal accident rate by a factor of

NOx: Reduce NOx emissions by 70% within 10 years

and by 80% within 25 years (using the 1996 ICAO

Reduce perceived noise levels of future aircraft by a

Fig. 1. Propulsion system leads the aviation revolution.

A.K. Sehra, W. Whitlow Jr. / Progress in Aerospace Sciences 40 (2004) 199235

Triple the capacity of the aviation system within 25

Intercity: Reduce intercity door-to-door time by half

research approach triggered by thresholds of technology

The gas turbine revolution (as characterized by ultra-

in 10 years and by two-thirds in 25 years.

2. Aeropropulsion vision for 21st century aviation

efcient intelligent engines) focuses on component

Fig. 2. Propulsion system revolutions enabling mobility.

and CO2 emissions and that are inaudible outside

3. Gas turbine revolution

had continued emphasis on fuel-burn reduction, but also

Intelligent computing and controls strategies

noise and emissions reduction and improved performance

3.1. Intelligent computing and controls strategies

A.K. Sehra, W. Whitlow Jr. / Progress in Aerospace Sciences 40 (2004) 199235

tential failures or reducing their severity [2]. Component

Fig. 4. Model-based controls and diagnostics.

approach, which utilizes an on-board engine model, is

Aspirated fans with trailing edge blowing (active or

A.K. Sehra, W. Whitlow Jr. / Progress in Aerospace Sciences 40 (2004) 199235

Fig. 7. Test package installed in aspirated compressor rig.

Fig. 8. Aspirated compressor pressure ratio performance map.

Fig. 6. Effect of fan trailing edge blowing on mean ow prole.

ratios of about 1.3:1 and 1.8:1, respectively. This

3.2.2. Nitrogen oxide emission reduction

improvements, global NOx and CO2 emissions are

temperature distribution at the exit plane as possible.

Fig. 9. Neural combustion instability control approach.

Fig. 10. Lean-direct-wall-injection combustor concept.

A.K. Sehra, W. Whitlow Jr. / Progress in Aerospace Sciences 40 (2004) 199235

Fig. 11. Multipoint integrated module.

this technology resulted in greater than 80% reduction

Fig. 12. 36-point, integrated module, 151 sector.

thermal efciency and propulsive efciency. Higher

Fig. 13. Multiplex fuel injector module.

increase the engines bypass ratio. To increase engine

Fig. 14. Boeing 737-size disk forging from new alloy.

computational tools to design alloys at the atomistic

A.K. Sehra, W. Whitlow Jr. / Progress in Aerospace Sciences 40 (2004) 199235

or reduction of lm cooling of the liner results in lower

Acoustical uidic control of inlet and nozzle boundary

Fig. 15. Nanoscale materials.