Will change aviation: the first turbine engine running on liquid hydrogen has been created

The new hydrogen gas turbine engine can be directly integrated into light aircraft, says Safran's vice president of hydrogen programs, Pierre-Alain Lambert.

Turbotech, Safran and Air Liquide have successfully completed ground demonstration tests of the first hydrogen gas turbine aircraft engine operating on the basis of a highly efficient regenerative cycle and powered by a liquid hydrogen tank as part of the BeautHyFuel project. This is discussed on the official Safran website.

As part of the test, the engine was connected to a cryogenic (-250°C) liquid storage system developed by Air Liquide to demonstrate the end-to-end integration of the propulsion system, reproducing all functions on the aircraft.< /p>

“This is an important step forward in the transition to fully decarbonized aircraft engines that will be ready to fly as soon as the world begins to mass produce green hydrogen,” — said Turbotech CEO Damien Fauvet.

According to Fauvet, the goal of this work was to achieve an energy density similar to a conventional Avgas or Jet A-1 fuel system, while taking into account the limitations associated with the modernization, performance and certification of a cryogenic hydrogen propulsion system.

“We have demonstrated that a complete high-tech solution for a zero-carbon in-flight propulsion system is possible and that it can be directly integrated into light aircraft,” said Pierre-Alain Lambert, Safran's vice president of hydrogen programs.

A press release published on the FlightGlobal portal states that ground demonstrations within the BeautHyFuel project were completed in September — however, initial results were not released until January 13th — a total of 23 hours were spent. The research was supported by the French government through the civil aviation agency DGAC.

Using a 105 kW TP-R90 regenerative turbine supplied by startup Turbotech, the end-to-end system included an Air Liquide-designed cryogenic storage tank and a fuel delivery and management system from Safran. Other partners include aircraft manufacturers Elixir Aircraft and Daher.

“Overall, there were no problems, the engine performance was on par with the kerosene version, and the system even demonstrated slightly improved performance in H2,” Safran said.