US 11,970,282 B2
Aircraft thrust management with a fuel cell
Honggang Wang, Clifton Park, NY (US); Kum Kang Huh, Niskayuna, NY (US); Michael Anthony Benjamin, Cincinnati, OH (US); and Koji Asari, Sharonville, OH (US)
Assigned to General Electric Company, Schenectady, NY (US)
Filed by General Electric Company, Schenectady, NY (US)
Filed on Jan. 5, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/568,892.
Prior Publication US 2023/0211889 A1, Jul. 6, 2023
Int. Cl. B64D 27/24 (2006.01); B64D 27/10 (2006.01); B64D 31/12 (2006.01); B64D 27/02 (2006.01); B64D 41/00 (2006.01)
CPC B64D 31/12 (2013.01) [B64D 27/10 (2013.01); B64D 27/24 (2013.01); B64D 2027/026 (2013.01); B64D 2041/005 (2013.01); B64D 2221/00 (2013.01)] 17 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A propulsion system for an aircraft, the propulsion system comprising:
a fuel cell assembly comprising a fuel cell;
a turbomachine;
a first propulsion assembly comprising the turbomachine and an electric machine rotatable with the turbomachine, wherein the turbomachine, the electric machine, or both are configured to contribute to a propulsion system thrust generation during operation of the propulsion system;
a second propulsion assembly in electric communication with the fuel cell assembly; and
a controller comprising memory and one or more processors, the memory storing instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the propulsion system to perform operations including:
receiving data indicative of a propulsion system thrust discrepancy, wherein receiving the data indicative of the propulsion system thrust discrepancy includes receiving data indicative of a thrust imbalance between the first propulsion assembly and the second propulsion assembly, and
modifying an output of the fuel cell in response to receiving data indicative of the propulsion system thrust discrepancy, wherein modifying the output of the fuel cell in response to receiving the data indicative of the propulsion system thrust discrepancy comprises modifying an electrical power output to the second propulsion assembly.