NASA’s Hybrid Hydrogen Engine Could Cut Flight Emissions

Air travel accounts for about 2.5% of global CO2 emissions, and despite years of progress in developing alternative fuels and more efficient aircraft designs, this number has remained largely unchanged.

Optimization and Reduced Emissions

Nevertheless, NASA, along with the U.S. Aeronautics Administration, has remained dedicated to advancing a more sustainable future for aviation.

Recently, NASA made another step toward this goal by awarding a grant from the Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) to Phillip Ansell from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to create a hybrid hydrogen-powered aircraft engine.

The grant focuses on the development of the Hydrogen Hybrid Power for Aviation Sustainable Systems (Hy2PASS), which combines a fuel cell and a gas turbine to power the aircraft. Although researchers have explored hybrid systems before, Hy2PASS stands out due to its innovative air handling approach.

In traditional hybrid systems, the fuel cell generates electrical energy from hydrogen to power a compressor, which then connects to the turbine. However, in the Hy2PASS system, the compressor operates independently from the turbine but continues to supply oxygen to both the turbine and the fuel cell’s cathode, ensuring continuous operation.

Key Benefits of Hy2PASS Design

This design offers several benefits, the most notable being a significant increase in efficiency. By decoupling the compressor from the turbine, the system eliminates waste heat from mechanical connections.

Additionally, the compressor can operate at different pressures, which allows an algorithm to optimize its speed without being constrained by the turbine’s speed.

The entire system emits only water vapor, which means this hybrid engine effectively eliminates harmful emissions associated with conventional engines.

In theory, this propulsion system could be the breakthrough that NASA and the aviation industry have been striving for to reduce the environmental impact of air travel.

However, a lot of work remains before this system becomes a reality. The Phase I NIAC grant will focus on proving the system’s feasibility and understanding other crucial components, such as aircraft systems and “mission trajectory optimization,” to minimize future energy demands.

Exploring Limitations and the Path Forward

This indicates that there may be practical limitations on how the system is applied, though exploring these limitations in Phase I is a reasonable starting point.

If successful, and given Dr. Ansell’s proven track record of meeting NASA’s design goals, the project holds promising potential. In the future, we could see hydrogen-powered aircraft taking flight, playing a crucial role in reducing emissions from one of the world’s most significant industries.

Read the original article on: New Atlas

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