M. L. Yusupovich  is the deputy head on educational affairs in Uzbekistan and commented about the Airbus (Tyrell, 2022) announcement of their blended wing hydrogen aircraft demonstrator in his peer reviewed research paper published in the Texas Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies on March 17, 2022.  He first lays out the case that research activities and funding should focus on for key areas.   The first being liquid hydrogen fuel and propulsion components, secondly aircraft systems, then infrastructure ramp-up, and finally regulatory framework (Yusupovich, 2022).

            He shared that today, hydrogen fuel cell technology is being used for several types of applications including to provide emergency backup power to critical facilities like hospitals.  Also, to replace grid electricity for critical load facilities like data centers.  Finally, to power a variety of transportation modes such as cars, buses, trains, and forklifts.

            He then outlined how a hydrogen fuel cell works.  Like batteries, a fuel cell is  a device that converts energy stored in molecules into electricity through an electrochemical reaction.  Composed of two electrodes, an anode, and a cathode, separated by an electrolyte membrane, a typical hydrogen fuel cell works in the following way.  Hydrogen enters the fuel cell via the anode.  Here, hydrogen atoms react with a catalyst and split into electrons and protons. Oxygen from the ambient air enters on the other side through the cathode.  The positively charged protons pass through the porous electrolyte membrane to the cathode. The negatively charged electrons flow out of the cell and generate an electric current, which can be used, for example, to power an electric or hybrid-electric propulsion system.  In the cathode, the protons and oxygen then combine to produce water (Yusupovich, 2022).

            Because fuel cells generate electricity through an electrochemical reaction, they are a clean source of power.  Unlike batteries that need to be recharged, fuel cells can continue to generate electricity as long as a fuel source, hydrogen, is provided.  He shares some information about what makes these fuel cells attractive.  First, they can be "stacked" to form larger systems producing more power and therefore allowing scalability large enough to power large multi-megawatt installations.  Since there are no moving parts, fuel cells are silent and highly reliable (Yusupovich, 2022).

            Finally, he shares that we must act now.  The induction of larger new aircraft takes about 15 to 20 years.  It takes another 10 years to get broad deployment across an airlines fleet.  Hydrogen fuel cells have been used by the space industry to power auxiliary electric systems on board spacecraft for years (Yusupovich, 2022).  Now the same technology is inspiring aeronautical engineers to harness this technology for future aircraft.

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

Tyrell, M. (2022, February 25). Airbus and CFM sign hydrogen propulsion partnership. Retrieved from Aero-mag.com: https://www.aero-mag.com/airbus-cfm-hydrogen-propulsion-25022022

Yusupovich, M. L. (2022). Perspectives of Hydrogen Fuel Cells in Aviation. Texas Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies, 140-144.