Innovative aircraft propulsion system definition and integration study - smaaart (structures materials, aerodynamics, aerothermodynamics, and acoustics research & technology) task order statement of…

This federal contract award, valued at $351,451.00, was made by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center to The Boeing Company's Engineering, Test & Technology Division. The contract supports a study to determine the feasibility of integrating a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC)-enabled electric propulsion architecture into an existing light aircraft design. The objectives are to define the SOFC system design requirements, perform trade studies, and develop a technical definition of the preferred SOFC system configuration. Performance, risk, and cost analyses will also be conducted, along with a development roadmap for the follow-on SOFC system development phase. This task order is the result of a competitive selection under NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) Seedling Phase I program. The contract does not have a set-aside designation.

Innovative aircraft propulsion system definition and integration study - smaaart (structures materials, aerodynamics, aerothermodynamics, and acoustics research & technology) task order statement of work- 1.0 introduction/background: electrically-powered aircraft will revolutionize the way we travel, bringing dramatic increases in efficiency and reliability, reduced emissions, and reduced noise as compared to today s combustion-powered aircraft. This study effort will support the design of a novel flight demonstration concept that will enable the benefits of electric propulsion while keeping the convenience and utility of common fuels available at today s airports. The largest drawback of electrically-powered aircraft has been the onboard energy storage system namely, its weight, cost, and logistical needs. A promising energy storage mechanism for electric aircraft is the fuel cell. With ongoing development, fuel cells have a great potential to replace internal combustion engines (ICE) as they offer higher efficiencies and lower emissions. Overall, the use of a solid oxide fuel cell (sofc)-enabled electric propulsion architecture has the most promise to enable transition to electric propulsion. The sofc enabled electric propulsion system can reform traditional fuels into electricity at high efficiency, thus adding no infrastructure cost or utility penalty the aircraft can use the exact same airports and fuel depots as before. The high efficiency of the sofc VS. The ICE results in less fuel usage (and therefore lower operating costs), and is directly correlated with lower carbon emissions. In addition, the reduction in temperature of the sofc reformer VS. ICE combustion leads to elimination of nitrogen oxides from the exhaust. This study effort comprises a sofc system design and installation to enable an innovative electric aircraft. This task order is a result of a competitive selection of a 2015 aeronautics research mission directorate (armd) seedling phase i proposal through the NASA aeronautics research institute (nari). 2.0 scope & objective(s): 2.1 the scope of this task order is to determine the feasibility of merging a sofc-enabled electric propulsion architecture with an existing light aircraft design by defining a candidate power architecture while quantifying performance, cost, and risk. This task order will generate conceptual design data and test plans for a selected sofc architecture and support the vetting of the system requirements and design through two complete design cycle iterations. 2.2 the objectives of this task order are to: define the design space and develop requirements for the sofc system. Perform trade studies and identify the preferred sofc architecture concept. Perform engineering and analysis to develop a technical definition of the preferred sofc system supporting configuration and layout of the overall air vehicle system. Conduct performance, risk, and cost analyses of the preferred sofc architecture create a development roadmap and define the follow-on sofc system development phase. 3.0 description of the work/tasks to be performed: the contractor shall perform the following tasks: 3.1 sofc system scaling studies and requirements development 3.1.1 the contractor shall conduct sofc scaling studies and develop top-level sofc design requirements based on an initial set of scaling study parameters provided by the government (GFI item 5.1). The result of this work shall be a scaling study results and initial requirements document (deliverable item