Research The Modern Trends In Aircraft Electrical System

The Modern Trends in Aircraft Electrical System
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The aviation industry is undergoing significant technological development as witnessed in some of the major airline carriers. Modern technologies such as Power Electronic Systems (PES) and other sophisticated systems have been introduced in airlines like Airbus and Boeing. The advancement in technology has enabled aviation operators to replace traditional power solutions with modern ones that involve the use of electric appliances hence referred to as More Electric Aircraft (MEA). The concept of More Electric Aircraft has enabled substitution of traditional power devices such as pneumatic and hydraulic with better and effective electrical devices. Consequently, one electrical system has replaced about three systems of generating and distributing power. The aviation industry has therefore benefited significantly because of decline in costs of operation, decrease in the release of dangerous substances and improvement in reliability. The concept of More Electric Aircraft has facilitated designing of electrical power systems in modern airlines to use high voltage and also better Direct Current (DC) and Alternating Current (AC) connections. The DC and AC connections use various voltages in the modern airlines with about 400 VAC variable frequency, 270 VDC, and 200 VAC variable frequencies (Emandi and Ehsani, 2000). This paper will, therefore, focus on advanced electrical components and trends in the modern airlines and also their performance.
One of the advanced trends in electric production and distribution in the modern aircraft is an Electrical power generation of automatic electrical systems. The technological advancement of airlines in terms of power level and range has been on the rise over the past years. The concept of More Electric Aircraft and spreading of digital technology controlled the advanced development, hence leading to major changes in the processing of signals. To observe the revolutionary changes, we focus on various stages of voltage production and types of generators used at each phase.
One of the earliest generators used the standard voltage of about 28VDC from the year 1940 to 1950. In the case of a need for an emergency power source, one or two-unit batteries were used when there was damage to primary power sources and in the protection of the essential loads in the aircraft. As a result, the safety of aircraft was high. Consequently, the AC loads were powered by remaining high voltage of about 200 VAC. The 200 VAC type of voltage with a constant frequency was in operation since the year 1960. A more advanced technology was introduced in the year 1990 when variable frequency generators were used as sources of power in high loads. It was also necessary as a standby generator. This was a necessary step because maintenance of constant generator speed was a challenge, especially when changes occurred to the main engine speed referred to as Constant Speed Drive (CSD). Standard AC sources of electricity were necessary during the maintenance because of the complicated hydro-mechanical gear. Technologically advanced airlines such as Boeing and Airbus are using complex systems in their operations, hence increasing th...