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MTU Aero Engines Supports Use of Hydrogen as Fuel

: Oct 6, 2020 - : 8:15 pm

MTU Aero Engines has welcomed the ZEROe concepts from  Airbus.

“Hydrogen is a highly attractive future option for us as an engine producer as well,” said  MTU Chief Operating Officer Lars Wagner. “It should be used as a fuel right away.”

MTU Aero Engines sees three possible uses for hydrogen: Converted to sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs), hydrogen could be dropped into existing aircraft and engines right away.

“Direct combustion of liquid hydrogen in gas turbines is possible in technical terms, too,” said Dr Stefan Weber, Senior Vice President Technology & Engineering Advanced Programs at MTU in Munich, highlighting the second possible use. That would require some adjustments in the engine, especially the combustion chamber, which, according to Weber,  could be done in a few years.

In the long term, MTU is relying on a third option for using hydrogen: converting it into electricity by means of a fuel cell. This application is also described by the MTU experts in their Technology Roadmap for achieving emissions-free flight. This technology promises almost zero emissions, but it is still in the early stages of development in aircraft propulsion applications.

“We call our fuel cell concept the flying fuel cell. We have an established team of experts working on it in Munich,” said Weber. In August, MTU teamed up with the German Aerospace Center (DLR) to launch a cooperative project with the aim of demonstrating the new technology in a Do228.

MTU’s development work is also focusing on the further development of the gas turbine to leverage the full amount of potential available. MTU is currently focusing on what is known as a WET engine (Water-Enhanced Turbofan). This concept reduces fuel consumption by more than 15 percent regardless of fuel type, considerably lowers all emissions – especially NOx levels – and, according to initial estimates, also reduces formation of contrails.

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