Aircraft

Airbus looks to run full-size airliners on liquid hydrogen by 2035

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Liquid hydrogen, gasified then run through a fuel cell, will provide electric power for a new generation of zero-emissions airliners
Airbus
Liquid hydrogen, gasified then run through a fuel cell, will provide electric power for a new generation of zero-emissions airliners
Airbus
The test aircraft will keep the liquid hydrogen in an unpressurized section of the fuselage, with the fuel cells and electric motors in a pod hanging off the side of the aircraft
Airbus
Airbus and ArianeGroup have signed a deal to build the world's first liquid hydrogen refuelling facility at an airport in Toulouse
Airbus
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Airbus says it's on track to have a fully operational megawatt-class electric powertrain, fueled by cryogenic liquid hydrogen, tested in flight by 2026, ahead of a full-scale zero-emissions passenger airliner it plans to put into service by 2035.

These cutting-edge powertrains, as we discussed back in 2020, are eventually slated to be entirely encapsulated in large pods, slung under the wings where you'd normally find a beefy jet turbine. Each pod will have its own liquid hydrogen tank inside, as well as cryogenic cooling equipment to keep the fuel under its extremely cold boiling point of -253 °C (-424 °F, or just 20-odd Kelvin). Each pod will also have its own fuel-cell stack, to convert gaseous hydrogen into electricity, and an electric motor to drive a propeller or electric jet.

By running the entire fuel system and powertrain out in these pods, Airbus says it can free up more space in the fuselage for cargo and passengers. And it plans to make them detachable, such that aircraft can easily be kept in the air simply by swapping out whole pods for maintenance and the like.

Airbus is now working on a prototype of this kind of powertrain – albeit one that's slightly less integrated, with the liquid hydrogen system located inside an unpressurized section in the fuselage of the aircraft. The aircraft in question will be a full-size A380 airliner, specially set aside for zero-emissions concept testing at service altitudes. It'll run a standard jet-engine powertrain, with the hydrogen-powered propeller and pod hanging off one side of the top of the fuselage, in front of the tail.

The test aircraft will keep the liquid hydrogen in an unpressurized section of the fuselage, with the fuel cells and electric motors in a pod hanging off the side of the aircraft
Airbus

"In terms of aerodynamics, the A380 is a very stable aircraft," says Mathias Andriamisaina, Head of ZEROe Demonstrators and Tests at Airbus. "So the pod attached to the rear fuselage via the stub doesn’t pose much of an issue. Furthermore, the airflows from the pod and its propeller do not affect the airflow over A380’s tail surfaces."

Keeping the cryogenic fuel system in an unpressurized environment makes this a better test with respect to the final designs that'll keep their fuel out in the pods – but it also keeps the hydrogen fuel separate from the cabin, and allows the team to vent hydrogen gas straight out into the ambient air through emergency venting lines if necessary.

The end goal, of course, is to create a zero-emissions airliner capable of carrying enough energy to fly the same routes these giant birds currently do running Jet-A kerosene fuel. Batteries are simply way too heavy and bulky to carry enough energy for long-haul flights, and gaseous hydrogen systems, while offering considerably greater range than batteries, still fall short of jet fuel. Liquid hydrogen, on the other hand, can carry enough energy to do the job, opening up a genuine path towards zero-carbon aviation.

It's cutting-edge technology though, adapted from space programs, and it needs to be very thoroughly tested before it makes its way into widespread use. So it's good to see a company with the kind of resources Airbus can marshal pushing liquid hydrogen forward with a view to deploying it at scale.

Airbus and ArianeGroup have signed a deal to build the world's first liquid hydrogen refuelling facility at an airport in Toulouse
Airbus

Airbus intends to have a zero-emissions airliner up and running and in service by 2035. The company says this liquid hydrogen system could be a part of that aircraft, and it expects to have the test-equipped A380 flying by 2026 to begin proving the cryogenic powertrain. Meanwhile, it has partnered with ArianeGroup to design and build the world's first liquid hydrogen refueling facility for zero-emissions aircraft, which it plans to have operational at Toulouse, Blagnac airport by 2025.

Source: Airbus

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14 comments
michael_dowling
Recall reading that H2 could be produced at large airports using solar arrays set up between runways on the unused grass strips.
Edward Vix
One word: HIndendburg
Towerman
@Eward-Vix

One word Clown
Yet another troll puppet for the FF industry.

No Eddy puppet this is not the black and white film era.

And no son we're not filling dodgy balloons ;)

Hydrogen Engines have been in the making for a long time and is beyond overdue for commercial use !
Let this revolution finally take place ! ! !
Towerman
O... and LOVE this open prop engine, it screams efficiency ! ! It has taken too long to make it happen ! ! ! I bet mainstream airlines cant wait to use them.
mark34
"H2 could be produced at large airports using solar arrays set up between runways on the unused grass strips".... the last thing a pilot would want to contend with during a runway excursion would be a solar panel array or a hydrogen production facility in their path
vince
Lets discuss what could happen to passengers in that rare instance of a crash. The hydrogen is kept at minus several hundred degrees but flammable. So if tanks burst on imoact at first surviving passengers would be freeze dried and then as hydrogen burst into flames they will be burnt to a crisp. What a way to go frozen to death or burnt to death. Guess depends on where seated, and other parameters.
Catweazle
Forget "Green Hydrogen", far too inefficient.

Pop this into your search engine:
"Low-cost, clean hydrogen from underground oil fires could kill off green H2 sector"

Or this:
"Hydrogen could be taken straight from the ground"
guzmanchinky
I love all these comments from "experts" who are WAY smarter than Airbus engineers...
FB36
It is extremely bad idea to use hydrogen as fuel for land/sea/air transportation because it is pretty much explosive!
Imagine a future world w/ all kinds of hydrogen vehicles, tanker trucks, gas stations everywhere!
Are we seriously thinking that there will be never any accidents/leaks/ruptures/mishandling to trigger massive explosions?
Not to mention, there is actually no need at all to use hydrogen as fuel!
All light/small vehicles are already becoming fully electric & all heavy/big land/sea/air vehicles (like trucks & trains & construction/mining/agriculture/military vehicles & ships & aircraft) just need us to start producing biodiesel/biofuel at large scales!
(From all possible industrial/agricultural/forestry waste/biomass & trash & sewage!)
Hospital Stays
Great idea, and worth doing just to annoy the people who/comment/with/slashes/instead/of/spaces.