For almost a decade, the Center for Power Optimization for Electro-Thermal Systems (POETS) has pursued innovations in electric powertrains for transportation systems ranging from cars and trains to ships and small aircraft.  Now, a $2.7 million award from the Federal Aviation Administration’s Fueling Aviation’s Sustainable Transition (FAST) program will upgrade the POETS testbed to enable testing of larger aircraft power and propulsion systems than it can currently handle.

The POETS testbed’s expansion — which is the only infrastructure project that received a FAST low-emission aviation technologies grant — will increase its capabilities in three respects.

First, a 1-megawatt motor drive test stand will be constructed to enable full-scale demonstrations of aircraft propulsion systems. That’s a fivefold expansion f the current testbed’s 200-kilowatt capacity.

Second, a furnace and a cryogenic system will be added to study how components respond to extreme heat and cold. The furnace will offer temperatures of up to 600°C so that high-temperature-resistant components and thermal insulation can be studied in realistic operating conditions. The cryogenic system will allow researchers to study possible innovations for future aerospace systems.

The third upgrade will be a suite of tools for assessing reliability of insulation, ability of components and subsystems to endure vibrations and shocks, and tolerance of electromagnetic interference (EMI).

A portion of the current POETS testbed.

Grainger CEME, Rolls-Royce, RTX, Boeing, and the Air Force Research Lab will partner with POETS on the testbed effort.  Sherry Yu, a U. of I. alumna who returned to campus to serve as the testbed manager for POETS, will lead the implementation of the testbed upgrades.

Excerpted from an article written by Jenny Applequist.