{"id":14118,"date":"2021-07-13T15:25:50","date_gmt":"2021-07-13T22:25:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/?p=14118"},"modified":"2021-07-13T15:25:50","modified_gmt":"2021-07-13T22:25:50","slug":"going-big-and-bigger-with-hydrogen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/going-big-and-bigger-with-hydrogen\/","title":{"rendered":"Going Big and Bigger with Hydrogen"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two companies promoting hydrogen power for aircraft are upsizing their aspirations, with aircraft\u00a0 hauling four to up to 40 passengers.\u00a0 Both have ambitious timelines.<\/p>\n

ZeroAvia,<\/a> operating in Hollister, California and Cirencester, England has been flying a Piper Malibu demonstrator, but anticipates flying a 10 to 20 passenger Dornier by 2024<\/a>.\u00a0 It would expand that to a 50-passenger craft by 2026.\u00a0 H2Fly in Germany has been flying their Pipistrel-designed HY4 for several years and through six generations. The firm looks forward to taking incremental steps toward a 40-passenger regional airliner by 2030.<\/p>\n

ZeroAvia <\/strong><\/h4>\n

ZeroAvia reports on troubling trends in aviation\u2019s contribution to greenhouse gases, but follows with a possible solution.\u00a0 According to their web site, aviation accounts for over 12 percent of total transportation emissions, and may double that by 2050.\u00a0 High altitude contrails mean aviation emissions have two to four times the effect of ground source emissions.\u00a0 Regulators want drastic changes.\u00a0 The European Union mandates a one quarter the CO2 and one-tenth the nitrogen oxides from aircraft by 2050. ZeroAvia is focused on the short haul segment because half of emissions are from flights shorter than 1000 miles.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Short haul segment is most important to address: half of emissions are from flights shorter than 1000 miles. according to ZeroAvia<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>ZeroAvia\u2019s solution is to create an ever-larger, longer-range group of aircraft to meet transportation needs at every level.<\/p>\n

In a two-pronged effort, ZeroAvia is converting two Dornier 228, 19-seat aircraft to hydrogen power. \u00a0The company reports, \u201cTo continue the company\u2019s trajectory toward zero-emission flight, ZeroAvia<\/a> is ramping up its 19-seat aircraft program to decarbonize and revolutionize regional air travel. The company will utilize two twin-engine 19-seat Dornier 228 aircraft \u2013 one in the UK and one in the US, provided respectively by Aurigny (an airline on the channel isle of Guernsey)<\/a> and AMC Aviation. Both aircraft were previously in service for regional flights in the US and UK, demonstrating the opportunity for carbon reduction on existing routes.\u201d<\/p>\n

ZeroAvia\u2019s initial demonstrations using a Piper Malibu were dubbed HyFlyer I.\u00a0 The new phase, HyFlyer II, is part of a program backed by the United Kingdom government to develop a hydrogen fuel cell powertrain.\u00a0 Lessons learned from the first phase will be incorporated into development of a 600 kilowatt powerplant to be used in the 19-seat Dornier<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

ZeroAvia’s drive train.\u00a0 Twin units on Dornier 228 will be 600 kW (804 hp) each.\u00a0 We look forward to getting more details on ZeroAvia’s H2 motors, which look different from more conventional electric powerplants<\/p><\/div>\n

LongTailPipe. com explains, \u201cIt looks like immediately behind the propeller is an electric motor, with no gearing between the motor and the propeller shaft. Immediately behind that is what looks like an inverter (motor controller) with cables connecting it with the motor. I\u2019m wondering about the color choices in the wiring harness, since I understood it is required to use orange cables for high voltage wires so that technicians know which cable is dangerous.<\/p>\n

\u201cBehind that is a blue box. Might that be the fuel cell stack?<\/p>\n

\u201cBesides the motor and the inverter, there are three or four major components that must exist:<\/p>\n