DESIGN OPTIMISATION OF A BOUNDARY LAYER INGESTION PROPULSOR FOR A MULTI-FUEL HYDROGEN AIRCRAFT

New aircraft concepts leveraging different low emission technologies are expected to drive the transition towards carbon neutrality of the aviation by the mid of the century. This paper presents the preliminary design of a Boundary Layer Ingestion propulsor for a multi-fuel passenger aircraft concept, conceived within the HOPE project. By combining hydrogen-fed Fuel-Cell Auxiliary Propulsion and Power Unit driving a tail cone thruster and multi-fuel combustor enabling sustainable aviation fuel, the new concept aims at minimizing the overall pollutant emissions over the entire mission. The paper describes the general aircraft architecture and technology, showing the results of an initial numerical design study of the tail propulsor.