Revealed today (April 28), a study into what fuel could help achieve hydrogen-fuelled aircraft by 2023 revealed that liquid ammonia could be the best method in achieving this target.
In fact, the company’s research shows that converting a Falcon 50 to Liquid Ammonia Turbofan Combustion is the most efficient and commercially viable avenue to building a hydrogen-powered plane.
This will now see Aviation H2 modify turbofan engines in order to test and prove the concept.
Ammonia and hydrogen are not the only methods in achieving zero-emission flight. Sustainable Aviation Fuel in particular is recognised as a short-term solution to initially bring down the carbon emissions associated with the aviation industry.
These thoughts are echoed by Taras Wankewycz, CEO and co-founder of H3 Dynamics, who exclusively told H2 View, “The easiest route and the shortest route I would say right now for aviation in general is do slight modifications which is sustainable aviation fuels and even hydrogen combustion.”
Electric could also be key and, in terms of ultra-light passenger planes, all-electric and batteries could well be an avenue to explore and with the technology set to be bolstered significantly in the coming years, it is expected that innovation could make it a good application for flight.
With these perspectives, it is believed that several options will take the main stage in the zero-emission revolution in the skies.
Once the test flight is successful in the middle of 2023, Aviation H2 will have a patentable method for modifying aircraft so they operate on carbon-free fuel.
Aviation H2 will then quickly seek to certify and commercialise this product via a planned public listing on a major exchange in Q4 of 2023.
Dr. Helmut Mayer, Director of Aviation H2, said, “By implementing this power path, Aviation H2 can fly aircraft with hydrogen fuel using significantly less weight than alternative power paths while generating the same amount of power.
“There are multiple reasons why liquid ammonia was selected. Chiefly its advantages include high gravimetric and volumetric hydrogen density that makes it lighter and easier to transport while providing a greater energy conversion rate.
“In fact, the stored weight of liquid ammonia energy is substantially lighter than gaseous hydrogen and can be kept at a much lower tank pressure.”
North American Hydrogen Summit
H2 View is taking its events platform to America’s original clean hydrogen hub of California. Together with the California Fuel Cell Partnership (CaFCP), we will stage our North American Hydrogen Summit in San Francisco on July 14-15.
As our summit theme Building Bridges: Hydrogen hubs and investment suggests, the event will explore the $8bn of funding announced to create at least four regional hydrogen hubs in the US. These hubs will turbo-charge the nation’s progress toward heavy trucking and industrial sectors that run without producing carbon pollution – and they may just provide the path forward to a hydrogen-fuelled future.
With California and Texas vying to be America’s hydrogen capital today, where are the hubs of tomorrow? Further still, what can other states, and countries, learn from California’s success story? And how can we build bridges to a successful flow of international investment?
If you are a member of the CaFCP, be sure to grab your ticket at a discounted rate with a code that can be provided to you by the events team.
Full information about this event including attendance and sponsorship packages can be found here.