Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

Science

AeroDelft student team wants to shake up industry

AeroDelft and aircraft manufacturer Airbus are to collaborate on ‘the biggest challenge in aviation’: emission-free flying on hydrogen. They announced this recently.

Rob Postma (Airbus Nederland) and Wouter van der Linden (AeroDelft) on their way to emission-free flying. (Photo: AeroDelft)

On 12 October 2022, Wouter van der Linden, team manager of student team AeroDelft, and Rob Postma, CEO of Airbus Netherlands, signed a research partnership on flying on hydrogen.

‘The agreement highlights Airbus’ commitment to a CO2-free aviation sector,’ the press release said. ‘The collaboration with a student team ensures the exchange of knowledge between industry and students.’

How does something like this work? Delta called Joseph Michaels, bachelors’s student in aerospace engineering and chief of partnerships at AeroDelft. The connection is lousy, as he is travelling by train to a major hydrogen exhibition in Bremen.

Michaels: “We are working with people from Airbus on different systems. An important part is the liquid hydrogen system. In our education, you don’t hear much about hydrogen, so we are now learning together with industry, our future employers. People often move on to the industry from such a project. Apart from knowledge transfer, it is then also about introducing crazy out of the box ideas within the aviation industry, which is by itself quite conservative.”

AeroDelft has stated that they only want to work with green hydrogen, derived from sustainably generated electricity. Does the same apply to Airbus?

“I cannot comment on that. I can confirm, however, that AeroDelft remains committed to using green hydrogen.”

You have announced a flight with a 1:3 scale model powered by gaseous hydrogen for next spring. How is that progressing? 

“That is moving forward. The electric drive on gaseous hydrogen with a fuel cell is now functioning on the workbench. It is further a matter of building it into the drone and testing.”

For the next step, a 2-seater hydrogen-powered aircraft, you have to get permission from the Dutch Civil Aviation Authority (Rijksluchtvaartdienst) I assume.

How will that go? 
“We are in talks with the Transport Authority (IL&T) and we are opting for admission as an experimental aircraft.  Admission of hydrogen technology in aviation is a topic that five of our engineers are currently working on. Personally, I would have preferred that we could focus on the technology and let industry pick up the certification. After all, we are not making products, we are pioneering a clean technology.”

Delta previously wrote:

 

 

Science editor Jos Wassink

Do you have a question or comment about this article?

j.w.wassink@tudelft.nl

Comments are closed.