Conceptual Design of a Hybrid Hydrogen Fuel Cell/Battery Blended-Wing-Body Unmanned Aerial Vehicle—An Overview
Siwat Suewatanakul, Alessandro Porcarelli, Adam Olsson, Henrik Grimler, Ariel Chiche, R. Mariani, Göran Lindbergh
Abstract
The manuscript presents the conceptual design phase of an unmanned aerial vehicle, with the objective of a systems approach towards the integration of a hydrogen fuel-cell system and Li-ion batteries into an aerodynamically efficient platform representative of future aircraft configurations. Using a classical approach to aircraft design and a combination of low- and high-resolution computational simulations, a final blended wing body UAV was designed with a maximum take-off weight of 25 kg and 4 m wingspan. Preliminary aerodynamic and propulsion sizing demonstrated that the aircraft is capable of completing a 2 h long mission powered by a 650 W fuel cell, hybridized with a 100 Wh battery pack, and with a fuel quantity of 80 g of compressed hydrogen.