A liquid hydrogen-fuelled gas turbine engine suitable for the light aviation market has reportedly been successfully tested and validated by Air Liquide, Turbotech and Safran.
The three companies conducted tests at Air Liquide’s Grenoble Technologies Campus in France last September, completing a ground demonstration testing of the aeroengine based on an ultra-efficient regenerative cycle and fed from a liquid hydrogen tank.
This followed a demonstration test in January 2024 as part of the BeautHyFuel project, designed to explore hydrogen propulsion solutions for light aircraft. An initial engine qualification test campaign was undertaken at ArianeGroup’s French site in Vernon.
Here, hydrogen fuel was stored in gaseous form to perform an initial characterisation of the engine, before the engine was coupled to a cryogenic liquid storage system supplied by Air Liquide to showcase the end-to-end integration of a propulsion system, replicating all functions on a complete aircraft.
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