1500W High Voltage DC-DC Converter for Electroaerodynamic Aircraft Applications

Abstract

Electroaerodynamic (EAD) propulsion is a novel form of propulsion that is nearly silent and has no moving parts. The first functional untethered heavier-than-air EAD aircraft had an endurance of 90 seconds and could only fly in a straight line. To enable a practical fixed wing EAD aircraft that can fly outdoors with a payload for an extended period of time, improved power conversion technology is necessary. Prior work specifies a practical EAD aicraft as one with an endurance of 10 minutes, a payload capacity of 200 g, and full controllability. This work explores methods of increasing the specific power of power converters for EAD aircraft from 1.15 kilowatts per kilogram to over 2.0 kilowatts per kilogram. Such an increase can be achieved by utilizing magnetics integration and thermal management techniques, as well as adjustments in the operating point of the power converter. The power converter for the first generation EAD aircraft had an input voltage of 200 V, an output voltage of 40 kV, an output power of 600 W, a specific power of 1.15 kilowatts per kilogram, and an efficiency of 85 percent. In this work, a power converter with an input voltage of 200 V, an output voltage of 20 kV, an output power of 1476 W, a specific power of 2.7 kilowatts per kilogram, and an efficiency of 96 percent was demonstrated to work for a 40 second duration. At the end of the test, device temperatures continued to increase, so it has not been proven that the converter can work in thermal steady state as required for a 10 minute flight. Future work would involve modifying the test setup to allow for adequate ventilation of the ambient air around the converter, as well as modifying the converter with adequate thermal management so as to enable operation under thermal steady state.