Aviation giant Airbus successfully finished testing its ‘iron pod’ hydrogen fuel cell system and plans to test it on an Airbus A380 by 2026. The A380 is being used as a test bed for the ZEROe project. So, what’s ZEROe all about? We’ve got all the details.
Airbus and the ZEROe project
The project is focused on developing a sustainable fuel system as part of Airbus’s zero-emission initiative.
In late 2023, the ZEROe teams powered up the iron pod, which is the future hydrogen-propulsion system designed for Airbus’ electric concept aircraft. Besides the hydrogen fuel cell system, the iron pod also has the electric motors to spin a propeller and the units to control and cool them. This successful power-up at 1.2 megawatts marks a major milestone on Airbus’ ZEROe roadmap to launch a hydrogen-propulsion aircraft by 2035.
In 2020, Airbus introduced four hydrogen-powered aircraft concepts. Three used hydrogen combustion and hybrid engines, while the fourth was fully electric, using hydrogen fuel cells and a propeller propulsion system. These fuel cells generate electricity by transforming hydrogen through a chemical reaction, producing only H2O as a by-product, leading to almost zero emissions.
Hydrogen fuel cells
The massive potential of hydrogen fuel cells to decarbonize aviation made them a key technology for the ZEROe demonstrator. However, there was a challenge: existing hydrogen fuel cells on the market couldn’t provide enough energy to power an aircraft while keeping the weight acceptable. So in October 2020, Airbus formed Aerostack, a joint venture with ElringKlinger, to develop hydrogen fuel cell stacks that would be the core of the electric propulsion system on a ZEROe aircraft.
They did a lot of testing on the fuel cell system in Ottobrunn, Germany, just 13 kilometers from Munich, at the E-Aircraft System House (EAS). This Airbus facility is the largest in Europe for testing alternative propulsion systems and fuels. It’s where they test the main components that will power the demonstrator’s propellers.
In June 2023, Airbus announced that they successfully tested the hydrogen fuel cell system, reaching its full-power level of 1.2 megawatts. This was the most powerful test ever done for a fuel cell designed for large-scale aircraft, paving the way for the next big step: integrating the full propulsion system with the electric motor.
Iron pod used hydrogen
The big day finally came at the end of 2023, wrapping up the year on a high note for the ZEROe team. After successfully testing the fuel cell system at 1.2 megawatts in June and the powertrain at 1 megawatt in October, they powered up the electric motors of the iron pod with hydrogen fuel cells for the first time.
“It was a huge moment for us because the architecture and design principles of the system are the same as those we will see in the final design,” says Mathias Andriamisaina, Head of Testing and Demonstration on the ZEROe project. “The complete power channel was run at 1.2 megawatts, which is the power we aim to test on our A380 demonstrator.”
Watching how all the systems interact during testing is crucial for moving the project forward. “This is how we figure out what needs to be tweaked to make the technology ready for flight,” says Hauke Peer-Luedders, Head of Fuel Cell Propulsion System for ZEROe. “We test the propulsion system by measuring the power needed for different flight phases, like takeoff, where we hit maximum power levels, and cruising, where we use less power but for a longer time.”
Testing on this first version of the iron pod will keep going through 2024. Once that’s done, the ZEROe team will move on to optimizing the size, weight, and overall performance of the propulsion system to meet flight specs. This includes making sure the system can handle things like vibration, humidity, and altitude.