Oh, the Humanity!

H2 Clipper, the Santa Barbara-based, aerospace and alternative energy company, announced that it has completed a simulated wind tunnel test of its hydrogen-powered Pipeline-In-The-Sky airship.

The lighter-than-air craft is intended to transport freight, including [possibly] hydrogen supplies for commercial use, in a manner ostensibly seven to ten times faster than shipment via ship or truck and seventy-percent less costly than contemporary air-freight fee schedules.

The testing, which utilized computational fluid dynamics (CFD),  confirmed the airship’s aerodynamic design conforms to H2 Clipper’s performance objectives and cost models.

The proposed, dirigible airship is to have a range of 6,000-miles, a top-speed of 175-mph, and an impressive, 265,000-cubic-foot cargo-volume. H2 Clipper asserts the aircraft’s operating costs will be between 17 and 25-cents per ton-mile, based on payloads of 245 tons over 1,000 miles or 170 tons over 6,000 miles. The airship’s total lifting capacity is expected to be over 250 tons—with the range to payload ratio being driven by the quantity of fuel required for the desired flight distance.

H2 Clipper founder and CEO Rinaldo Brutoco said of the aerodynamic testing, “The successful analysis with CFD marks a major milestone for the development of the ‘Pipeline-In-The-Sky’ airship and brings H2 Clipper one step closer to realizing our goal of providing the fastest, most flexible, and efficiently scalable way to transport fuel-grade hydrogen to market worldwide.”

The H2 Clipper propulsion system comprises a hydrogen fuel cell supplemented by a photovoltaic array, with electric motors turning propellers and power coming from a combination of electricity produced by proton-exchange membrane fuel-cells and solar power. According to the company, using hydrogen as both a fuel source and a lifting gas maximizes both propulsion efficiency and buoyancy.

FMI: https://h2clipper.com