Story of Boeing's Hydrogen Fuel Cell Aircraft
BackBy Glenn Pew for AVweb.com Boeing has flown a manned aircraft on hydrogen fuel cell power. The full text of Boeing's release follows: MADRID, Spain, April 03, 2008 -- Boeing [NYSE: BA] announced today that it has, for the first time in aviation history, flown a manned airplane powered by hydrogen fuel cells. The recent milestone is the work of an engineering team at Boeing Research & Technology Europe (BR&TE) in Madrid, with assistance from industry partners in Austria, France, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. "Boeing is actively working to develop new technologies for environmentally progressive aerospace products," said Francisco Escarti, BR&TE's managing director. "We are proud of our pioneering work during the past five years on the Fuel Cell Demonstrator Airplane project. It is a tangible example of how we are exploring future leaps in environmental performance, as well as a credit to the talents and innovative spirit of our team." A fuel cell is an electrochemical device that converts hydrogen directly into electricity and heat with none of the products of combustion such as carbon dioxide. Other than heat, water is its only exhaust. A two-seat Dimona motor-glider with a 16.3 meter (53.5 foot) wingspan was used as the airframe. Built by Diamond Aircraft Industries of Austria, it was modified by BR&TE to include a Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell/lithium-ion battery hybrid system to power an electric motor coupled to a conventional propeller. Three test flights took place in February and March at the airfield in Ocaña, south of Madrid, operated by the Spanish company SENASA. During the flights, the pilot of the experimental airplane climbed to an altitude of 1,000 meters (3,300 feet) above sea level using a combination of battery power and power generated by hydrogen fuel cells. Then, after reaching the cruise altitude and disconnecting the batteries, the pilot flew straight and level at a cruising speed of 100 kilometers per hour (62 miles per hour) for approximately 20 minutes on power solely generated by the fuel cells. According to Boeing researchers, PEM fuel cell technology potentially could power small manned and unmanned air vehicles. Over the longer term, solid oxide fuel cells could be applied to secondary power-generating systems, such as auxiliary power units for large commercial airplanes. Boeing does not envision that fuel cells will ever provide primary power for large passenger airplanes, but the company will continue to investigate their potential, as well as other sustainable alternative fuel and energy sources that improve environmental performance. BR&TE, part of the Boeing Phantom Works advanced R&D unit, has worked closely with Boeing Commercial Airplanes and a network of partners since 2003 to design, assemble and fly the experimental craft. The group of companies, universities and institutions participating in this project includes: Austria -- Diamond Aircraft Industries France -- SAFT France Germany -- Gore and MT Propeller Spain -- Adventia, Aerlyper, Air Liquide Spain, Indra, Ingeniería de Instrumentación y Control (IIC), Inventia, SENASA, Swagelok, Técnicas Aeronauticas de Madrid (TAM), Tecnobit, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, and the Regional Government of Madrid United Kingdom -- Intelligent Energy United States -- UQM Technologies.
Channel: Autos & Vehicles
Uploaded: April 4, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Author: AVweb
Length: 0:01:59
Rating: 4.82
Views: 67,314
Tags: avweb Boeing hydrogen fuel cell aircraft pilot dimona motor glider flying airplane alternative electric flight glenn pe
Video Comments:
b101aa2 (Tuesday 2nd of December 2008 08:04:40 PM)
building fuel cells is easy. building them to be operated over and over and over and over and over and over, reliably is the hard part.
RisingSun350 (Saturday 29th of November 2008 05:10:21 PM)
I built many different cells that I can run my car off Hydrogen, using water.
yakovlev3a (Saturday 22nd of November 2008 06:29:18 PM)
Thats amazing! Boeing higher ME dammit! I am going to graduate in the next couple of years
mackat4ck (Saturday 15th of November 2008 05:26:21 PM)
Do you have evidence for this?
roidroid (Saturday 15th of November 2008 07:27:40 PM)
I do have a notable LACK of Evidence for watercell cars working. Is that what you're asking?
The burden of proof is on them.
Wikipedia has a "Water-fuelled car" article that mirrors my experience: Water powered cars are always lacking in evidence, and often proven fraudulent.
i believe Shinta786 is talking about Stan Meyer - i encourage you to read his wikipedia article as well. Note the complete lack of independant verification, and his inevitable fraud conviction.
Same old, same old.
mackat4ck (Sunday 16th of November 2008 01:52:11 PM)
I apologize, I thought you were saying that fuel cells do not work.
szlamx (Wednesday 5th of November 2008 11:05:38 AM)
Too much for us? :)
shakaloso83 (Monday 3rd of November 2008 03:10:05 PM)
not necessarily
szlamx (Wednesday 5th of November 2008 11:04:14 AM)
Solar cells, etc, etc. Not very popular, nor effcient nowadays - if they were, I wouldn;t pump gas into my tank - really - I'd invest in solar cells. Hydrogen is a very effective fuel, albeit hard to store. The real challenge is not making a plane, but storing the stuff. The plane is an interesting development though.
roidroid (Sunday 16th of November 2008 06:50:33 PM)
to get hydrogen - do you think "burning fossil fuels" is more efficient than solar cells?