Three French companies are developing technologies for using liquid hydrogen for gas turbine engines, having successfully tested it in ground tests.
The BeautHyFuel project, created to explore the potential of hydrogen in aviation, has taken a significant step forward thanks to the collaboration of Safran, Turbotech and Air Liquide. Testing of the TR-R90 turbofan engine on gaseous hydrogen demonstrated its effectiveness for small aircraft. The next stage was the engine test using liquid hydrogen, which turned out to be the first such experiment in the world for aviation gas turbine systems.
Hydrogen has several significant advantages as an aviation fuel. Its energy density is about 33 kWh/kg, which is three times higher than that of aviation kerosene. It is also environmentally friendly, producing only water during combustion. However, at high temperatures, nitrogen oxides are formed, which can lead to acid rain, requiring the introduction of cooling technologies to minimize this effect.
One of the main challenges remains the storage and transportation of hydrogen, especially in its liquid state, which requires the development of specialized infrastructure. However, engineers are already working on solving these challenges, in particular by introducing new designs of injection nozzles and fuel storage systems. Swiss researchers have also made an important contribution by investigating the acoustic behavior of such systems in close-to-real-world conditions.
The consortium's developers believe their efforts will enable the creation of cost-effective and environmentally friendly technologies for civil aviation. The successful tests pave the way for the integration of hydrogen engines into light aircraft, which could be a key step in the decarbonization of the aviation industry.