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Airbus plans to test hydrogen engine on A380 jumbo jet

dataflow 5y ago
Is hydrogen green? I've read stuff like: https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2021/08/touted-clean-blue-hydrogen-may-be-worse-gas-or-coal https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2021/08/touted-clean-blue-h...
- keithnz 5y ago
  It is green, it's just the production of it isn't. So before it is viable we need better ways to produce it. Airbus are just sorting out their piece of the puzzle.
  - dataflow 5y ago
    > It is green, it's just the production of it isn't. Isn't that "just" kind of the crux of the issue though? It seems to be doing quite a bit of heavy-lifting. Otherwise it sounds a lot like, "quantum computing is very practical, we 'just' need to solve the decoherence problem."
srvmshr 5y ago
Just a genuine question: A while ago, Airbus retired the A380 [1]. Why would they experiment on a retired airframe, considering the thrust requirements are very specific to large widebody jets? [1] https://time.com/5529439/airbus-a380-retired/ https://time.com/5529439/airbus-a380-retired/
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- mwint 5y ago
  4-engine airframes are nice, because you can put the test engine as No. 2 or 3 (next to the fuselage), with the rest conventional. If the test engine fails you can continue flying without much issue. Much bigger deal if you use a 2-engine airframe and half your engines fail.
  - sithadmin 5y ago
    With dual engine airframes, the usual engine test approach is to just bolt the test engine nacelle to a pylon that juts out from the side of the main fuselage. It looks absurd, but doesn't compromise the main propulsion and apparently works. One of many examples: https://theaviationist.com/2012/05/10/dont-worry-this-weird-plane-with-5-engines-is-just-a-flying-test-bed-for-a-quite-innovative-fod-resistant-engine/ https://theaviationist.com/2012/05/10/dont-worry-this-weird-...
    - mwint 5y ago
      Cool, I remember hearing about this now. Looks weird, but if it works it works.
- qbrass 5y ago
  Hydrogen has a poor volume to power ratio so you'll need a lot of it to do long-range testing and it's easier to fill an unused cabin with tanks to prove it's viable before designing a plane around them.

Is hydrogen green? I've read stuff like: https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2021/08/touted-clean-blue-hydrogen-may-be-worse-gas-or-coal https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2021/08/touted-clean-blue-h...

keithnz 5y ago
It is green, it's just the production of it isn't. So before it is viable we need better ways to produce it. Airbus are just sorting out their piece of the puzzle.
- dataflow 5y ago
  > It is green, it's just the production of it isn't. Isn't that "just" kind of the crux of the issue though? It seems to be doing quite a bit of heavy-lifting. Otherwise it sounds a lot like, "quantum computing is very practical, we 'just' need to solve the decoherence problem."

srvmshr 5y ago

Just a genuine question: A while ago, Airbus retired the A380 [1]. Why would they experiment on a retired airframe, considering the thrust requirements are very specific to large widebody jets? [1] https://time.com/5529439/airbus-a380-retired/ https://time.com/5529439/airbus-a380-retired/

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
mwint 5y ago
4-engine airframes are nice, because you can put the test engine as No. 2 or 3 (next to the fuselage), with the rest conventional. If the test engine fails you can continue flying without much issue. Much bigger deal if you use a 2-engine airframe and half your engines fail.
- sithadmin 5y ago
  With dual engine airframes, the usual engine test approach is to just bolt the test engine nacelle to a pylon that juts out from the side of the main fuselage. It looks absurd, but doesn't compromise the main propulsion and apparently works. One of many examples: https://theaviationist.com/2012/05/10/dont-worry-this-weird-plane-with-5-engines-is-just-a-flying-test-bed-for-a-quite-innovative-fod-resistant-engine/ https://theaviationist.com/2012/05/10/dont-worry-this-weird-...
  - mwint 5y ago
    Cool, I remember hearing about this now. Looks weird, but if it works it works.
qbrass 5y ago
Hydrogen has a poor volume to power ratio so you'll need a lot of it to do long-range testing and it's easier to fill an unused cabin with tanks to prove it's viable before designing a plane around them.