A Power availablE Estimation Tool for real-time estimation in aircraft generators

Abstract

A systematic definition of an aircraft generator's “available power” (used to supply loads on its DC bus) is given, which is defined in the context of constraints on transient and steady-state performance. Using a geometric, data-driven approach, such a characterisation has been achieved, and a new method, called Power availablE Estimation Tool (PEET), has been developed to determine in real-time whether a given load can be fulfilled at a given time while maintaining power quality. This is an important problem, especially for safety critical electrical systems such as more electric aircraft, for which it is imperative to know a priori whether an added load will result in voltage variations outside of allowed values. PEET is introduced and its conceptual framework is formalised. Lastly, it provides simulation results that illustrate its performance. The results show that the PEET method produces reliable a priori estimates of power availability, and that this can be achieved within time frames that make it applicable in a real-time implementation.