RuAviation

The United Engine Corporation has started manufacturing a 500 kW hybrid-electric propulsion system (HEPS) demonstrator, which in the future could be used in drones, multipurpose helicopters and aircraft. It will be five times more powerful than its predecessor manufactured in 2022 at the St. Petersburg-based ODK-Klimov, the ODK press service said.

The hybrid power plant will comprise a power unit including the VK-650 aircraft gas turbine engine and an electric generator, two electric motors, an automatic control system (ACS) and others.

A demonstrator is an experimental prototype that contains the main functional elements of a future product. It is created to confirm the technical feasibility of the basic engine concept and the potential benefits of its application.

“Last year we manufactured and completed tests of the 100kW demonstrator, on the basis of which we worked out the principle technical solutions and were able to make all the elements of the unit work in a coordinated way under the control of our ACS. The groundwork that was formed allowed us to approach the target of 500 kW,” said Mikhail Shemet, deputy director of advanced programmes at ODK-Klimov.

Hybrid propulsion systems will have a number of advantages over conventional gas turbine propulsion systems. In particular, lower fuel consumption, environmental friendliness, increased flight safety due to the presence of two energy sources instead of one, the ability of aircraft to take off from short runways and increased manoeuvrability are predicted.

The HEPS has a wide range of applications for unmanned aerial vehicles, including vertical take-offs, air taxis, light multipurpose helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. On the basis of one gas turbine engine a wide range of hybrid propulsion systems can be formed by varying the power of the electric part.

The ODK-Klimov GVS mock-up was first presented at the MAKS-2021 International Aerospace Salon.