Hydrogen Propulsion Sees Milestone in Emission-Free Aviation

Airbus completed its first powered ground test using its prototype hydrogen fuel cell system, seeing a 1.2-megawatt output. 

The combined "iron pod" system consisted of the electric motors to spin the propeller shaft, as well as the units to control, cool, and power them. The test is a "pivotal step on Airbus' ZEROe roadmap to put a hydrogen propulsion aircraft into service by 2035".

"It has been three years since we revealed an aircraft concept 100% powered by hydrogen fuel cells," said Glenn Llewellyn, Vice President of the ZEROe Aircraft program. "Since then, we have adhered to our initial timeline and made tremendous progress. The recent success of powering on the iron pod system at 1.2 megawatts is a crucial step towards our goal of putting a hydrogen-powered aircraft in the skies by 2035."

Next up, testing will continue on the existing iron pod through 2024, which will suss out issues with the system ahead of miniaturization. Once complete, they'll get to work reducing the size and mass while hardening the ZEROe system to vibration, humidity, and altitude. If all goes well, the resulting hydrogen propulsion system will be installed on MSN001, the very first A380 ever manufactured. That testbed will grant Airbus plenty of extra performance to lug around some extra weight as they figure out just how to build a reliable hydrogen power plant.

FMI:www.airbus.com