Posted on 01/22/2024 6:15:41 AM PST by Red Badger
The ZEROe demonstrator is also the first-ever A380, also known as MSN001, produced.
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SUMMARY
Airbus plans to install the hydrogen fuel cell system on its A380 test-bed for in-flight testing in 2026.
The ZEROe project aims to produce a hydrogen-powered commercial plane by 2035 using innovative technologies and concepts.
The demonstrator will be the first A380 to have taken the sky, with production number MSN001.
After the recent success in testing the hydrogen fuel cell system, the 'iron pad,' Airbus is set to install the fuel cell propulsion system on its ZEROe test bed, an Airbus 380 registered F-WWOW, for in-flight testing from 2026.
In June 2023, the team at Airbus successfully tested the hydrogen fuel cell system, which reached 1.2 megawatts, its full power level. Later that year, the propulsion system prototype, which includes the hydrogen fuel cell system and the electric motors, was powered on at 1.2 megawatts at the E-Aircracft House in Munich.
The 1.2 megawatts that the prototype reached during testing is also the power Airbus aims to test on the A380 in-flight demonstrator, according to Mathias Andriamisaina, Head of Testing and Demonstration on the ZEROe project. This brings the project closer to in-flight testing, with the next step for the ZEROe team to continue testing and to optimize the size, mass and specifications of the propulsion system for flight conditions.
What is the ZEROe project?
ZEROe gets its name from zero-emission and is Airbus's answer to the growing demand for sustainable aviation technologies. The ultimate aim of ZEROe is to produce a hydrogen-powered commercial plane by 2035 using innovative technologies and concepts.
What exactly will the first ZEROe plane look like? There is no definite answer to the question as Airbus is exploring various concepts and technologies for the aircraft. The four concepts that Airbus proposed back in 2020 will pursue either hydrogen combustion or hydrogen fuel cell technology. The latter will be used on a fully electric aircraft type and will be the one tested on the A380 demonstrator.
Airbus zero emissions aircraft
The designated ZEROe demonstrator is also the very first A380 to be produced by Airbus, with production serial number MSN001. The aircraft was the very first ever superjumbo to take to the sky on April 27th, 2005, marking the start of a truly amazing run by the biggest commercial aircraft known to the world.
The life of MSN001 is just as fascinating as the A380 program itself. MSN001 first took on the role of the prototype, conducting technical testing to achieve the certifications necessary to get the plane ready for commercial operations. This includes tests like water ingestion, extreme hot and cold weather operations, high-speed rejected take-off, and more. The aircraft also went on multiple tours around the world and represented Airbus at various airshows, sometimes wearing special liveries.
After the height of the A380 program, MSN001 was preserved by Airbus while many of the other original prototypes were scrapped. MSN001 became an important instrument for testing the Trent XWB engines for the A350 program, fitting the engine under its wing as the number two engine. It first tested the Trent XWB-84 for the A350-900 variant and was then tasked with testing the Trent XWB-97 for the A350-1000 as well.
While some airlines have already written off the A380 as a thing of the past, Airbus has done quite a few impressive things with its very first A380.
More recently, MSN001 was involved in multiple test flights for the use of sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF. The first test flight, partnered with Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney, used 27 tonnes of unblended SAF provided by Total Energies on the three-hour mission and was followed by several other test flights focused on Performance during take-offs and landings.
If the just added a few carbon atoms to that hydrogen...................
Two very different meanings of the word. In race cars, "fuel cell" refers to a container for liquid hydrocarbon fuels, which is designed to minimize spillage in a high speed crash.
Here, we're talking about a device that combines hydrogen, oxygen, and a catalyst to produce electric current (and heat) without an open flame.
Yeah ... That would be easier. You can get that stuff out of the ground. A bit of distillation, and you’re good to go.
“Airbus’s answer to the growing demand [On the part of about .0001 of the population] for sustainable aviation technologies.”
The left has found out that capitalists will do its bidding if enough money is waved in front of them... and a threat or two.
“The four concepts that Airbus proposed back in 2020 will pursue either hydrogen combustion or hydrogen fuel cell technology. The latter will be used on a fully electric aircraft type and will be the one tested on the A380 demonstrator.”
Okay, I’ve actually read the whole article now. My bad.
Bring on the Hindenburg v.2!
Just wait for that pilot to decide to do its nails and opens the acetone based nail polish remover.
No worries ...
First time I saw “fuel cell” in the race car context, I had a serious “WTF???” moment.
The first airplane will be called the Hindenburg.
LOL!
Hydrogen - it’s what made the Hindenburg great.
In WA, they are using our local coal fired plant to make and test hydrogen production. Funded by $.50 a gallon tax on gas, and will switch to hydro power after a bit, to produce it.
How much legacy fuel does it take to get the equal amount of energy potential out of hydrogen? If I remember right, 3 gallons of diesel to make 1 gallon of hydrogen. In short, it is a source of more pollution. Like ethanol, it takes 1.5 gallons of diesel to produce 1 gallon of ethanol, and you get worse mileage with it. Plus the millions of gallons pumped from aquifers for watering corn, and producing alchohol/ethanol.
“Water
Electrolysis
Electricity
Power Plant
Natural Gas, Coal.......
All of the above cause some “e,” to produce Hydrogen.
So are we kidding ourselves like the EVs?
I shan’t vouch for the actual numbers, but all the reading I have done nears to yours. Hydrogen — as a fuel — costs more than the other fuels used to produce it, and it is of course highly unstable and expensive to store and “pipe.” Hydrogen is neither “green” nor blue” thought the language used to flummox the public is both green and blue and, in the moment, fully Marxist red....
Precisely, my FRiend, and nicely stated.
(I might just 'borrow' the observation, heh heh heh.)
Go ahead. I borrowed it from someone else.
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