The characteristics of large electrical loads encountered in the modern More Electric Aircraft (MEA) require regenerative power processing in order to preserve the power quality within acceptable transient and steady state limits. In an MEA with large active loads and pulsed power demands, it is necessary to employ an architecture that safely and effectively processes regenerative energy resulting from the dynamic loads.
For instance, the electrical flight control actuation presents one of the largest regenerative power sources encountered by the generation system. Typical approach is to dissipate this energy through resistors of the power electronics which increases the size and penalizes the aircraft.
This paper covers certain regenerative load properties, their electrical characteristics, the common approaches for mitigating regenerative power challenges, and an innovative approach for processing regenerative power by effectively utilizing on-board equipment to minimize the burden of the primary power generation and distribution system.