The demand for lightweight storage tanks is one of the obstacles to developing hydrogen fuel systems for aircraft. Previously, this meant less gasoline and, as a result, a shorter range. However, Gloyer-Taylor Laboratories (GTL), an aerospace engineering firm, is developing the game-changing BHL Cryotank with carbon-composite technology similar to that used in racing cycles.
With a length of 2.4 meters (7.8 ft) and a weight of 67 kg (147 lbs) with the skirt and vacuum Dewar shell, this tank can hold up to 150 kg (330 lb) of liquid hydrogen. This is ten times more than the most modern storage tanks now available, allowing for a four-fold increase in range over conventionally powered aircraft.
HyPoint, a NASA-award-winning startup that develops high-performance hydrogen fuel cells, has teamed up with GTL to further this technology. For a 50-seat De Havilland Canada Dash 8 Q300, HyPoint tested the efficiency of conventional fuel, hydrogen plus traditional storage tanks, and hydrogen plus GTL’s tanks.
A Dash 8 powered with a PW123B engine has a usual range of 1,558 kilometers (968 miles). It would fly for 2,640 kilometers (1,640 miles) or five hours using HyPoint’s fuel cell and a standard storage tank. The aircraft could stay in the air for more than eight hours by switching to the BHL Cryotank, giving it an incredible range of 4,488 kilometers (2,788 miles). This paves the way for zero-emission long-haul flights while lowering expenses.
Combining this lightweight tank with HyPoint’s fuel cell system, which promises to produce three times the power of ordinary liquid-cooled hydrogen, may bring hydrogen-powered long-haul flights “at least a decade sooner than predicted,” according to GTL CEO Paul Gloyer.
