The aviation industry has set its sights on climate neutrality starting in 2050. To achieve climate neutrality, the aviation industry will need to rapidly transform its existing energy mix. Indeed, although kerosene has remained the industry’s ‘go-to’ fuel for decades, it will now need to make room for a variety of new energy pathways and fuels, including hydrogen, to power future aircraft.
The aerospace company, Airbus, is also looking toward a greener aviation future, revealing major projects to build hydrogen jet airliners. Working with ArianeGroup, an Airbus–Safran joint venture, the aerospace company has successfully tested the concept of a hydrogen conditioning system capable of supplying an aeronautical gas turbine engine.
The joint research project called HyPERION, named after the French acronym for hydrogen for environmentally responsible aviation propulsion, began in December 2020. The project aimed to explore safe and efficient technical hydrogen propulsion solutions that could offer an alternative to fossil fuel for commercial aviation by 2035.
HyPERION has enabled significant advances to be made in the definition of hydrogen propulsion systems for commercial aircraft, giving a high degree of security and in the identification of the various technologies which still need to be developed.
The project combines Airbus’ expertise in aircraft construction with ArianeGroup’s experience in liquid hydrogen developed over decades of working on Ariane launcher propulsion. In the new system, the hydrogen is stored as a liquid in cryogenic tanks, then conditioned so that it reaches an optimal temperature and pressure in the engines.
At its Vernon test facility, ArianeGroup successfully carried out hydrogen combustion tests with the French aerospace lab ONERA, compatibility tests on the metal materials, and tests on a first hydrogen conditioning system (pressure and temperature control). It also carried out a proof-of-concept test of a hydrogen conditioning system on May 12, 2023, for supplying an aeronautical gas turbine. This first experiment was made possible by reusing equipment (electric pump, gas generator, exchangers) initially designed for space applications.
“This successful conclusion of the HyPERION project confirms the potential of hydrogen as an energy source to facilitate the decarbonization of civil aviation,” said Martin Sion, CEO of ArianeGroup. “These past few years of close collaboration with our parent companies have allowed us to identify the most promising powertrain architectures and technologies to be developed over the next five years. We are proud to work together to help Europe’s transition to low-carbon transport by sharing our knowledge.”
The HyPERION project is receiving support from the French Government through the DGAC (General Directorate of Civil Aviation) and is part of the Investment Program for the Future (PIA). It complements other initiatives by Airbus, ArianeGroup, and Safran to reduce the carbon footprint of air transport.
