(Sassenage / France) – The manufacturer of fuel cell systems H2Fly GmbH sees itself well on the way to developing a hydrogen-powered aircraft for medium and long-haul flights. According to the information, the Stuttgart-based company has now coupled a liquid hydrogen storage system newly developed by the French industrial gas manufacturer Air Liquide SA with the fuel cell system in the company's aircraft called “HY4”.
Impression of the test flight campaign in 2022: The HY4 test aircraft is refueled with gaseous hydrogen. © H2Fly GmbH
This was preceded by refueling the aircraft with liquid hydrogen (LH2) in April. The energy source is stored in special tanks at minus 253 degrees Celsius. With the coupling test, the liquid hydrogen from the tank integrated in the aircraft was fed to the fuel cell system to generate electricity for the electric motor.
On the way to the LH2 passenger plane
This coupling represents “the final technological building block in the development of a complete hydrogen-electric powertrain” that uses liquid hydrogen for H2Fly’s four-seat demonstration aircraft “HY4”. By successfully passing the coupling tests on the ground, we have shown “that it will be possible to scale our technology for a 40-seat aircraft,” says H2Fly founder and managing director Josef Kallo.
According to the information, H2Fly is “the first company to have successfully carried out coupling tests on the ground with an LH2 tank and fuel cell system integrated into the aircraft”. This “demonstrated the technological advances in fuel cell systems, hydrogen storage systems and H2 fuel systems for CS23 and CS25 aircraft.” The “Certification Specifications” (CS) are construction and certification regulations of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for light aircraft and large aircraft.
More flight tests in the summer
The test was carried out in Sassenage, France, on Air Liquide's Technologies Grenoble campus. The result is “a significant step” forward in the “HEAVEN” project, a consortium of six companies led by H2Fly that aims to demonstrate the feasibility of using liquid cryogenic hydrogen in aircraft.
In the test campaign currently underway, “HY4” is refueled with liquid hydrogen. © H2Fly GmbH
The company announced that ground and flight test campaigns with the “HY4” are planned for the summer. HEAVEN is part of the Horizon 2020 research and innovation program funded by the European Union as well as Spain, France, Germany and Slovenia.
H2Fly GmbH was founded by five engineers from the German Aerospace Center in Stuttgart and the University of Ulm with the aim of bringing a fully hydrogen-electric aircraft engine onto the market.
The fuel cell aircraft in the hangar in Stuttgart (2022) © H2Fly GmbH
“HY4” completed its first flight in 2016. In 2020, H2Fly received approval for the latest generation of the aircraft, which features a fully redundant propulsion architecture. In 2021, a strategic partnership was initiated with the aircraft manufacturer Deutsche Aircraft, under which both companies want to operate a CS25 class aircraft together. In a demonstration project for a climate-neutral regional aircraft, a prototype is expected to go into operation in 2025.
At the beginning of last year, the company completed a cross-country flight between two commercial airports for the first time with a hydrogen-powered passenger aircraft. On the route from Stuttgart to Friedrichshafen it covered 77 miles (around 125 kilometers).
Also last year, the company said it set “a presumed world altitude record for a hydrogen aircraft” with a flight altitude of 7.230 feet (2.200 meters). “In a few years,” hydrogen-electric aircraft will be able to transport 40 passengers over distances of up to 2.000 kilometers.
Photos
Test flight of the “HY4” in Maribor, Slovenia (2020). © H2Fly GmbH
