Pratt & Whitney Canada today announced the development of an advanced mobile charging unit (MCU) capable of charging high-power batteries up to 1.500 volts, making it compatible with the Megawatt Charging System standards the industry is advancing for power applications. high voltage energy.
The MCU was developed in collaboration with the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and the Innovative Vehicle Institute (IVI) as part of the RTX hybrid-electric flight demonstration project.
“This is the latest example of our hybrid-electric flight demonstration project, driving collaboration and innovation within Canada's aerospace ecosystem to enable a more sustainable future for aviation,” said Alexandre Gagnon, vice-president, affairs. corporate offices of Pratt & Whitney Canada. “Bidirectional high-voltage charging systems will be critical for a growing number of electric and hybrid-electric systems, including aircraft, as well as other transportation applications.”
The MCU is assembled from commercially available components and can deliver up to 280 kW and 1.500 volts. In collaboration with IVI, Pratt & Whitney Canada developed a distributed control and protection strategy. The NRC focused on the hardware design, assembly, testing and delivery of two charger units, which will be used in the hybrid-electric flight demonstration project. The charger's bidirectional capability allows you to charge and discharge batteries, which creates opportunities to recycle unused energy back into the electrical grid.
Pratt & Whitney Canada continues to progress testing the RTX hybrid-electric flight demonstrator's propulsion system, which targets a 30% improvement in fuel efficiency and reduction in CO2 emissions compared to today's most advanced regional turboprops. In 2024, the propulsion system will be coupled to batteries developed by H55 S.A., which will be charged using the new charger.
Hybrid electric propulsion is a critical component of RTX's strategy to enable more sustainable aviation and the industry's goal of achieving net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050.
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