ZeroAvia and Absolut Hydrogen Partner to Develop Liquid Hydrogen Refueling Infrastructure for Aircraft Operations

(Green Car Congress) ZeroAvia and Absolut Hydrogen will jointly explore liquid hydrogen (LH₂) production, storage and refueling at airports. The partners will work together to build and demonstrate liquefaction and liquid hydrogen storage in an airport context and ultimately explore the technology developments, concept of operations, safety procedures and standards for larger-scale deployment to deliver liquid hydrogen to aircraft.

Grenoble-based Absolut Hydrogen, a subsidiary of Groupe Absolut, is a developer of LH₂ systems for heavy-duty mobility for aeronautical, maritime and land applications, building upon Groupe Absolut’s expertise and deep industry knowledge in complex cryogenic systems. Absolut Hydrogen is offering a full LH₂ product range with an entry small-scale hydrogen liquefaction system (< 50 kg/day), a 100 kg/day Turbo-Brayton based H₂ liquefier and a 1T/day liquefier based on the same technology.

While ZeroAvia’s first certified powertrains for up to 19-seat aircraft will be powered by gaseous hydrogen, ZA2000—a 2–5.4 MW modular powertrain for 40–80 seat aircraft, targeting entry-in-service in 2027—will require liquid hydrogen. This will improve the volumetric energy density of the fuel, enabling support for larger aircraft, flying more passengers, on longer typical routes.

The move further cements ZeroAvia’s advantage at developing solutions for large regional turboprops and beyond, following the recent announcement of its high temperature fuel cell technology promising the necessary power for larger aircraft. (Earlier post.) READ MORE

GenH2 and ZeroAvia Sign MoU to Develop Liquid Hydrogen Technologies for Airports (GenH2/PR Newswire)

ZeroAvia receives Q400 regional aircraft from Alaska Airlines for hydrogen-electric retrofit (GreenAir Online)

ZeroAvia, MHIRJ 1st phase technical study confirms feasibility of hydrogen-electric CRJ aircraft (Green Car Congress)

ZeroAvia Successfully Completes Initial Dornier 228 Flight Test Campaign (ZeroAvia)

Excerpt from GreenAir Online: Hydrogen-electric propulsion developer ZeroAvia has taken delivery of an ex-Alaska Airlines Bombardier Q400 regional airliner for conversion to a zero-emission flight testbed. The 76-seat turboprop aircraft will be retrofitted to test a prototype of ZeroAvia’s new ZA2000 hydrogen-electric powertrain, which is being developed to provide zero emission propulsion for 40-80 seat aircraft from 2027. The Q400, originally known known as the De Havilland Dash 8-400, was donated by Alaska Airlines, a ZeroAvia shareholder and research partner, whose regional subsidiary Horizon Air recently retired its turboprop fleet. It will become ZeroAvia’s fourth testbed aircraft, following two 19-seat Dornier 228s and a six-seat Piper Malibu, and when operational will be the world’s largest zero-emission aircraft. The jointly-branded Q400 was formally unveiled in a ceremony at ZeroAvia’s research and development site at Paine Field, north of Seattle. The event was also used by ZeroAvia to showcase a new multi-megawatt electric motor system, which was demonstrated by powering a propeller spin on a ground test rig. READ MORE