Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-s22k5 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-08T23:17:48.577Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Certification considerations for the configuration of a hydrogen-fuelled aeroplane

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 October 2022

R. Spencer Open the ORCID record for R. Spencer [Opens in a new window]
R. Spencer*
Affiliation:
Minson Hill Farm, Upottery, Honiton, EX149QY, UK
*
Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Replacing kerosene with hydrogen as a fuel for propelling aeroplanes will undoubtably have ramifications for the existing certification basis and the necessary means of compliance. What this paper attempts to do is explain how a future hydrogen-powered aeroplane could be certified and how this will influence the aircraft’s design. Emphasis has been placed on the safety of hydrogen with regards flammability, ignition energy, cryogenic states and crashworthiness. The influence of certification on a future hydrogen-fuelled aeroplane’s configuration has been established. Lessons learnt from rockets are limited in scope. Consideration of hydrogen’s cryogenic and ambient temperature properties has established some fundamental safety principles. Fuel system crashworthiness influence on certification has been examined. An explosion prevention certification scheme has been developed. It is proposed to exclude oxygen from the fuel system and avoid accumulation of leaked or permeated hydrogen from adjacent zones. Three generic hydrogen-fuelled configurations have been considered for certification: adapting conventional airliner design, hydrogen-electric (fuel cell) propulsion and an unconventional approach. Hydrogen as a safe gas turbine fuel has been examined in technical and environmental terms. Further experimental work to close knowledge gaps in the aviation use of hydrogen has been suggested. In conclusion the necessary changes to the certification basis are outlined. Comments as to what the configuration of a future hydrogen-fuelled aeroplane might look like are provided. These observations are based on analysis of hydrogen’s properties, the existing certification basis, knowledge gaps, and what Special Conditions and Acceptable Means of Compliance might emerge in a future design Type Certification.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Aeronautical Journal , Volume 127 , Issue 1308 , February 2023 , pp. 213 - 231
Check for updates
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Royal Aeronautical Society

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Wikipedia Contributors. Hindenburg disaster, 2018. [online] Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindenburg_disaster Google Scholar
EASA. Certification Specifications and for Large Aeroplanes CS-25 amendment 26, The European Union Aviation Safety Agency, Cologne, 2020.Google Scholar
Brewer, G.D. Hydrogen aircraft technology, CRC Press, Inc., Florida, 1991.Google Scholar
Westenberger, A. et al., Liquid hydrogen fuelled aircraft–system analysis. CRYOPLANE, The European Commission, Brussels, Report No. GRD1-1999-10014, 2003.Google Scholar
Wikipedia Contributors. Space Shuttle, 2019. [online] Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle Google Scholar
history.nasa.gov. v1ch4, n.d. [online]. Available at: https://history.nasa.gov/rogersrep/v1ch4.htm Google Scholar
Ranter, H. ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 737-3Y0 EI-BZG Manila-Ninoy Aquino International Airport (MNL), n.d. [online] aviation-safety.net. Available at: https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19900511-1 Google Scholar
Washington, D. National Transportation Safety Board Aircraft Accident Report, 1996. [online] Available at: https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/AAR0003.pdf Google Scholar
www.iasa.com.au. The Transmile 727 Fuel-tank Explosion in Bangalore, n.d. [online] Available at: http://www.iasa.com.au/folders/Safety_Issues/RiskManagement/Transmile.html Google Scholar
Lewis, B. and Von Elbe, G. Combustion, flames and explosions of gases, J Chem Educ, 1938, 15.Google Scholar
Guide to Safety of Hydrogen and Hydrogen Systems (ANSI/AIAA G-095A-2017), 2017.Google Scholar
Benson, C.M., Ingram, J.M., Battersby, P.N., Mba, D., Sethi, V. and Rolt, A.M. An analysis of civil aviation industry safety needs for the introduction of liquid hydrogen propulsion technology, Proceedings of the ASME Turbo Expo 2019: Turbomachinery Technical Conference and Exposition, 2019.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wikipedia. Jet Fuel, 2020. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_fuel Google Scholar
Moller, T.M, Jensen, T.R., Akiba, E. and Li, H-W. Hydrogen – A sustainable energy carrier, Prog Nat Sci Mater Int, 2017, 27, pp 34–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wikipedia. Liquid hydrogen, 2020. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_hydrogen Google Scholar
HyApproval. Handbook for Hydrogen Refuelling Station Approval, Appendix VI, Vehicle description and requirements. Air Liquide Advanced Technologies GmbH, Dusseldorf, Germany, 2007.Google Scholar
Perlee, H.E., Litchfield, E.L. and Zabetakis, M.G. Review of Fire and Explosion Hazards of Flight Vehicle Combustibles. Technical Report No. ASD TR 61-278 Supplement 3, AF Aero Propulsion Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, 1964.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FAA. Advisory Circular AC 20-128A Design Considerations for Minimizing Hazards Caused by Uncontained Turbine Engine and Auxiliary Power Unit Rotor Failure. FAA, Washington, DC, 1997.Google Scholar
Romanos, J., Dargham, S.A., Roukos, R. and Pfeifer, P. Local pressure of supercritical adsorbed hydrogen in nanopores. Materials, 2018, 11(11), p 2235.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Derwent, R.G., Stevenson, D.S., Utembe, S.R., Jenkin, M.E., Khan, A.H. and Shallcross, D.E. Global modelling studies of hydrogen and its isotopomers using stochem-cri: Likely radiative forcing consequences of a future hydrogen economy, Int J Hydr Energy, 2020, 45, pp 9211–9221.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FAA. Advisory Circular AC 25-8, Auxiliary Fuel Systems. FAA, Washington, DC, 1986.Google Scholar
EUROCAE/SAE. AIR 6464 WG80/AE-7AFC Hydrogen Fuel Cells, Aircraft Fuel Cell Safety Guidelines. SAE International, Washington DC, 2020.Google Scholar
Haddon-Cave, C. An independent review into the broader issues surrounding the loss of the RAF Nimrod MR2 Aircraft XV230 in Afghanistan in 2006. HC 1025. The Stationary Office, London, 2009.Google Scholar
RTCA. DO-160G Environmental Conditions and Test Procedures for Airborne Equipment section 8.0 Vibration. RTCA, Inc., Washington DC, 2010.Google Scholar
Anon. ENABLE H2 Progress in WP4, 2022. [online]. Available at: https://www.enableh2.eu/progress-in-wp4/ Google Scholar
Summer, S. Destructive Fuel Cell Testing, 8th Triennial Industrial Fire and Cabin Safety Research Conference, 2016.Google Scholar
SAE. AIP 4754 Guidelines for the Development of Civil Aircraft and Systems. SAE International, Washington DC, 2010.Google Scholar
Nangia, R.K. and Hyde, L. A twin-fuselage liquid hydrogen airliner, design with foresight towards certification, RAeS Alternative Propulsion Conference, London, 2021.Google Scholar
McMahon, P.J. Aircraft propulsion. Pitman, London, 1971.Google Scholar
SAE. AIR 7765 Considerations for Hydrogen Fuel Cells in Airborne Applications. SAE International, Washington DC, 2019.Google Scholar
history.nasa.gov. ch6-4, n.d. [online] Available at: https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4404/ch6-4.htm Google Scholar
Lee, D., Arrowsmith, S., Skowron, A., Owen, B., Sausen, R., Boucher, O., Faber, J., Marianne, L., Fuglestvedt, J. and van Wijngaarden, L. Updated analysis of the non-CO2 climate impacts of aviation and potential policy measures pursuant to EU emissions trading system directive article 30(4). Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council, Brussels, 2020.Google Scholar
Marquart, S., Ponater, M., Strom, L. and Gierens, K. An upgraded estimate of the radiative forcing of cryoplane contrails, Meteorol Z, 2005, 14.Google Scholar
Gierens, K. Theory of contrail formation for fuel cells, Aerospace, 2021, 8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seng, S., Frankenberger, C., Ruggeri, C.R., Revilock, D.M., Pereira, J.M., Carney, K.S. and Emmerling, W.C. Dynamic Open-Rotor Composite Shield Impact Test Report. NASA/TM-2015-218811, DOT/FAA/TC-15/22, Ohio, 2015.Google Scholar