Successful tests with liquid hydrogen in aviation engines
MTU Aero Engines is developing liquid hydrogen systems for aircraft in collaboration with MT Aerospace AG. These systems consist of tanks, sensors, heat exchangers, valves, safety systems, and controls. MTU announced the project in June 2023. Now positive results have been recorded.
MT Aerospace is responsible for the liquid hydrogen tank, which had already been successfully tested using liquid nitrogen at the company’s headquarters in Augsburg. The first tests used liquid nitrogen because it is easier to handle.
Now MTU has tested the same systems with liquid hydrogen. Dr Günther Schullerer, Director of Future Technologies, MT Aerospace, explained, “Now that we have fully confirmed the functionality, we can focus our shared skills on lightweight engineering, integration concepts, and optimized space utilization.”
Hydrogen is an essential element of all non-fossil-fueled aviation beyond very short flights possible with batteries. Hydrogen fuel cells still have the challenge of energy density, which is still better than the energy density of batteries, but not yet enough beyond short regional flights. Liquid hydrogen (LH2) provides greater possibilities with its greater energy density but is still somewhat hampered by the extremely low temperatures (-250°C) required to turn hydrogen gas into liquid. The refrigerated LH2 needs to be heated during operation and changed to a gaseous state; then, a defined mass flow is fed into the fuel cell, explains MTU in their statement about the tests.
“The tests show that the system architecture is safe, reliable, and works as expected, so we can ensure a regulated, need-based supply of preconditioned hydrogen to the fuel cell,” said Barnaby Law, FFC Chief Engineer at MTU in Munich.
The German aviation experts’ next step is to test a product-specific full-system FFC in 2026. The liquid hydrogen system that has now recorded positive test results will be one of the main components of these next steps.
The involvement of MTU in this research is significant since, according to the company, “some 30 per cent of today’s active commercial aircraft in service worldwide have MTU components on board,” as well as being “Germany’s industrial lead company for practically all engines operated by the country’s military.” While this legacy leaves big shoes to be filled, these aspects are likely to make the company a trusted partner in the evolving space of hydrogen aviation technology.
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