Sensitivity Analysis and Optimization of a Liquid Cooling Thermal Management System for Hybrid Fuel Cell Aircraft

Abstract The objective of this work is to perform a comprehensive system analysis of a liquid-cooling thermal management system for a hybrid-electric aircraft using fuel cells for general aviation by sizing and optimizing the system with respect to a given objective. A sensitivity analysis on the different design parameters and model assumptions is also performed and their impact on the aircraft and its performances will be assessed. Firstly, the case study is defined and an optimization is run with some initial assumptions leading to a feasibility study for the implementation of this system. The sensitivity analysis is then undergone for the chosen coolant type and fuel cell stack temperature selected after the first optimization. Incorporating the findings of this analysis, a second optimization is run on the thermal management system with improved inputs in order to demonstrate a scenario with reduced penalty on the aircraft. Preliminary results show that implementing this hybrid propulsion system along with its thermal management is feasible with a reduction in payload and range. In addition, it can be concluded that initial assumptions and design choices are shown to have a significant impact on the system’s sizing and should be considered in aircraft sizing design loops.