Fuel cell hybrid electric propulsion system for a lightweight helicopter: Design and performance analysis in urban air mobility scenario

The main purpose of this work is to investigate the performance of a hybrid fuel cell/ battery powertrain concept for a lightweight helicopter in an urban air mobility scenario. Three different hybrid configurations are compared with a battery-electric design and a performance study is carried out over three specific missions, to identify the most appropriate design in each considered operative condition. Results show that a hybrid configuration may outperform the battery-electric one if a suitable balance between power sources is found. The hybrid design with a 70 kW fuel cell triplicates the number of regional transports completed by the battery-electric configuration, but it is less performing on urban routes. On the other hand, a 90 kW fuel cell, turned out to provide enhanced performance for high-power duty cycles, as for an urban mission. In general, the optimal hybrid configuration, in terms of achievable range, strictly depends on the specific duty cycle. (c) 2023 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.