FRIEDRICH-ALEXANDER-UNIVERSITÄT ERLANGEN-NÜRNBERG TECHNISCHE FAKULTÄT • DEPARTMENT INFORMATIK Lehrstuhl für Informatik 10 (Systemsimulation) Simulation of a solar airship Armin Bundle Master thesis Simulation of a solar airship Armin Bundle Master thesis Aufgabensteller: Prof. Dr. C. Pflaum Betreuer: Prof. Dr. C. Pflaum Bearbeitungszeitraum: 1.7.2017 – 2.1.2018 Erklärung: Ich versichere, dass ich die Arbeit ohne fremde Hilfe und ohne Benutzung anderer als der angegebenen Quellen angefertigt habe und dass die Arbeit in gleicher oder ähnlicher Form noch keiner anderen Prüfungsbehörde vorgelegen hat und von dieser als Teil einer Prüfungsleistung angenommen wurde. Alle Ausführungen, die wörtlich oder sinngemäß übernommen wurden, sind als solche gekennzeichnet. Der Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, vertreten durch den Lehrstuhl für Systemsimulation (Informatik 10), wird für Zwecke der Forschung und Lehre ein einfaches, kostenloses, zeitlich und örtlich unbeschränktes Nutzungsrecht an den Arbeitsergebnissen der Master thesis einschließlich etwaiger Schutzrechte und Urheberrechte eingeräumt. Erlangen, den 2. Januar 2018 . Abstract Abstract The present Master thesis ’Simulation of a solar airship’ describes the simulation of two types of solar airship. The first type is a rigid airship similar to the airship LZ 129, called ’Hindenbug’, the second type is alike the Zeppelin NT semi-rigid airship. For both types the physically basic, the buoyancy force and the force of gravity for the vertical movement as well as the thrust force and the drag force for the horizontal move- ment were examined. For the calculations of the flight dynamics a new algorithm was designed for the ’Hindenburg’ and the Zeppelin NT. The first step is the calculation of the possible provided electrical energy by the airships solar cell field under the condition of arbitrary flight levels, locations and times of the day/year. The generated power is used to calculate the airships thrust in relation to the engines efficiency. The thesis presents an algorithm to calculate the efficiency of the en- gines by taking e.g. the flight altitude, the number of engines and the propellor size into account. Based on the calculated efficiency values it is possible to compare these with real efficiency values of the ’Hindenburg’ and the Zeppelin NT. Using these calculations it was possible to compare the flight dynamics properties of the ’Hindenburg’ and the Zeppelin NT. The following simulations were executed with construction properties and input parame- ter of the Zeppelin NT. For a more accurate simulation real weather data from the past were considered. In addition the accomplished airship velocities for different altitude were examined. Finally airship flights on different locations and different season were simulated and analyzed. Simulation of a solar airship Page I Table of contents I Table of contents I Table of contents II II List of FiguresIV III List of TablesV 1 Introduction1 2 Basic equations1 3 Drag force2 4 Physical air properties3 5 The different airship construction methods4 6 The airship buoyancy5 7 The center of mass6 8 Sun radiation at the airship7 8.1 The different kinds of sunlight......................... 7 8.2 Solar constant.................................. 7 8.3 Solar Time.................................... 8 8.4 Solar altitude .................................. 9 8.5 Direct clear-sky radiation............................ 10 8.6 Diffuse clear-sky radiation ........................... 12 8.7 Ground reflected radiation........................... 12 9 The discretization of the airship 13 9.1 The geometry as an ellipsoid.......................... 13 9.2 The solar azimuth angle ............................ 15 9.3 The power generation of the airship surface.................. 16 10 The Engine of the airship 17 11 Geographic coordinates 21 12 Weather data 22 12.1 Access on the weather data .......................... 23 12.2 Wind data.................................... 25 13 Analytical formula for the airship velocity 27 14 Value settings of the simulated airships 29 Simulation of a solar airship Page II Table of contents 15 Requirement checks 29 15.1 The buoyancy and maximum altitude of the airships ............ 29 15.2 Results of center of mass check ........................ 32 16 Simulation results 32 16.1 Comparing the ’Hindenburg’ and the Zeppelin NT.............. 33 16.2 The influence of the wind on the airship ................... 33 16.3 The influence of the altitude on the airships velcoity............. 35 16.4 Simulation results for different seasons and locations............. 37 17 Conclusion and future work 40 A Input paramter for the evaluation of the efficiency of the enginesI B Additional data for the buoyancy of the airshipsI C Additional weather data simulation results II D Literature VII Simulation of a solar airship Page III Lists of Figures and Tables II List of Figures Fig. 1 The change of air properties by altitude.................. 4 Fig. 2 The ’Hindenburg’ rigid airship....................... 5 Fig. 3 The zeppelin NT semi-rigid airship..................... 5 Fig. 4 Variation of extraterrestrial solar radiation as a function of time of year [5]....................................... 7 Fig. 5 The equation of time E in minutes as a function of time of year [5]... 8 Fig. 6 The power of the sun radiation depending on altitude. ......... 12 Fig. 7 The sun azimuth angle [18]......................... 15 Fig. 8 Cross-section of a propellor engine and the corresponding velocities. 18 Fig. 9 Variation of theoretical efficiency...................... 21 Fig. 10 The airships mass by maximal altitude. ................. 30 Fig. 11 The velocity of the airship depending on its mass............. 31 Fig. 12 Comparison between the ’Hindenburg’ and the Zeppelin NT....... 33 Fig. 13 The influence of the wind at the airship.................. 34 Fig. 14 The wind velocity on the route....................... 35 Fig. 15 The velocity of the Zeppelin NT on different altitude........... 36 Fig. 16 The generated power of the Zeppelin NT on different altitude. 36 Fig. 17 The airship velocity on flights with 1 km altitude on different locations. 37 Fig. 18 The generated power on flights with 1 km altitude on different locations. 38 Fig. 19 The airships velocities on flights with 6 km altitude on different locations. 39 Fig. 20 The generated power on flight with 6 km altitude on different locations. 40 Fig. 21 The influence of the wind on the airship.................. II Fig. 22 The influence of the wind on the airship.................. II Fig. 23 The influence of the wind on the airship.................. III Fig. 24 The influence of the wind on the airship.................. III Fig. 25 Wind data at noon 01/06/12........................IV Fig. 26 Wind data at noon 01/07/12........................IV Fig. 27 Wind data at noon 01/08/12........................V Fig. 28 Pressure and temperature at noon 01/06/12...............V Fig. 29 Pressure and temperature at noon 01/07/12...............VI Fig. 30 Pressure and temperature at noon 01/08/12...............VI Simulation of a solar airship Page IV Lists of Figures and Tables III List of Tables Tab. 1 Variation of Reynolds number depending on the thickness ratio [10]..3 Tab. 2 Day of the year after the spring equinox.................. 10 Tab. 3 Correction factors for climate types [16].................. 11 Tab. 4 Albedo values for certain surfaces [15][14]................. 13 Tab. 5 The efficensy of the ’Hindenburg’ and the Zeppelin NT. 28 Tab. 6 Specification of the ’Hindenburg’ and the Zeppelin NT airship. 29 Tab. 7 Input parameter for the simulated flights. ................ 29 Tab. 8 Parameter for an airship with solar cells on the top half of the hull. 31 Tab. 9 Parameter for an airship with the hull totally covered in solar cells. 31 Tab. 10 Results and input parameter of the center of gravity evaluation. 32 Tab. 11 Results of the Zeppelin NT flight on different altitude.......... 37 Tab. 12 Results of the Zeppelin NT on flights with 1 km altitude on different locations................................... 38 Tab. 13 Results of the Zeppelin NT on flights with 1 km altitude on different locations................................... 39 Tab. 14 Parameter for the efficiency of the engine.................I Tab. 15 Remaining masses for various maximum altitude.............I Simulation of a solar airship Page V Section 2 Introduction 1 Introduction The history of the professional using of airship goes back for approximately 100 years. One of the main reasons for the development of airships at the beginning of the 19th century was the military usage in the First World War [1]. The climax of the first area was reached by manufacturing in 1936 the airship LZ 129 called ’Hindenburg’ the largest aircraft ever built. The end of the first area came abruptly by the ’Hindenburg disaster’ where the airship burned down because of hydrogen as lifting gas. After a few years the construction methods advanced and semi-rigid airships respectively blimps are mostly built. Over the past years the needs on aircrafts changed. With decreasing resources and global warming a more environmental friendly way of traveling would be welcome. The idea is to use solar energy to perform the airship. The advantage over an airplane would be no kerosene consumption, no pollutant emissions and no noise pollution. An evidently dis- advantage is the lower velocity of a solar airship and the possible dependency on weather conditions. On the other hand a solar airship can possibly operate in other fields, in difference to an airplane.