Fuel cell composite testbeds up to 1.5 megawatts (MW) are being provided by AVL to the German Aerospace Center (DLR) as part of the BALIS project.
The test field serves as a development environment for hybrid, hydrogen, and electric drive concepts for passenger aircraft with a maximum capacity of 60 people. Test facilities and propulsion system components are included in this package. Fuel cell systems, hydrogen tanks, electric motors, battery systems, cooling systems, and control and feedback control systems are just some of the components that go into an electric vehicle. Research and development can be carried out in accordance with a wide range of framework conditions, specifications, and guidelines thanks to the test environment’s high functional and structural variability. The Federal Ministry of Digital and Transport is providing financial support for this endeavor (BMVI).
The DLR is building the world’s first 2,000-square-meter test field for aircraft fuel cell propulsion systems at the Empfingen Innovation Campus in the Northern Black Forest. Container design solutions provided by AVL help the project as a system partner, allowing for flexible integration of various technologies in the test environment.
Furthermore, container solutions require a small amount of space, which is ideal for the current spatial situation. The facility was officially opened on October 6, 2021, with a groundbreaking ceremony. In the fall of 2022, the test field is expected to begin operating.
“The BALIS test field is a unique infrastructure, in order to develop fuel cell systems for aviation. This will make it possible to achieve zero-emission flying,” says Professor André Thess, Director of the DLR Institute of Technical Thermodynamics.
“Hydrogen can be used as a fuel in many modes of transport. In the quest for environmentally friendly and sustainable mobility, AVL has assembled a wealth of knowledge and experience – through the challenges faced in developing and testing fuel cell systems for automotive applications. As a partner, we can now incorporate this in the extraordinary project, in order to accelerate the introduction of fuel cells in future aircraft. We at AVL are immensely proud of the involvement in this milestone in the research of zero-emission mobility,” explains Roland Jeutter, Managing Director of AVL Deutschland GmbH.
As part of the BALIS project, the world’s first 1.5-megawatt hydrogen-based propulsion system for aeronautical applications will be realized as a laboratory demonstrator and test environment for the relevant hardware, system integration, and control concepts. Flexible integration and testing of key propulsion system components are two of the most important aspects of this project. The ability to map application-oriented load profiles is an ideal prerequisite for testing both existing and newly developed hardware and for identifying technological gaps on a megawatt scale.. Propulsion system control technology can also be developed thanks to the extensive testing infrastructure.
In some cases, a complex switch matrix ensures a smooth power flow between the components. As a result, aircraft can be simulated and tested for various load cases, including takeoff and landing. In order to communicate with the automation system, which is provided by AVL and customized to meet the project’s needs, the control intelligence is implemented as a programmable logic controller.
Due to the breadth of AVL’s expertise, the integration of propulsion systems for aeronautical applications is a simple task for the company.
