ZeroAvia is an Anglo-American designer of hydrogen-powered aircraft. Recently, the company partnered with California startup Verne to explore the viability of cryo-compressed hydrogen to fly its aircraft.
The use of hydrogen as a fuel for civil aviation is an avenue being explored more and more seriously. If the idea is really attractive, it comes up against rather serious technical problems: installation of very expensive dedicated infrastructures and difficulty of storing H2 mainly. ZeroAvia has therefore started a collaboration with Verne, a company specializing in the storage and refueling of hydrogen, to increase the autonomy and efficiency of its aircraft.
ZeroAvia’s advances
ZeroAvia has already made significant progress in the research and development of its hydrogen-powered electric aircraft. It is slowly approaching its main objective: to market by 2027 small planes that can accommodate 40 to 80 people with a range of 700 miles (around 1,100 km).
Good news, ZeroAvia has already obtained experimental flight certificates from the Federal Aviation Administration in the United States and the Civil Aviation Authority in the United Kingdom. In September 2023, it concluded a new fundraising led by Barclays Sustainable Impact Capital, Airbus and NEOM. In November, ZeroAvia announced that it had finalized an agreement to supply 70 aircraft to airline EcoJet. It hopes to become the first company in the world with a completely electric fleet.
Cryo-compressed hydrogen: a viable solution?
The expertise of the Verne company in cryo-compressed hydrogen will only benefit ZeroAvia. It is even the specialty of the Californian company which offers a unique solution for storing hydrogen gas at very low temperatures. A technology that will offer ZeroAvia devices greater autonomy.
According to Verne’s calculations, cryo-compressed hydrogen offers a usable hydrogen density 40% higher than liquid hydrogen and 200% higher than that stored as a gas at 350 bar. Their solution is also more economical, because it drastically reduces the costs of hydrogen densification. In addition to this, refueling times are also reduced. Cryo-compressed hydrogen can also be stored for longer and the cryo-compression process also simplifies gas pressure management. Indeed, conventional hydrogen-based fuel systems (particularly in liquid form) require quite complex pressure management in order to maintain the stability and safety of the fuel.
ZeroAvia, with this new partnership, is really on the right track. Even though at the moment their efforts are focused on smaller aircraft, they seem to have found the right solution. The aviation industry’s ledger may have reached a new chapter!
Sources: Electrek, ZeroAvia, Air Cosmos
6