Fuel cell plane for zero emission flying

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in environment on (#1D7H7)
story imageBeing the first four-seat passenger plane relying primarily on a hydrogen fuel cell, the HY4 will take off to its maiden flight during the upcoming summer. The powertrain of this twin-fuselage, single-engine plane consists of a hydrogen storage unit, a low-temperature hydrogen fuel cell and a high-performance battery. The fuel cell converts the hydrogen energy directly into electric energy, powering the propeller. The only by-product in this process is pure water. If the hydrogen needed for the conversion process is generated in an electrolysis process powered through renewables, the HY4 flies completely emission-free.

The HY4 powertrain has already been tested successfully in the lab. To create enough lift to take off, the system must provide the maximum takeoff performance reliably for at least three minutes. During the test, the developers already succeeded in running the system for more than ten minutes at maximum power. The interplay between fuel cell and the battery, which unites the functions of an energy buffer and back-up power system, has also been proved. This paves the way to integrate the powertrain into the plane.

http://www.electronics-eetimes.com/news/fuel-cell-plane-brings-zero-emission-flying-within-reach-0

Boeing flight-tested the first manned fuel cell aircraft back in 2009.

Fuel cell plane for zero emission flying (Score: 0)

by Anonymous Coward on 2016-05-19 08:02 (#1E8XF)

well at least they admit that using fuel cells in planes is a pipe dream. I much more reasonable option is to use H2 from carbon free sources (i.e. solar, wind, nuclear, etc.) combined with renewable carbon (atmospheric, biomass, algae, etc.) to make liquid fuels. typical jet fuel has an energy density (engergy/vol) 6x times of heavily compressed H2. It's hard enough to find space for my carry-on's on airplanes as it is, I don't need more space being taken up by huge fuel cell stacks and H2 tanks
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