Mission-level Assessment of Ice Protection System Electrification on Hybrid-Electric Turboprop Regional Aircraft

Electrified Aircraft Propulsion (EAP) is emerging as a promising solution to reduce fuel consumption and emissions in air transportation. While electrifying the propulsion system has been a primary focus in past studies, secondary power subsystems such as the Ice Protection System (IPS) affect aerodynamic characteristics and secondary power offtake, thus impacting fuel and energy performance. This paper presents a mission-level assessment of IPS and its electrification on a hybrid-electric turboprop aircraft in support of NASA Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration (EPFD) Program. A conventional pneumatic boot de-icing system and an electromechanical de-icing system are modeled with a mix of semi-empirical and physics-based methods which estimate the IPS weight as well as its aerodynamic characteristics and secondary power offtake under icing conditions. Mission analysis reveals that electric IPS reduces the drag penalty due to inter-cycle ice which significantly improves aircraft range and fuel and energy performance.