Air Transport
CRYOPLANE: Hydrogen Fuelled Aircraft
Status and Challenges
Heinz G. KLUG, Reinhard FAASS
Civil aviation faces a mounting conflict between the rapid growth of traffic demand
and the increasingly clear need to reduce emissions of the long-lived greenhouse gas,
carbon dioxide. Use of hydrogen fuel may contribute to the resolution of this conflict. This
paper reviews the problem and introduces the current European research.
ver the pase several
decades, civil aviation
traffic has grown by some-
........ thing in the order of 5'!,,
per annum. ,411 current
forecasts point to this rate of growth
being maintained into the foreseeable
future. At the same time it is increasing-
ly accepted that the emission of green-
house gases, most notably carbon diox-
ide (CO2), resulting from man's activi-
ties cannot be allowed to increase in a
similar fashion if adverse global climate
change is to be avoided. Advances in
aeronautical technology have led and
will lead tel significant improvement in
the energy efficiency of transport air-
craft but there is no realistic prospect
that such gains in efficiency will be suf-
ficient to compensate for expected traf-
fic growth as far as CO, emissions are
concerned. Nor is it likeh' that a\ iation
will be accorded a privileg,ed exemption
from the general need to reduce CO~
emissions.
The CRt'OPL&NE project addresses
this problem bya . completely new
approach producing hydrogen from
renewable energy sources and using
such hydrogen as an aviation fuel; thus
making tile aircraft compatible with the
environment and protecting sustainable
long term growth of air traffic.
The energy carrier
hydrogen
Hydrogen, produced b;' electrolysis of
water and used as a t~uel, provides a
means of delivering energy deri\'ed
from renewable sources such as wind,
solar and biomass. For aircraft, only
storage in liquefied form at 253C is
practical. Because of their very high
power requirements, aircraft must go on
to burn tile fuel in turbofan power-
plants. Tile onl~ primary product of the
combustion process in tile engine is
water again - the cycle is closed.
Technical challenges -
configuration
Weight for weight, hydrogen contains
2.8 times more energy than kerosene
see.tTk,lm' 1). ,,\ significant part of this
advantage will be eaten up by the
weight of tile complex fuel system,
specifically by the large tanks. However,
it is expected that hy'drogen will permit
an increase in payload at a given Take-
off Weight.
On the other band, to store the same
amount of energy, Liquid Hydrogen
needs a \'olume 4 times bigger than
kerosene. In addition, the tanks must
have a spherical or cylindrical shape to
allow for insulation requirements and a
(small) differential
p ressu re'. W e Ig h t
This results in un- Kerosene
usual con fi,e,ura-
tions. Tanks on top
of the fuselage are
an attractive sole- Hydrogen
tion for big passen-
ger aircraft. Large
external tanks un-
der tile wing ap-
pear feasible for
II/
1 : 2.8
small aircraft with Figure I. Comparison of fuel characten'stics:
stiff wings and masses of equal energy content.
short design ranges. Wings bigger than
required to support the aircraft's weight
could take a major part of the fuel.
Unconventional conf gt ations like a
'Blended-Wing-Body' may turn out to
be attractive.
In the past, studies have concentrated
on large short/medium range aircraft
such as the one shown in fi\~Im' 2. Search
for practical configurations for all cate-
gores of air les are part of the current
stud\.
Technical challenges-
systems
and components
Tile fuel system will be more complex
than for a conventional kerosene air-
craft, as the Liquid Hydrogen virtually
is a boiling liquid which can evaporate;
so the system will contain fuel both in
the liquid and in the gaseous phase.
Components cannot simply be taken
from space technolog) because of the
differences in operational requirements.
Structural materials, specifically for tile
LIq uld H y d r o g e n
Volume
Kerosene
4 1
J
Air Transport
Oi! ¸
Figure 2. CRYOPLANE based upon
I.lrge tanks, should be light, but rnust
work at very low temperatures and
~nust stand large temperature changes;
kluminium-Lithiurn alloys are promis-
ing candidates. Composites could be
lighter, but the technology needs to be
,te\eloped. Insulation must be light,
,ffective, and reliable.
Technical challenges-
propulsion
ingines will see several new compo-
nents. A specific challenge is tile devel-
,}pment of combustion chambers that
,'nsure very low NO, emissions. Before
he hydrog, en is injected into the com-
l~ustion chamber, it must be warmed tip
n a heat exchanger, which is a novel
eature. Components like tile high pres-
..ure fuel pump or the flow control valve
leed much technology development
york to reach operational readiness.
_Jse of the cooling capacity of the Liquid
fydrogen may lead to novel engine
,onfigurations~
Economics
\Mines will be, ready to change over to
lydrogen onh, if this gives them an eco-
xmlic advantage. ]-he economic com-
parison between a kerosene aircraft and
i hydrogen aircraft depends primarily
Tpon the fuel price (of course in relation
o its energy content).
[bday, Liquid Hydrogen, if mass-pro-
tuced on a renewable energy basis and
ree of tax, ~ould cost in the order of
:axed gasoline or diesel. Hence, liquid
lydrogen todax is not economically
:ompetitive to tax-flee kerosene. How-
weT; the economic equation will change
,vhen political measures to force reduc-
ENVIRONMENT
:41!ii~;
i ¸;!:: . . . . . tion of CO, emis- Environmental
sions become effec-
tive. compatibility
When hydrogen is burnt, the only pri-
mary combustion product is water and
Safety the i~nlv secondary emissions of poten-
Every efficient ener- tial significance are Nitrogen Oxides
gy\' carrier i.e. (NO\). Use of hydrogen eliminates the
every useful furl - emission of COy Carbon Monoxide,
will have a danger soot, snlphuric acid, Unburnt Hydro-
potential. Hydro- carbons (UHC), see.fi,\~tnc 3. The forma-
Airbus A3 10.
gen offers some tion of NOx can be controlled by 'lean
advantages when combustion' technology, which is much
compared to other widely used fuels: easier to realise with hydrogen than
• in the free atmosphere, hydrogen rises with kerosene, due to its very low
much faster than other gases, hence
flame-out point. Various practical tests
the danger zone is small if lnydrogen
have found NO, emissions can be sig-
leaks out/is spilled;
nificantly lower than for kerosene fuel.
• hydrogen will burn at concentrations
With premixing, NO~ emissions will be
significantly below the limit for deto-
as low as 1/10 to 1/20 ot current
nation. It cannot detonate in free
kerosene engines.
atmosphere;
Burning hydrogen produces 2.6 times
• hydrogen when spilled and ignited
will not form a fire carpet as kerosene
the amount of water compared to a
does. It burns very fast, but with v e r \ mass of kerosene of same energy con-
low lneat radiation. It is expected that tent. Water vapour is an effective green-
passengers can survive a post-crash house gas in an otherwise dry and sta-
fire by staying in the cabin; ble stratosphere. Hmxever, residence
• hydrogen is not toxic, and its con> time is relatively short (sa\ 1/2 }ear)
bustion products are not toxic. compared to C0~ (100 years). Various
studies and global climate simulations
ha\e shown that the effect of water
Practical safety experience
\apour at typical subsonic cruise levels
The safety record for Hydrogen in gen- is negligible.
eral, and Liquid Hydrogen specifically, Contrails condensation trails = ice cr\'s-
is quite good, e.g. for Liquid Hydrogen tals) in general will contribute to ihe
tanks, tank trailers, test installations. anthropogenic greenhouse effect. Their
There were successful large scale 'tests' formation depends upon thermodx-
m e r decades, invol\ing millions of la;'- namic criteria and upon the availabiliiv
men: 'Town Gas' contained about 50;!, of condensation nuclei (e.g. soot, sul-
hydrogen by volume! phuric acids, dust). In the exhaust gases
Even the much-cited 'Hindenburg Di- of a hydrogen engine, there are only
saster' in 1037 can
be interpreted as a
successful demon- 1 kg Kerosene*
Air - -, 3.16 kg CO2
stration. The hull
went up in flames ~,->- • - = m B ~ . 2 4 kg Water, CO,
i ~ Soot, NOx, SO2,
when the airship i -~ UHC
was still up at 50m,
and then the
200,000m: of gas- r 0.36 kg Hydrogen*
eous hydrogen Air - - -
burnt. There was
no explosion, and
(~2 persons out of
97 on board sur- Figure 3. Comparison of emissions.
vived. *Fuel masses of equal energy content.
t.5~ AIR & SPACE E U R O P E • V O L . 3 • N o 3/4 ?001
 CRYOPLANE
those few nuclei which come from the
ambient air. Simulations indicate that
such contrails behind hydrogen en-
gines, despite the larger amount of
water emitted, will probably be optical-
Iv thinner and of little climatic effect.
]~his result needs to be confirmed by
more elaborate simulations (now under
way); final confirmation must come
from flight tests.
Fuel sources
and infrastructure
Use of Liquid Hydrogen as a fuel will
help to protect tilt, environment only if
release of CO, into the atmosphere dur-
ing production is avoided. Hence, ill tilt'
long run, hydrogen must be produced
b\' gasification of biomass, or by dec-
trolvsis of water using electrical power
generated from renewable energy
SOLIrCes.
Ill the beginning of the transition pro-
cess from kerosene to Liquid Hydrogen,
when only relatively small anlounts of
Liquid Hydrogen are required at an air-
port, fuel production and liquefaction
can be centralised; tile fuel can be car-
ried to the airport in a conventional tank
trailer and dispensed to the aircraft \'in a
mobile refilelling station. The necessary
technology has been developed ill
(lernlanv for refuelling road vehicles
(IJnde, Messer), but needs further
de\'elopment for aviation.
In the fully developed system, Iwdro-
gel can be deli\ered in gaseous form
via pipelines to the airport or it can be
produced there by electrolvsis, It `.\ill be
liquefied at the airport, will be stored in
large tanks, will be distributed by a local
system of `..`.'ellinsulated pipes, and will
be dispensed to tile aircraft while dock-
ed at the passenger bridge.
Previous research
projects
In 1957, a B57 bomber aircraft, modified
to fly on Liquid Hydrogen, was success-
fully tested in tile USA under military
auspices. The 1970s saw many studies
and safety related experiments, carried
out b\' NASA Ames, Institute of Gas
Technology, Linde/Union Carbide Cor-
poration, Lockheed and others.
In Russia, the Design Bureau ANTK
lupolev modified a trijet Tu 154. Engine
No.3 was modified by Kuznetsov to run
on hydrogen or Natural Gas; these fuels
were stored ill the liquid phase in a tank
which had been installed in the rear part
of the cabin. First flight was ill 1988. The
aircraft made many successful flights,
most of them on Natural (;as, which
was and still is of main interest in
I,,ussla because of ti~e large reserves
available.
During the 1990s, tile European-Ca-
nadian 'Euro-Quebec Hydro-Hydrogen
Pilot Project' covered many aspects of
h)drogen use. All extensive test series
proved that very low NO~ emissions
could indeed be achieved ill practical
aircraft engines. Latel, at the Fachhoch-
schule Aachen, very low NO x emissions
were demonstrated by running 'Auxi-
liar;' Power Units' on hydrogen. 'Worst
Case' tests on Liquid Hydrogen tanks,
carried out by the German Bunde-
sanstait for Materialforschung in co-
operation with cal" manufacturer BMW,
proved the high safety level achievable
with hydrogt'rk
Many aspects of using Liquid Hvdro-
sen as an aircraft fuel were studied in
co-operation between EADS Airbus, the
Russian design bureau ANTK Tupolev,
and nunlerous (_]ernlan partners.
The CRYOPLANE
project
Since mid-2000, a consortium of-oq p_ part-
hers from 11 European countries has
been working on a comprehensive "~
year 'System Analysis', supported by
iht' European Comnfission within the
qh Framework Programme. The study
covers all relevant technical, environ-
mental and strategic aspects to provide
a sound basis for initiating larger scale
research and development acti\ities.
Specifically, it includes work on:
• aircraft configurations far all relevant
categories of commercial aircraft;
• systems architecture and sizing, com-
ponent availability and technolog)
requirements;
• engine cycles, engine layout, no`.el
components' technology;
• safety under aircraft specific condi
tions;
• environmental compatibility with
specific emphasis upon contrail for-
mation and characteristics;
• fuel sources and infrastructure at d~c
airport; and
• potential transition processe>, both a
global and a regional scale.
It is expected that tile stud\ ,.,.'ill confirm
tile in principle feasibilityand the vm i-
ronmental advantages of the concepI
but also will identify the need for future
research and development activitie>.
The future
In a follow up phase, time critical devel-
opment of key components and tech-
nologies should be initiated, and tc>,t, t~,
finally settle questions of great impor-
tance for the practicality of the concept
should be carried out.
After that, tile next steps will ha\e to St'
the realisation of a complete hlel s>,tem
on tile ground ('Iron Bird') and tlx:n in a
'Validator' Test Aircraft to definitely
prove the whole concept and gain opel-
ationa] experience. First series literati
could be ddivered within 1(]-15 `.car,
frOlll Ila~\.
The transition process should be 'soW. i.e.
avoiding t l n n e c e g s a r v economic b t l r d e l l ~,
for airlines and airports. Due to tilt, long
(appro'dmately 25 year)life of individual
aircraft, it m a y take several decade>
before Liquid H}drogen has replaced
kerosene world-wide. Io initiate and con
trol such a soft process will be a big chal-
lenge to the political authorities.
Changing to Liquid Hydrogen i~ a
promising way to long term sustainable
growth of cMl aviation at high growth
rates, as it- will bring the emission of the
long-living greenhouse gas C()~ by air-
craft down to zero, and will minimi/c
other emissions. •
About the authors:
Heinz G/inter Klug is Project Manager,
and Reinhard Faass is Project Engineer
with CRYOPLANE (EADS Airbus GmbH)
Heinz-guenfer.klug@airbus.dasa de:
reinhard.faass@airbus.dasa.de