Power Management Control for Hybrid Electric Aircraft Propulsion Drive Based on Triple Active Bridge DC-DC Converter

Hybrid electric aircraft (HEA) propulsion drives using fuel cells and batteries have been receiving attention due to their potential to reduce emissions. Their safe, flexible, and efficient control challenges include many switches, complex passive circuitry, and varying power flow paths and levels. In this paper, an enhanced power management control for the TAB converter, which offers high flexibility and control efficiency, has been developed. The converter reduces the number of components and their size, improves system efficiency, and reduces switching losses. The fuel cell and battery connect to ports one and three on the input side. And on the output side, it can handle high-voltage loads. Simulations have been conducted to model and simulate the various operating modes of a hybrid-electric propulsion system that uses the TAB converter. These simulations replicate a standard flight profile, which includes takeoff, ascent, descent, cruising, and regenerative charging phases. Simulation results indicate that TAB converters can maintain high efficiency throughout all phases of the flight profile.