A hydrogen-powered jet engine being developed by Airbus Group (EPA:AIR) and aerospace company ArianeGroup could be ready for testing within a few years.
A hydrogen-powered engine could potentially power a zero-emissions aircraft that Airbus plans to test in the coming years, with the A380 MSN1 flight test aircraft for new hydrogen technologies currently being modified to carry liquid hydrogen tanks and their associated distribution systems.
Alongside this, ArianeGroup will design, produce and support the development of the first liquid hydrogen refuelling station, which Airbus suggested will mark a large step towards the introduction of its net-zero plane into service by 2035.
The refuelling facility is due to be operational by 2025 at Toulouse’s Blagnac airport in time for the engine tests.
Meanwhile, the engine will see ground and flight testing towards the middle of the decade on Airbus’ ZEROe A380 aircraft, it outlined.
Airbus said it is focused on developing and testing this technology “to understand if it is feasible and viable for a 2035 entry-into-service of a zero-emission aircraft”.
The company, which is headquartered in Leiden in the Netherlands, said hydrogen is a “promising” alternative fuel for zero-emission aircraft as it emits no carbon dioxide when generated from renewable energy, with hydrogen either used as a power source for aircraft propulsion in a gas turbine or by using fuel cells to convert hydrogen into electricity to power a propeller engine.
A hydrogen gas turbine might also be coupled with fuel cells instead of batteries in a hybrid-electric architecture.
Hydrogen has become a somewhat exciting prospect for the aviation industry as it looks towards decarbonisation, with Rolls-Royce and easyJet this week testing their own hydrogen-powered jet engine – the first to ever be ignited.
Suggesting many technologies needed for hydrogen powered flight already exist, Airbus chief technical officer added: "Preparing for the entry into service of a zero-emission aircraft in 2035 means that we need to mature all of the required technologies in parallel.”
However, although hydrogen is highly energy dense, experts have said it is not plausible as a jet fuel as volumetrically it is not dense, meaning a long-distance planes would need to carry so much fuel it would leave no room for passengers.
Airbus chief executive André-Hubert Roussel highlighted that ArianeGroup was chosen as the partner for its “unique skills and know-how in the storage, testing, and use of liquid hydrogen”.