A scalable electro-thermal modeling framework for improving battery management systems in hybrid electric aviation applications

The aviation sector is a major contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions, with lithium-ion batteries and fuel cells playing a central role in emerging clean energy technologies. This study introduces a multi-physics electrothermal battery model specifically tailored for hydrogen-based aviation. The simulation framework is suitable for system-level analyses, explicitly targeting versatility, real-time modeling capability, and reduced computational cost, achieving a running time of 5.7 s. The key contribution is a reduced-order, scalable procedure for estimating the battery thermal management system electric cooling demand, utilizing a normalization rule and a temperature-dependent corrective factor. The approach, validated using a representative flight mission, demonstrates high fidelity with an average voltage deviation of only 0.15%. The multi-physics coupling enables comprehensive real-time tracking of power fluxes, capturing the impact of operating conditions on electrothermal variables and energy consumption. The case study analyzed reveals that increasing the battery operating temperature from 20 degrees C to 30 degrees C reduces the additional hydrogen consumption strictly required to satisfy the battery electric cooling load by 21.8% (up to 57.5% maximum savings). The work lays the foundation for advanced energy management in hybrid electric powertrains to support the shift toward a more sustainable aviation.