Comprehensive Investigation on Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology in the Aviation

and Aerospace Sectors

Ahmad Baroutaji1 (*), Tabbi Wilberforce2, Mohamad Ramadan3, Abdul Ghani Olabi4, 5
(1) School of Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Wolverhampton, Telford, UK
(2) Institute of Engineering and Energy Technologies, University of the West of Scotland, UK
(3) International University of Beirut, PO Box 146404, Beirut, Lebanon
(4) Sustainable and Renewable Energy Engineering Department, University of Sharjah, P.O. Box: 27272,
Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
(5) School of Engineering and Applied Science, Aston University, Aston Triangle, Birmingham B4 7ET, UK

Abstract

The world energy consumption is greatly influenced by the aviation industry with a total

energy consumption ranging between 2.5% and 5%. Currently, liquid fossil fuel, which

releases various types of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, is the main fuel in the aviation

industry. As the aviation industry grows rapidly to meet the requirements of the increased

world population, the demand for environmentally friendly power technology for various

applications in the aviation sector has been increased sharply in recent years. Among the

various clean power sources, energy obtained from hydrogen is considered the future for

energy generation in the aviation industry due to its cleanness and abundance. This paper

aims to give an overview of the potential aviation applications where hydrogen and fuel cell

technology can be used. Also, the major challenges that limit the wide adoption of hydrogen

technology in aviation are highlighted and future research prospects are identified.

Keywords: Hydrogen, Fuel cells, Aviation, Renewable Energy, Clean Power

1
 Nomenclature

GHG Greenhouse Gas

CO2 Carbon dioxide
SO2 Sulphur dioxide
CO Carbon monoxide
APU Auxiliary Power Unit
LH2 Liquid hydrogen
H2 Hydrogen
H2O Water vapour
NOX Nitrogen oxides
O3 Ozone
CH4 Methane
PEMFC Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell
SOFC Solid Oxide Fuel Cell
AUV Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
BoP Balance of Plant
AFC Alkaline Fuel Cells
PEM Proton Exchange Membrane
SPE Solid Polymer Electrolyte

1 Introduction

Nowadays, the air transport community contributes significantly to the socio-economic

development of various countries around the world. The capacity of transport by air has

increased significantly over the last two decades and it is expected to grow by around 5%

annually until 2030 [1]. Inevitably, this will result in increasing the number of working jets.

According to the Boeing current market outlook [2], it is projected that by 2036 there will be

around 47000 working jets compared to 23000 in 2016. The weight that a plane can hold is

huge and it varies depending on the total capacity of the plane but the average total weight in

most commercial flights is approximately 640 tons [3]. In order for a plane to carry such a big

weight, huge engines, which consume considerable amounts of fuel, are needed. The high

demand for aviation fuel to support this huge load comes with various challenges and

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consequences pertaining to safety, cost, specific energy and efficiency. Most fuels used in the

aviation industry are currently fossil based petroleum commodities. The fuel that can be used

in the aviation industry must contain a combination of different properties such as high

specific heat capacity, high energy density, good atomization, fast evaporation, excellent

burning characteristics, low viscosity, high lubricity, low freezing point, good chemical and

thermal stability, and low impact to the environment [3], [4]. Among the various types of fuel

commodities, kerosene is the cheapest and the most used fuel in the aviation industry.

Kerosene is made up of 35% alkenes, 60% cyclic alkanes, 15% aromatics [3]. Despite it is a

cheap fuel, the kerosene has a significant impact on the environment as it releases different

GHG emissions and for this scientists are currently working earnestly hard to find a clean

alternative to it. The global aviation industry produces around 12% of carbon dioxide (CO2)

emissions generated by the transport sector [3]. In 2015, it was reported that nearly 781

million tonnes of CO2 were generated from flights [5]. GHG emissions of the kerosene are

CO2 and sulphur dioxide (SO2) [6]. SO2 is considered a very dangerous emission due to its

role in the formation of acid rain [6]. The environmental effects of the kerosene are the

crucial factors for seeking a new clean replacement of the fossil commodities for aviation

applications. Hydrogen and fuel cell technology have a great potential to be used as a power

source for various applications in the aviation industry [7]–[16]. The scientific community is

currently championing several researchers into hydrogen as a source of power because it is

readily available, has good specific energy properties and also friendly to the environment

[3], [4], [17]. The usage of hydrogen in aviation sector can be categorised into two main

routes; the first is the use of hydrogen as a replacement to kerosene for big aeroplanes, and

the second is using fuel cells in place of jet engines for small aeroplanes [18]. The use of fuel

cell technology for aircraft still in its early days but it is receiving increased attention every

day from leading aircraft manufactures. Airbus and Boeing are currently exploring the

3
possibility of using fuel cell technology to power the Auxiliary Power Units (APUs) of their

aircraft that used to be powered by diesel engines. Also, the fuel cells have the potential to be

used in place of batteries to power other devices and systems in aircraft. For instance, they

can be used for cabin pressurisation, environmental control system, lighting, and

instrumentation in the cockpit, wing anti-ice protection, control surface and landing gear

actuation.

It is projected that hydrogen and the fuel cell technology will continue to receive interest

and application in the aviation. A fuel-cell-powered commercial aircraft might become a

reality within a decade or two after solving some major problems in the field related to high

cost of the technology, hydrogen production, storage, and refuelling infrastructures, aircraft

design, and so on. The aim of the current paper is to present the current status of hydrogen

and its technology for the aviation and aerospace industry and also to highlight the main

challenges that need attention in order to see wider adoption of these technologies in the

sector.

2 Hydrogen as a propulsion fuel

Using hydrogen in aeronautical applications dated back to the late 18th century where it

was used for hydrogen balloon and then, at early twenty century, for rigid airship such as

Zeppelin due to its superb bouncy feature [19]. Since then, different projects were launched in

many countries to evaluate and develop hydrogen-powered aircraft, which use hydrogen as a

propellant, such as Suntan (USA-1956), Tupolev Tu-155 (Soviet Union- 1988),

CRYOPLANE (Europe- 2000), HyShot (Australia- 2001), NASA X-43 (USA- 2004),

Phantom Eye (USA- 2013). In addition to its usage for aeronautics, hydrogen is the primary

fuel for rockets because it has high specific energy. The fuel tank of a rocket is normally

filled with liquid hydrogen (LH2) and liquid oxygen (LOX) that react together and gives a lot

of power to thrust the rocket up. For decades, cold LH2 was used by NASA as rocket fuel for

4
many of its space shuttle vehicles including Centaur and Apollo [20]. Hydrogen was adopted

as a fuel by most of rocket engines developers around the world such as RL10 (Aerojet

Rocketdyne- USA), LE-5 (Mitsubishi- Japan), HM7B (Snecma- France), YF-73 (CALT-

China), KVD-1 (Russia), CE-20 (HAL- India) [19].

The usage of hydrogen as a fuel in place of fossil commodities has some challenges but its

advantages outweigh the disadvantages. The hydrogen has the highest energy per unit mass

compared to any other fuel obtained chemically. Its energy density is 2.5 times bigger than

that of kerosene [21]. Using hydrogen as an aviation fuel would eliminate most of the GHG

emissions including all carbon-based emissions, soot, and sulphur oxides [22]. The main by-

products of hydrogen in a combustion process are water vapour (H2O) and nitrogen oxides

(NOX) [23]. NOx emissions are associated with the formation of smog, acid rain and

particulate matter. Furthermore, NOx emissions result in the production of ozone (O3) which

is a climate warming gas and have negative effects on tropospheric O3 and stratospheric O3

[22], [24]. However, the amounts of NOx emissions released from burning hydrogen are

extremely low compared to those released when burning kerosene [25]. Generally, the overall

reduction of NOx when using hydrogen fuel is due to the fact that the water vapour generated

from burning hydrogen absorb most of the energy released from the combustion process and

thus reduce peak combustion temperatures preventing the formation of NOx [26]. The water

vapour contributes to the formation of contrails which also has global warming effects. The

percentage of water vapour increases when hydrogen is used in place of petroleum-based

fuels in aeroplanes [21]. Despite that burning hydrogen produces a larger amount of water

vapour, which is considered as a GHG, it still provides a significant reduction in the net GHG

emissions as a jet fuel compared to kerosene [4], [27]. Furthermore, adoption of hydrogen as

a jet fuel can provide long term stable level of the fuel prices and also enhance the reliability

of the fuel supply because it can be obtained from different types of sources and this reduces

5
the reliance on fossil fuel concentrated in only few regions around the world [21], [27]. Thus,

hydrogen is deemed suitable for the aviation industry because it is capable of providing clean,

reliable and affordable energy supply that has extremely low pollutant emissions and thus has

a low impact on the environment [23].

In order for hydrogen to be viable for the aviation industry, its volumetric density or

energy density per unit volume must be increased [28], [29]. Comparing with kerosene, four

times bigger volume of LH2 is needed to deliver the same amount of energy [19]. However,

despite this drawback, it has been reported that the hydrogen-powered aircraft are more

weight efficient and involve lower operating costs than those aircraft powered with kerosene

[19]. Generally, using hydrogen as a jet fuel necessitates modifying the design of both aircraft

and engines. LH2 used in hydrogen-powered aircraft must be kept at very low temperatures

and for this it can only be stored in highly-insulated tanks and not in the wings which have

restricted space to accommodate LH2 and cannot be insulated properly. With the huge

volume requirements of the hydrogen fuel tanks, aircraft design needs to be modified with a

greater volume and heavier fuselage, which is the best location to place LH2 fuel tanks, as

shown in Figure 1 [23]. For short-to-medium range aircraft, the hydrogen tanks could be

placed above the passenger cabin while for the long-range aircrafts the hydrogen is stored in

two big integral tanks; one of them is located directly behind the cockpit and the second is

placed at the far aft of the passenger cabin [30]. The configuration of hydrogen tanks has a

significant impact on the energy efficiency of hydrogen-powered aircraft [30]. The top-tank

design, used in short-to-medium range aircraft, may increase the energy use by 6-19% due to

the greater weight of this type of tanks [30]. On the other hand, the integral design, suitable

for long-range aircraft, can increase the energy efficiency by 12% [30]. Thus, it can be

concluded that hydrogen fuel is more suitable for long-range aircraft. Since the fuselage of

hydrogen-powered aircraft is used to store hydrogen tanks, a heavier and bigger fuselage is

6
needed to support the loads generated from these tanks. The mass of fuselage in hydrogen-

powered aircraft is almost 6% bigger than the normal aircraft [27]. Additionally, since the

wings in the hydrogen-powered aircraft are no longer used to store fuel, the wings could be

designed to be smaller in terms of area and span. However, the weight of wings should be

increased when using hydrogen in order to enhance their structural integrity against bending

and vibrations generated by aerodynamic forces [30]. The smaller wings and greater fuselage

of hydrogen aircraft may affect the aerodynamic efficiency negatively [21]. In addition to

changing the aircraft design, the engine has to be changed when converting into hydrogen

due to variation in the combustion gases and properties between the kerosene and hydrogen.

Smaller engines can be used for hydrogen fuel [27]. The changes in aircraft and engine

designs when using hydrogen entail an increase in the production and maintenance costs

which could reach up to 25% [21].

3 Hydrogen fuel cell for aviation applications

A hydrogen fuel cell is an electrochemical device that generates electricity via an

electrochemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen. Fuel cells are silent, produce little

vibrations and produce no NOx emissions which make them very attractive for wide range of

applications. Among the various types of fuel cells devices, Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel

Cell (PEMFC) and Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) were mostly considered for the aviation

applications. SOFC operates at high temperature and uses a dense ceramic layer as an

electrolyte while PEMFC operates at low temperature and employs proton conducting

membrane as the electrolyte. A summary of the working principles of these types of fuel cells

is presented in Figure 5. Hydrogen fuel cells could be used on-board of aircraft to power

different items and systems that are currently powered by batteries such as emergency door

system, floor escape path lighting, Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT), Flight Data

7
Recorder (FDR), and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR). The main aviation applications where

fuel cells have been tested are reviewed in the next sections

3.1 APU in aircrafts

APU of aircraft is a small gas turbine which functions as a source of electricity and

compressed air for the operation of other components in the aircraft, such as jet engines and

environmental systems, when the main engines are not running. APU is used as a back up to

internal power during cruising and as the main source of power to the aircraft during

stationary as it supplies the required power for air conditioning and lighting in the aircraft. It

also supports the starting up of the main aircraft engines. APU is turned on when the aircraft

is taxing from the runway to the gate or the parking [31]. Around 20% of aircraft emissions

are from traditional APU powered with gas turbines [32]. One of the targets set by the

Advisory Council for Aviation Research in Europe (ACARE) is the emission-free taxing

phase. Such a target can be achieved by implementing a clean power source to run APU

during taxing. Fuel cell devices have been identified as a suitable source to power APU and

thus reducing the fuel consumption during aircraft taxing phase [17]. The by-products of fuel

cells including water and heat can be channelled to other components in the aircraft [33].

Besides their environmental advantages, fuel cell powered APU can help also in reducing the

noise levels [34].

Fuel cell systems could be used in place of the traditional APU or combined with them to

form a hybrid APU system [34]. Both PEMFC and SOFC can be used for AUP systems [35].

However, SOFC is more favourable for aircraft applications particularly for powering APU

[34]. SOFC is more tolerant of fuel impurities and can operate using hydrogen generated

from kerosene reforming [34]. Additionally, the high operating temperature of SOFC allows

the internal reforming process of jet fuel and increases the efficiency [34]. However, the

weight of the SOFC powered APU is greater than PEMFC or the traditional APUs because it

8
requires bigger balance-of-plant (BoP) items such as reformer, compressor, pumps, heat

exchangers and so on [34]. PEMFC can only be used for powering the APU if the source of

hydrogen is installed on the aircraft.

Main aircraft manufacturers, including Airbus [36] and Boeing [37], are currently running

projects aiming for using electrical power generated by hydrogen fuel-cell devices to power

all non-propulsion systems in the aircraft. Such an approach might help in reducing the loads

on the main engines and thus the planes become more fuel-efficient [19]. Boeing stated in its

report that using solid oxide fuel cells in APU will reduce the fuel consumption during

cruising and stationary by 40% and 75%, respectively [38]. The CRYOPLANE European

project also estimated that SOFC APU will reduce aircraft ground NOX by 80% [39].

In summary, using fuel-cell-powered APU can be considered as a great solution for reducing

fuel consumption, pollution and GHG emissions.

3.2 Ground Support Equipment (GSE)

With the increased interest in improving the air quality around airports, fuel cells devices

have received increased attention due to their potential in powering different Ground Support

Equipment (GSE) and other ground vehicles working in the airports, such as passenger

shuttles and refuelling trucks, in the near future [40].

GSE or aircraft handling devices are used to service passengers, cargo, facilities and aircraft

while they are in the airport between flights. GSE contain different service systems such as

air start unit of the engine, air conditioning unit, cargo loaders, pushback track, stairs for

passengers, baggage tractors, trolleys, etc. Each of these devices has different power

requirements. Air start unit is considered as the most energy consuming device among all the

aircraft handling devices as it consumes approximately 450 kW [41]. The next energy

consuming device is the pushback truck which is also approximately 200 kW. A number of

9
other aircraft handling devices, such as forklifts, baggage tractors, water trucks, deck loaders

and air conditioning units, have a power range between 10 kW to 50 kW [41].

Today, many of GSE working in the airport are powered by hydrogen fuel cells. Department

of Energy (DOE) has announced that around 250 million US dollars will be used to deploy

fuel cells for baggage vehicles at airports [42]. The medium size fuel cell powered forklifts

have been already tested in major airports such as Toronto Pearson, Hamburg, and Munich

airports [43]. These forklifts incorporate many advantages such as low noise, no emissions

and less maintenance. They have almost the same dimensions as traditional batteries powered

ones but they do not require battery swapping which is very challenging for most

conventional forklifts. Additionally, refuelling time was seen as a major advantage for fuel

cell powered forklift over battery ones as it can be completed within minutes while

recharging the battery needs hours [44]. The fuel cells can also be used for more than eight

hours without requiring any refuelling. Thus, it can be concluded that replacing traditional

batteries with fuel cells in forklifts is viable economically with respect to the initial capital

cost as well as the operating costs. The Danish airport is currently using luggage trolleys that

functions using fuel cells. In 2015, FedEx has rolled out the first fuel cell powered GSE cargo

tractors that can pull around 15 tonnes of cargo [45].

In addition to GSE applications, the fuel cells are used to power the airport vehicles such as

passenger buses. In Tokyo, some of the buses working on the route between Tokyo central

and Tokyo airport are a hydrogen fuel cell/battery hybrid system [46]. International Airport in

Hawaii set a plan to use a hybrid fuel cell/ battery bus to shuttling passengers between airport

terminals and the car rental facility [47].

3.3 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and passengers aircraft

Currently, most of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are powered by batteries because the

conventional power sources, such as reciprocating engines and gas turbines, exhibit very low

10
efficiency for small-scale vehicles. However, the batteries have a low energy density, i.e. low

energy per unit mass, which might lead to a significant increase in the weight of UAV if

longer flight time, or greater endurance, is required. Fuel cell has been regarded as a possible

new power source alternative to existing batteries. Belmonte et al [48] compared the

performance of batteries and fuel cells with respect to powering UAVs. The authors reported

that the cost is the most attractive factor of battery-powered UAV as it is almost half the price

of the fuel cell. However, increasing the weight of the battery required to achieve a long

flying time has been reported as a limiting factor of battery-powered UAV. The main

advantage of the fuel cells for powering UAV includes allowing extended mission time and

distance due to superior energy density, providing quiet and reliable operation, reducing

lithium battery charging and transport obstacles [49]. PEMFCs are preferred for UAVs

applications as they can operate at low temperature and this means smaller BoP requirements.

In 2005, AeroVironment has developed the first fuel cell UAV [50]. The plane, that has a

wingspan of 15 m, was powered using a PEMFC propulsion system and managed to

complete more than one hour of flying using only liquefied hydrogen. Following that in 2006,

Bradley et al [51] designed and tested a fuel cell powered UAV using compressed hydrogen.

With a wingspan of 6.58 m and a total mass of 16.4 kg, the authors demonstrated that the

plane can be powered using a 500 W PEMFC. Currently, there are considerable research

efforts worldwide to design, develop, and construct fuel cell powered UAV. These efforts

have resulted in a significant increase in endurance which exceeded 48 h [52]. Reducing the

weight of fuel cells, improving their reliability and durability, speeding their startup, and

increasing their power density will make the fuel cell technology more attractive for UAV

[53]. A list of fuel-cell-powered UAV with fuel cell type, storage method and endurance is

presented in Table 6.

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 The fuel cell technology has also been studied as a potential power source to manned

aircraft after the 20th century [17]. The first successful fuel cell powered light manned

aircraft has been tested in 2008 by Boeing Research & Technology Europe (BR&TE) [54]. A

two-seat light aircraft with a 16.3 m wingspan, which has been powered by PEMFC, has

successfully completed a 20 minutes flight at a speed of 100 km/h [54]. In 2016, a research

group from DLR German aerospace centre developed and tested a fuel cell powered four-seat

passenger aircraft namely HY4 [55]. A PEMFC, assisted by a lithium battery to meet the

requirements of peak loads during take-off and climbing, was able to provide the required

power to run HY4 that has a maximum weight of 1500 kg and average cursing speed of 145

km/h.

3.4 Space Applications

For a long time, NASA has used fuel cell technology as a power source and energy storage

device in the space shuttles. Onboard fuel cell power plants in space shuttle generate all the

electrical power required for the vehicle from launch through landing rollout [56]. The fuel

cell power system is integrated with several subsystems responsible for the distribution of

reactants, cooling of fuel cell system, storing of generated water, and distribution of electrical

power. The water generated during the fuel cells operation is usually used for drinking by the

astronauts. The first use of fuel cell by NASA dated back to 1965 in the Gemini V spacecraft.

PEMFC was used as the main power source and it was integrated with silver-zinc batteries to

meet the peak loads. The Gemini fuel cell system was subsequently used on six manned

flights including Gemini 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 [57], [58]. In 1963, Alkaline Fuel Cells (AFC)

was selected for the Apollo mission. The AFC stack consisted of 31 individual fuel cells

operated at a temperature of 206 °C and connected in series to generate a maximum output

power of 2300 watts [57]. The use of Apolo fuel cell was expanded to include all Apollo

missions, the Apollo/Soyuz mission and Skylab. AFC and PEMFC are the main technologies

12
used by NASA for energy storage applications. NASA has replaced batteries with fuel cells

in almost all manned missions [57]. Fuel cells are preferred over batteries for manned

missions because such missions require primary energy storage with longer discharge times

and higher power levels and these requirements can be better met using fuel cell technology

[57].

4 Hydrogen production and storage

Despite the hydrogen can be considered as carbon-free fuel, the emissions generated

during its production might be very high based on the production method [4]. Thus, the full

environmental benefits of using hydrogen as a fuel for applications in aviation and aerospace

industries require generating the hydrogen using clean and renewable sources. Also, with its

low volumetric density, storing hydrogen onboard of aircraft forms a big challenge for the

hydrogen-powered aircraft. Due to their significant role in advancing the hydrogen for

various aviation applications, the main hydrogen production and storage technologies are

reviewed in this section.

4.1 Overview of hydrogen production technologies

Hydrogen is the most common element on the earth but it does not exist alone [17]. The

generation of hydrogen usually occurs by removing the other elements it combines with [17].

The hydrogen can be obtained from several feedstocks including fossil fuel, such as coal and

natural gas, as well as renewables sources, such as water and biomass [59]. Obtaining

hydrogen from fossil fuel is a matured approach. Around 90% of the global hydrogen

demand is currently produced from fossil fuel including natural gas and coal [19]. There are

two main routes for obtaining hydrogen from natural gas including steam reforming and

partial oxidation processes [59]. In the steam reforming process, a natural gas, such as

methane (𝐶𝐻4 ), and water vapour are transformed into carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen

through an endothermic reaction, known as steam reforming, as shown in Equation 1 [3]

13
𝐶𝐻4 + 𝐻2 𝑂 + ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡 → 𝐶𝑂 + 3𝐻2 1

The CO produced as a by-product can further be transformed into 𝐶𝑂2 and hydrogen by

water gas shift reaction shown in Equation 2 [3]

𝐶𝑂 + 𝐻2 𝑂 → 𝐶𝑂2 + 𝐻2 + ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 2

In the partial oxidation method, which is an exothermic process, there is a partial burning of

methane with oxygen gas and this generates 𝐶𝑂, hydrogen, and heat as shown in Equation 3

[3]

𝐶𝐻4 + 1⁄2 𝑂2 → 𝐶𝑂 + 2𝐻2 + ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 3

The water gas shift reaction, Equation 2, is then used to convert 𝐶𝑂 to 𝐶𝑂2 and hydrogen.

There are several methods for converting coal to hydrogen through an endothermic

gasification process such as fixed bed gasifier, fluidized bed reactor, entrained flow gasifier,

and plasma gasifier [60]. For most gasification reactions, the fuel and agents for the

gasification are transformed into a mixture of 𝐶𝑂 and hydrogen as demonstrated in Equation

4 [3]

𝐶(𝑠) + 𝐻2 𝑂 + ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡 → 𝐶𝑂 + 𝐻2 4

The production of hydrogen from fossil fuel is always associated with emitting CO2 and

CO which causes air pollution. The negative effects of these gases on living organisms

formed the motivation towards developing a technology to extract hydrogen from a clean and

renewable source such as water and biomass [61].

The separation process of water into oxygen and hydrogen is known as electrolysis and it is

conducted by means of electric energy via a redox (oxidation-reduction) reaction [62].

Equation 5 shows the chemical equation for water electrolysis [3]

𝐻2 𝑂 + 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 → 𝐻2 + 1⁄2 𝑂2 5

The electrolysers could be either low temperatures such as alkaline and Proton Exchange

Membrane (PEM) electrolysers; or high temperature such as solid oxide electrolyser. The

14
low-temperature electrolysers often operate at temperatures below 100oC while the high-

temperature ones function at higher temperatures up to 1000oC [63]. In an alkaline

electrolysis, the water in the cathode consumes electrons to form hydrogen. The hydroxide

ions flow through the solution in the direction of the anode and during this process the

electron is released. Equations 6-8 show the chemical equation for alkaline electrolysis [3].

Cathodic reaction: 2𝐻2 𝑂 + 2𝑒 − → 𝐻2 + 2𝑂𝐻 − 6

Anodic reaction: 2𝑂𝐻 − → 1⁄2 𝑂2 + 𝐻2 𝑂 + 2𝑒 − 7

Overall reaction: 𝐻2 𝑂 → 1⁄2 𝑂2 + 𝐻2 8

PEM electrolyser contains a Solid Polymer Electrolyte (SPE) to conduct protons between the

cathode and anode of the electrolyser. The high ionic conductivity of SPE makes the

efficiency of PEM electrolyser higher than the alkaline one [62]. The main chemical reactions

that occur in a PEM electrolyser are shown in Equations 9-11 [3]

Cathodic reaction: 2𝐻 + + 2𝑒 − → 𝐻2 9

Anodic reaction: 𝐻2 𝑂 → 1⁄2 𝑂2 + 2𝐻 + + 2𝑒 − 10

Overall reaction: 𝐻2 𝑂 → 1⁄2 𝑂2 + 𝐻2 11

In a solid oxide electrolyser that operates at high temperatures typically between 500 and

850 °C, water is reduced, in the cathodic region, to generate hydrogen and oxygen ions. The

hydrogen gas is collected from the cathode, while the oxygen ions are transferred through a

dense electrolyte to the anode side to produce oxygen. The main reactions taking place in

solid-oxide electrolyser are presented in Equations 12-14

Cathodic reaction: 𝐻2 𝑂 + 2𝑒 − → 𝐻2 + 𝑂2− 12

Anodic reaction: 𝑂2− → 1⁄2 𝑂2 + 2𝑒 − 13

Overall reaction: 𝐻2 𝑂 → 1⁄2 𝑂2 + 𝐻2 14

15
In addition to electrolysis technology, hydrogen can be produced from water via

thermochemical water splitting processes that use heat from solar power or wasted heat of

nuclear power reactions to drive a series of chemical reactions for splitting water into

hydrogen and oxygen [64].

The second main renewable source of hydrogen is biomass resources such as agriculture

residues, animal wastes, and organic municipal solid waste [65]. Biomass gasification

process, which involves using heat, steam, and oxygen together without combustion, is

normally used to extract hydrogen from these organic materials.

A comparison of the main technologies used for the hydrogen production, excluding those

technologies that are still at early stages of research such as microbial biomass conversion

and photobiological, is presented in Table 1 and Table 2. Different research and development

activities that can lead to further advancement of these technologies are also presented in

Table 3.

4.2 Overview of hydrogen storage technologies

Despite the potential benefits of using hydrogen as a fuel for the aviation industry, its low

density, approximately 0.089 kg/m3 at standard temperature and pressure, and associated

storage problems continue to remain an attractive field for research and developments. With

the constraints imposed by aircraft weight and volume, it is challenging to store, produce and

use hydrogen efficiently on aircraft. Storage of hydrogen is often categorised into two main

sections; physical and chemical storage as shown in Figure 2. Hydrogen can be stored as a

pressurised gas, cryogenic liquid, or in the solid state in combination with other materials

such as metal hydrides and carbon materials.

Storing hydrogen in its gaseous state is very common and forms the simplest and most

efficient solution in terms of fast filling-releasing rate. To increase its density, the gaseous

hydrogen is normally compressed and store at pressures between 35 MPa and 70 MPa [66].

16
Despite that increasing the storage pressure seems to be an advantage for low-density gaseous

hydrogen, the temperature rise during the fuel filling becomes a major challenge at very high

pressures [67]. Metallic tanks, such as steel, are normally used for gaseous hydrogen storage.

However, the pure hydrogen at high pressure may have serious deleterious effects on the

mechanical properties of metals such as promoting localised plastic processes and

accelerating crack propagation rate [67]. Today, tanks made of composite material, as shown

in Figure 3, are increasingly employed for storing hydrogen. Such tanks are light in weight

and can withstand high pressures and thus they are very attractive for transportation

applications as in aircraft. The tank consists of a high-density polyethene liner wrapped with

carbon fibres composites shell. However, composite tanks are generally expensive with price

tags between 500–600 USD/Kg H2 [59]. Also, hydrogen compatibility and durability of

composite vessels with polymeric liner still require further research and validation.

Hydrogen can be stored as a liquid in cryogenic tanks. Hydrogen needs first to be liquefied

at −253 °C and this process consumes up to 40% of the chemical energy stored in the

hydrogen. A cryogenic vessel, shown in Figure 4, uses a very complex vacuum insulation

technique consisting of approximately 40 layers of metal foil to maintain the temperature of

−253 °C for the hydrogen in the tank and limiting the boil-off loses [68]. LH2 is difficult to

store for long period as up to 3% of hydrogen is lost on daily basis due to evaporation caused

by the heat gain from surroundings. The main factors that affect boil-off loses, i.e. loses due

to evaporation of LH2, are the geometry of the vessel, thermal insulation, the ambient

conditions, quantity of hydrogen and the length of storage time. The materials that can be

used to construct a cryogenic tank wall should have high strength, high fracture toughness,

low density and low permeation to both liquid and gaseous hydrogen. Fracture toughness

property is of particular importance as many materials become brittle at the cryogenic

temperatures [69]. The density of cryogenic hydrogen is 70.8 kg/m3 which is almost twice

17
the density of pressurised hydrogen gas. The high density of the LH2 is the key feature that

allowing using this storage technique for various aerospace applications whether at subsonic

or hypersonic speeds [19]. The Boeing unmanned aerial system, Phantom Eye, employed

lightweight cryogenic hydrogen tank to power hydrogen internal combustion engines [70].

The final storage method of hydrogen is to store it chemically in the solid state as in metal

hydrides such as Mg2NiH4, FeTiH1.95, LaNi5H6.7, or in chemical hydride such as alkali metals

borohydrides (LiBH4 or NaBH4). In this technique, the hydrogen is first absorbed reversibly

by solid compounds, such as Li, Na, Mg, Ti, under certain temperature and pressure

conditions and then it can be released when needed to by increasing its temperature or

decreasing the operating pressure. The hydrogen content in metal hydrides is around 7.6 wt%

while it reaches 18.4 wt% in borohydrides [68], [71]. The main demerit of chemical hydride

is the need to convert the by-products of the chemical reaction off-board in a suitable location

[66]. The chemical storage technology, using sodium borohydride NaBH4, was tested by

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology to obtain 5 hour flight time for a

blended wing body micro air vehicle (MAV) combined with two 25W fuel cells. It was

proved that the propulsion system made of a fuel cell with NaBH4 tank can provide an energy

density of 1000 Wh/kg [52].

A comparison of hydrogen storage methods is shown in Table 4 and Table 5. Generally,

for the aviation and aerospace applications, cryogenic tanks that can store LH2 continue to

remain the most attractive storage method as it provides high hydrogen content for low

weight and reasonable volume capacities. Hydride and gaseous storage methods are

impractical because of the excessive weight or volume of the tanks [69].

5 Role of hydrogen technology in a sustainable aviation economy

Aviation continues to remain one of the hardest sectors to decarbonise [40]. Airports

around the world face several challenges related to the quality of air, noise pollution, and

18
energy efficiency [72]. Additionally, airports operations need to handle thousands of

travellers and aircraft on a daily basis and this makes the balancing between such intensive

operations and their impact on the environment more complex than ever. The contribution of

the aviation industry to global CO2 emissions has received increased interest in the last two

decades [73]. The main target of the aviation industry worldwide is to achieve 50% reduction

in the net CO2 emissions by 2050 compared to 2005 levels [74]. Thus, in order to achieve

such ambitious target, more sustainable energy resources and technologies, such as jet

biofuels [74], hybrid propulsion systems [75], and hydrogen energy [3], are required to be

deployed in the sector. Hydrogen and fuel cell technologies have a great potential to tackle

the challenges of ensuring a cleaner future for the aviation industry. Hydrogen as a jet fuel

provides many advantages over kerosene such as higher specific energy, less operating and

engine maintenance costs, zero CO2 emissions and less NOx emissions [17]. Additionally,

using fuel cell technology to power various airport vehicles and equipment will mitigate the

impact of pollution and enhance the quality air around the airports.

Currently, hydrogen is only produced economically using natural gas reformation process

which cannot completely solve the issues of air pollution and sustainability [76], [77].

Satisfying the economic and environmental requirements of adoption hydrogen for aviation

sector requires that the majority of hydrogen should be produced from a clean energy source

without the need to construct a long network of pipelines to transmit it from the production

sites to the consumption centres. This can be achieved by producing hydrogen in locations

close to the airports using renewable energy sources such as bioenergy, wind, geothermal,

solar, and ocean [78], [79]. Andrews and Shabani [78] have identified three principal types of

clean hydrogen production centres that can be used to produce hydrogen from different

renewable energy sources including coastal hydrogen centres (CHCs), off-shore hydrogen

centres (OHCs), inland hydrogen centres (IHCs). CHCs and OHCs use wave, wind, and/or

19
tidal stream to produce electricity which then can be used in electrolysers to produce

hydrogen from seawater. IHCs can employ other renewable energy sources such as solar

radiation, solar thermal systems, wind power, and biomass resources to generate hydrogen.

Thus, the type of renewable energy sources that can be used in a specific airport for hydrogen

production purposes depends mainly on the location of the airport. Airports located close to a

coastal region might use the wave and wind energy while those inland airports could rely

more on the solar and bioenergy to produce hydrogen. Many airports across the world have

already constructed hydrogen fuelling stations to supply hydrogen for fuel cell vehicles such

as those in Berlin airport [80], Oslo airport [81], Orly Airport Paris [82], and Narita

International Airport [83]. The Berlin airport hydrogen facility produces hydrogen on-site via

electrolysis using solar and wind energy [80].

6 Challenges and future developments of hydrogen technology in the aviation

industry

The aviation community continues to face complex challenges in using hydrogen and fuel

cell technologies for the various applications in the sector. On the large scale, there is a lack

of infrastructure required to provide the hydrogen fuel, as an energy carrier, for the aviation

industry. The transition to hydrogen-powered aircraft will not only alter the aircraft design

but also the airport operations. Special refuelling and storage structures will be required for

handling and storing LH2 in the airports. The temperature of LH2 should be kept below 25 K

and for this tanks with excellent insulation have to be built in the airports. Also, the airports

will need special trucks with insulated fuel tanks for refuelling the aircraft with LH2.

Additionally, refuelling process of hydrogen-powered aircraft is more complex and takes

longer time than the traditional one due to high risk of hydrogen leaking during the process

[17]. Thus, very strict safety regulations are required to control any hydrogen leaking issue.

Such problems can only be addressed by the respective international authorities who need to

20
develop proper hydrogen fuel infrastructures and safety regulations after reaching a

consensus regarding the transition to hydrogen utilisation for civilian transport applications

[18].

Among the other challenges is the ability to produce high-quality hydrogen in a cost-

effective manner and deliver it safely to the end users. One of the major problems in the

production of hydrogen is its quality for any specific demand. For example, PEMFCs use

platinum catalyst for the electrochemical reaction. This catalyst can easily be poisoned by any

impurity in the hydrogen and this reduces its efficiency [40]. Therefore, hydrogen production

technologies must be able to produce pure hydrogen or a purification process will be needed

and this will increase the overall cost of the hydrogen. The effects of hydrogen impurity on

fuel cell performance could be reduced by using cost-effective non-platinum catalysts such as

molybdenum nitride (Mo2N/C), tungsten nitride (W2N/C), carbon/polyaniline/cobalt (C-

Pani-Co), iron acetate (FeAc), etc. These novel catalysts have received intensive research

efforts in the past ten years. Detailed background about such catalysts is available elsewhere

[84].

Another challenge is the cost of hydrogen production as the initial and operational costs of

the majority of hydrogen production technologies are very high compared to other types of

fuels [60]. Production of hydrogen using renewable energy sources, particularly for large-

scale LH2 suitable for the aviation industry, is still more expensive and less attractive than the

conventional conversion methods which have a greater environmental impact [62]. Redesign

the production process, reducing its steps, and improving materials and equipment should

help in reducing the high cost of hydrogen production. In terms of hydrogen transportation,

the pipelines network responsible for hydrogen delivery should be made from special

materials that can withstand the permeation effects of the hydrogen and resist the

embrittlement caused by it.

21
 Developing a light-weight, cost-effective, and safe hydrogen storage technology is another

important requirement for the widespread commercialisation of hydrogen fuel cells

technology in aviation applications. A light-weight hydrogen storage solution is needed for

manned and unmanned vehicles. Among the various hydrogen storing technologies, only the

cryogenic tank that store LH2 appears to be practical in the near future for the aviation

industry. A tank that is suitable for aviation and aerospace applications differs significantly

from those developed for ground applications. The tank’s insulation should be designed to

withstand excessive thermal loads for longer time particularly in supersonic flight scenario

and thus developing durable and light materials is very crucial for the success of the storing

process.

Effective burning of hydrogen as jet fuel requires redesigning the traditional combustion

chamber. The hydrogen has higher flame speed, larger diffusivity, and larger range of

flammability compared to kerosene [19]. Thus, a conventional combustion chamber with a

limited number of injectors is not suitable for burning hydrogen as it does not allow for a full

mixing of air and hydrogen leading to the formation of greater amounts of NOx pollutants

[19].

The low power density, i.e. power per unit mass, of the fuel cell devices, particularly those

that need a big BoP such as SOFC, is the main challenge facing the use of fuel cell device on

board of aircraft. Fuel cell must have a power density of 1kW/kg to be feasible to be used on-

board of an aircraft [85]. Using a heavy fuel cell onboard of aircraft increases the weight of

the aircraft and this result in greater fuel consumption as well as greater emissions produced

by the aircraft. The integration of the fuel cell with its BoP into the aircraft is a major

problem and requires modifying the current aircraft configuration [18].

22
7 Conclusion

The aviation sector is considered as a major contributor to the total GHG emissions.

Burning Kerosene, which is the conventional jet fuel, produces 2–3 % of all global CO2

emissions and thus the high dependency on fossil commodities in the aviation sector should

be critically reviewed. Hydrogen has been considered as a promising clean replacement of the

convention jet fuel that is capable of reducing the environmental impact resulted from the

aviation industry. However, the high cost of hydrogen production technologies via renewable

source, lack of hydrogen fuel infrastructure, hydrogen storage issues, and the need to change

the layout of the aircraft have contributed to slowing the developing of hydrogen-powered

aircraft.

Fuel cell technology has also been studied to be used for powering different devices used

in the aviation industry such as auxiliary power units of aircraft and ground support

equipment in the airports. Using fuel cells APU provides many advantages including small

engine size, low carbon emissions, and efficient energy conversion. Additionally, fuel cells

have been developed to be used as an alternative to batteries in unmanned aerial vehicles.

Fuel cells have successfully allowed for increasing the range of small UAVs compared to

those powered by a battery. However, all of the fuel-cell-powered aircraft are limited to small

light aircraft with short range flight and not for long-range flight. Also, the various types of

fuel cell devices have found a big usage in space vehicles for power generation and energy

storage applications.

Despite the technology has attained massive breakthroughs in recent years, there is still a

need to solve various issues before seeing a full integration of the fuel cell technology in the

aviation sector. Improvements in fuel cell design and hydrogen storage tanks make fuel cell

technology more viable for aerospace applications. Understanding fuel cell performance

under extreme conditions such as low pressure, low gravity, and low temperature is also

23
essential to develop efficient devices for aerospace applications. Finally, increasing the power

density, reducing the cost and extending the lifetime of the fuel cells are also important

factors that might accelerate the marriage between the technology and the aviation

applications.

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33
Figure 1: Fuel tank locations in (a) traditional and (b)
medium rang hydrogen-powered aircrafts [69] (c)
long rang hydrogen-powered aircrafts [69]

34
Figure 2: Hydrogen storage technologies [86]

35
Figure 3: Composite tank for storing gaseous pressurised hydrogen [87]

36
Figure 4: Liquid hydrogen vessel [88]

37
 Figure 5: Summary of PEM and SOFC fel cells
(Created based on information provided in [14], [89].

38
 Table 1: Technologies used in hydrogen production

[40], [61], [90]

Technology Feedstock Efficiency (%) Maturity

Steam reforming Hydrocarbons 70 – 85 Commercial

Partial oxidation Hydrocarbons 60 - 75 Commercial

Plasma reforming Hydrocarbons 9 – 85 Long term

Biomass gasification Biomass 35 – 50 Commercial

Electrolysis H2O + electricity 50 – bigger than 70 Commercial

Photolysis H2O + sunlight 0.5- 16 Long term

Thermochemical H2O + Heat Not applicable Long term

water splitting

39
 Table 2: Comparison of the various technologies used

in hydrogen production [60]

Natural gas reforming Coal and biomass Thermochemical Photo-

gasification electrochemical

Main  High maintenance and  The high cost of the  The cost reactor is high  Photocatalyst material

operation costs reactor  Require effective and that is effective

Challenges
 Complex manufacturing  Low efficiency of the durable material for  System efficiency is

design system construction low

 The need for carbon  Feedstock impurities  Longer term technology  Require expensive

capture and storage  The need for carbon reactor

technology capture and storage  Longer term

technology technology

Advantages  The best approach to  Provide cheap  Generates hydrogen  Functions only at low

start the hydrogen market synthetic fuel in using water, solar temperature.

in the near term addition to the energy or energy from  Clean and sustainable

 Cheap current cost hydrogen. nuclear reactors and using only solar energy

 Feedstock infrastructure  Uses abundant and sometimes chemicals and water

is already in existence affordable hydrogen that are recycled

coal feedstock  Clean and sustainable

40
 Table 3: Possible research activities for hydrogen production technologies [60]

Natural gas reforming Coal and biomass Thermochemical Photo - electrochemical

gasification

 Improve catalyst efficiency  Build cheap but efficient  Design and build cheap  Design durable but cheap

at cheap cost separation/purification materials for solar photocatalysts and electron

 Cheap and efficient  Enhance catalyst receivers, chemical cycles, transfer catalysts

separation or purification tolerance of impurities reactors and thermal  Design different materials

 Combine unit operation to  Design efficient and storage. that can function in several

enhance cost effectiveness good components for the  Design cheap reactors and ways at low cost

 Enhance pre-treatment of whole system receivers but easy to  Design active, stable as

feedstock.  Storage for Biomass manufacture. well as durable materials

 Enhance operation to meet feedstock must be  Optimisation of thermal and for supports and coatings.

different type of demands reduced as well as chemical storage system  Design new manufacturing

 Build flexible reformer preparation and designs to address variable technique to aid in uniform

designs using cheap handling. solar power availability and quality

materials  Build efficient method lower total cost  Optimisation of high

 Process control must be of carbon capture and  Build designs for high volume production design

automated storage volume, low cost to cut down cost

 Increase equipment  Design cheap approach manufacturing of main  Automate system control,

reliability for monitoring hydrogen components. increase equipment

 Reduce energy sources and quality  Design and build efficient reliability and reduce loss

level demand  Design biomass coal fed transfer for chemical cycle of energy

gasifiers  Reduce parasitic power

 Increase the quality of losses

affordable biomass.

41
 Table 4: Advantages and disadvantages of hydrogen
storage techniques [86]
Method Advantages Disadvantages
Pressurised tanks  Simple and efficient  Low volumetric capacity
 Fast filling-releasing rate  High energy consumption for
 Commercially available compression the hydrogen
 Heat management during
charging required
 High pressure tanks involves
various risks such as vessel
explosion, gas leakage, and
temperature rise

Cryogenic tanks  High hydrogen content  Hydrogen loss due to boil-off

 Commercially available  Safety issues
 High energy consumption for
liquefying the hydrogen
 Thermal management system
is required for hydrogen
release and for reducing boil-
off losses

Metal hydrides  Low volume of the tank  Excessive weight of the tank
 High operating temperature
for hydrogen release
 Thermal management system
is required for hydrogen
release

Chemical hydrides  Generate hydrogen with very  Thermal management is

high purity required
 Good volumetric capacity  Off-board regeneration
 The regeneration efficiency is
low

42
 Table 5: Volume, weight and hydrogen content

offered by some of hydrogen storage techniques [87]

Hydrogen Storage technique Volume (Litres) Weight (Kg) Density [wt% H2]

35 MPa compressed H2 145 45 6.7

70 MPa compressed H2 100 50 6.0

Cryogenic liquid H2 90 40 7.5

Low temperature metal hydride 55 215 1.4

43
 Table 6: Comparison of Fuel-Cell-Powered UAV
(Based on Ref [91], [92])

Reactant Storage
Organization (date) Fuel Cell Type Endurance (est.)
Type
AeroVironment H2 Sodium
PEM 0.2 hr
(2003) Borohydride
AeroVironment
PEM H2 Cryogenic 24 hr
(2005)
FH Wiesbaden
PEM H2 Gaseous 90 s
(2005)
Naval Research
PEM H2 Gaseous 3.3 hr
Lab (2006)
Adaptive Materials
SOFC Propane 4 hr
Inc. (2006)
Georgia Inst. of
PEM H2 Gaseous 0.75 hr
Tech. (2006)
CSU Los Angeles
PEM H2 Gaseous 0.75 hr
(2006)
DLR/HyFish
PEM H2 Gaseous 0.25 hr
(2006)
CSULA/OSU
PEM H2 Gaseous 12 hr
(2007)
H2 Sodium
KAIST (2007) PEM 10 hr
Borohydride
AeroVironment H2 Sodium
PEM 9 hr
(2007) Borohydride
Naval Research
Laboratory- Ion
PEM H2 Gaseous 26 hr
Tiger UAV
(2009)
Naval Research
Laboratory- Ion
PEM H2 Cryogenic 48 hr
Tiger UAV
(2013)

44