Development and Integration of a Thermal Management Simulation for a Quadrotor Parallel Hybrid Propulsion System

This paper details the development of a propulsion system simulation for a six-passenger parallel hybrid quadrotor and utilizes the Numerical Propulsion System Simulation (NPSS) along with the NPSS Power System Library as the development environment. This simulation integrates an engine power plant with an electrical generation and distribution system and includes the required thermal management system. The thermal management system is comprised of liquid cooling loops that reject the heat load through air to coolant heat exchangers and utilizes a map-based performance estimation method. This method is developed within NPSS and detailed in this paper. The full system model is designed to predict system weight, range, and performance through a proposed mission profile. Results of the paper show an all-engine system maintains the best range, while a mostly electric system that utilizes an engine as a backup or a conditional power contributor offers range benefit.