This paper describes a concept related to fault-tolerant design for a redundant motor control system. The design comprises components driven by an electric motor, a motor controller, and a power source, referred to as the More Electric Aero Engine (or MEE). The MEE dramatically improves the engine efficiency and reduces fuel burn and CO2 emissions. However, the MEE system must demonstrate that it can ensure engine safety and reliability before it can take the place of conventional systems.
The proposed unique redundant system presented in this paper incorporates Active-Active control and multi-winding motors. Engine fuel flow is controlled by the motor speed control of the MEE electric fuel pump, which uses this redundant system. This concept provides a solution for helping to ensure engine safety and reliability, since it enables a complete one-fail operational engine fuel system for the MEE.
Another key technology for the MEE system involves a power generating solution. A new system concept, the permanent magnet generator (PMG), is proposed as the power source for the MEE. The PMG demonstrates the highest power density of any type of generator, but remains unready for actual use in aircraft or engine applications, due to a major problem that remains unresolved: the possibility of an accidental short or open mode failure in the winding wire or feeder (conventional aircraft generators, which have an electric exciter rotor structure, address this problem by shutting down the circuit). To solve this problem and realize a reliable PMG system, this paper introduces here a new design approach.
This paper concludes that the proposed MEE system, which consists of a novel fault tolerant motor control design and power source system, is capable of realizing a highly safe and reliable engine control system.