Take off with hydrogen: Driven solely by the energy of a fuel cell is an airplane for its maiden flight in Hamburg started. Researchers want to demonstrate that the technology for use in aviation is suitable.
The Antares DLR-H2 during its technical flight trial in June 2009 at Zweibrücken. The fuel cell is slung under the left wing and the hydrogen tank under the right wing – with a capacity of either 2 or 4.9 kilograms. The fuel cell system used to power the Antares delivers up to 25 kilowatts of electrical power, and when flying in a straight line, the aircraft only requires about ten kilowatts of power. In this situation, the fuel cell is operating at an efficiency level of approximately 52 percent.
Another new feature of the Antares is the way its fuel cell is connected to the main electric motor that powers the aircraft. The motor controller, developed jointly with Lange Aviation and with the College of Advanced Technology in Berne/Biel, is capable of taking in and controlling voltages from 188 to 400 V. Through the direct link between fuel cell and motor, efficiency is optimised while costs, reliability and maintenance costs are minimised.
The hissing white tank drops in aerodynamically favorable shape hangs under the wing of a glider. Antares DLR H2 is the Air Force, in a few minutes to the first official flight at the airport Hamburg-Fuhlsbüttel will take off. It is the world’s first public flight of a single fuel cell-powered aircraft – and therefore sends Hamburg’s First Mayor Ole von Beust personally some Greetings. He says “It almost like the first flight of Yuri Gagarin into space”.
The DLR’s scientists will continue to work closely with Airbus and Lufthansa Technik cooperate. The technology-yard, the Antares DLR-H2, at the Lufthansa base in Hamburg will be stationed, technically supervise. The experimental fuel-cell makers of DLR, the Airbus A320 ATRA, a fuel cell in which the functions of the APU Hilfsgasturbine takes effect from the yard looks.
Source: DLR motor glider Antares takes off in Hamburg
Posted under Fuel Cells, Hydrogen Vehicles
This post was written by admin on July 17, 2009