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The Boeing Dreamliner is a huge leap in aircraft design. Not surprisingly, the carbon-composite-sheathed 787 is running into the type of severe turbulence that accompanies any major technology change.

What will be the next revolution in aircraft design? How about hydrogen power?

“By using liquid-hydrogen, there is the potential to create aircraft that are capable of the same missions as current aircraft, but use less energy, use less natural resources, have smaller environmental impact, and are as safe as or safer than current aircraft,” says David C. Maniaci, who researched the issue for the Dept. of Aerospace Engineering at Penn State University.

Boeing engineers have stated that hydrogen, if produced via nuclear or solar power, could be a long-term factor as an aviation fuel, and Boeing in fact tested a small, manned plane two years ago.

Assuming production of hydrogen from an environmentally suitable source is a huge given, as previously reported by Design News. Significant design problems also lie in the way. Hydrogen has a high energy density per unit mass, but a low energy density per unit volume compared to currently used jet fuels. Containing hydrogen would require a high-pressure container. It’s likely fuel would have to be stored in the fuselage, not wings, creating further obstacles.
Heat-Resistant Polymer
New work, however, on air-cooled, hydrogen fuel cell membranes using the heat-resistant polymer polybenzimidazole are showing promise. In fact, the membranes may be used in future Airbus A320s to produce electricity for onboard use.

The technology is being demonstrated in Germany where Antares DLR-H2, the world’s first piloted aircraft capable of taking off using only power from fuel cells, made a test flight at the Hamburg airport. The plane has been developed by the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR).

Technically, it’s a motorized glider. It has zero carbon dioxide emissions and makes less noise than comparable aircraft.

The Antares DLR-H2 is powered directly by an ultra-efficient fuel cell using membrane technology developed by BASF. “We have improved the performance capabilities and efficiency of the fuel cell to such an extent that a piloted aircraft is now able to take off using it,” says Johann-Dietrich Wörner, chairman of DLR. “This enables us to demonstrate the true potential of this technology, also and perhaps specifically for applications in the aerospace sector.”

Hydrogen is converted into electrical energy in a direct, electrochemical reaction with oxygen in the ambient air, with no combustion. The only by-product is water. In the membrane electrode assembly, or MEA, chemical energy generated by the reaction between oxygen and hydrogen is converted directly into electricity and heat.

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