ZeroAvia and Absolut Hydrogen partner for liquid hydrogen refueling

May 11, 2023

17/04/2023 14:26 | Antony Angrand | Source : Air&Cosmos 257 mots

The partnership between global liquid hydrogen (LH2) leaders Absolut Hydrogen and ZeroAvia aims to enable the operability of aircraft with up to 80 seats by 2027 and the development of robust airport infrastructure.

ZeroAvia and Absolut Hydrogen today announced a partnership to jointly explore the production, storage and refueling of liquid hydrogen (LH2) at airports. The partners will work together to build and demonstrate liquid hydrogen liquefaction and storage in an airport context and ultimately explore technology developments, operational operations, safety procedures and standards for wider deployment to provide liquid hydrogen to aircraft.

Absolut Hydrogen, a subsidiary of the Absolut Group based in Grenoble, France, specializes in the development of LH2 systems for heavy duty mobility in aeronautical, marine and land applications, drawing on the Absolut Group's expertise and in-depth industrial knowledge of complex cryogenic systems. Absolut Hydrogen offers a complete range of LH2 products with a small hydrogen liquefier (< 50kg/day), a 100kg/day H2 liquefier based on Turbo-Brayton technology and a 1T/day liquefier based on this same technology.

While ZeroAvia's first certified engines for aircraft up to 19 seats will be fueled by gaseous hydrogen, the ZA2000 - a 2 to 5.4 MW modular powerplant for 40 to 80 seat aircraft, scheduled to enter service in 2027 - will require liquid hydrogen. This will improve the volumetric energy density of the fuel, enabling it to support larger aircraft, carrying more passengers, with longer typical routes. This decision will further strengthen ZeroAvia's advantage in developing solutions for large regional aircraft and beyond, following the recent announcement of its high-temperature fuel cell technology, which promises the power needed for larger aircraft.

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