This aviation emissions make a significant contribution greenhouse effect increase and finally, global warming. Several aviation companies ‘seeking solutions to achieve’zero plane‘. The debate about the aviation fuel of the future seems settled: liquid hydrogen. A new project aims to develop a revolutionary aircraft: electric and hydrogen powered.
Unlike conventional airplanes that use fossil fuels, hydrogen powered ones are a cleaner and more sustainable alternativethey make almost no noise as they emit only water vapor and does not produce greenhouse gases.
The idea is to use renewable energy to generate the liquid hydrogen needed to generate electricity and power aircraft electric motors. Researcher Xiaoze Pei from the University of Bath (UK) will soon begin a 1.6m euro project. developing a revolutionary hydrogen-powered zero-emission electric airplane.
The project aims to answer the following questions: obstacles standing in front of hydrogen-powered airplanes until now; these include doubts about energy intensity and the efficiency, safety and reliability of the onboard power distribution network.
Xiaoze Pei’s pioneering research in applied superconductors and cryogenic power electronics in collaboration with Airbus UpNext and IXYS UK Westcode Ltd has led to the development of the next generation of cryogenic and superconducting propulsion systems.
One of the keys direct current distribution network highly efficient superconductor that will allow the creation of a power system that will weigh much less than existing alternating current configurations.
The only viable solution
Xiaoze Pei isn’t the only project aimed at producing hydrogen-powered electric aircraft. English ZeroAvia is developing hydrogen-powered commercial aircraft capable of carrying up to 19 passengers on regional flights.
The company, which made its first flight in September 2020, is trying to produce aircraft with larger capacity. Carbon-free long-haul flights by 2030. In addition, the company has offered to reduce flight costs by 50% compared to existing ones by 2024.
“With its specific energy up to 30 times higher than lithium-ion batteries and lower cycle costs and numerous advantages over all other decarbonization solutions, hydrogen electric propulsion systems are the only viable and scalable solution for zero emission aviation‘, says ZeroAvia.
Airbus is also taking off
Another prominent company in this field is airbusDeveloping the concept of a hydrogen-powered passenger plane called ‘ZEROe’ .
This hybrid aircraft will have three variants: short-range regional with a capacity of 100 passengers, medium-range with a capacity of 200 passengers, and long-range with a capacity of 200 passengers (up to 3,700 kilometers). Waiting for them to be Airbus The world’s first hydrogen-powered commercial airplanes in 2035.
ZEROe aircraft are powered by hydrogen combustion via modified gas turbine engines. Liquid hydrogen is used as fuel for combustion with oxygen.
Hydrogen fuel cells generate electrical power that complements the gas turbine, which high efficiency hybrid electric drive system, according to the company. “All these technologies complement each other and add benefits,” Airbus adds.
adapting airports
There are also projects carried out by companies such as Boeing, Rolls-Royce and Honeywell. They are all working on the investigation and development of technologies for hydrogen production, integration of electric propulsion systems into aircraft and the manufacture of critical components for hydrogen-powered aircraft.
This gas is the most abundant element in the universe, so its supply is not an issue. Moreover, production does not generate greenhouse gas emissions and can be obtained through the electrolysis of water using renewable energy sources.
However, there are still a few difficulties overcome in the development of hydrogen-powered aircraft. One of the most important, storage and transportation of hydrogenbecause it takes up a lot of space (requires up to four times more volume than conventional fuel) and is difficult to store at high pressure.
You also need a system hydrogen supply at airports and a large-scale production and distribution system that makes it possible to use aircraft powered by this chemical element.
A study already published in ‘Science’ in 2016, The demand for liquid hydrogen for aircraft propulsion will require significant adaptation of airports. and new infrastructures to guarantee mandatory ‘on-site’ production of fuel; significant logistics investment.
Among the many advantages of using liquid hydrogen in airplanes, this study highlighted: Engines that are much cleaner than Jet A (gas turbine fuel) “may have a longer life (about 25%) and require lower maintenance costs.“.
Study on hydrogen powered airplanes: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B978178242364500004X
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