Things Flight Testers Should Know About Hydrogen

Hydrogen powertrains are an area of significant interest in aviation and other industries today. All types of systems ranging from direct combustion to hybrid electric powertrains with fuel cells are under development. While the use of hydrogen in aircraft is not new, it is not commonplace and there are specific design and operational issues that are unique to hydrogen fueled systems. The focus of this paper is the development, design, and testing of systems using hydrogen and specifically the areas that are of primary concern to test teams. This paper will discuss the safety approaches recommended and the design implications that flow from typical recommended safety analyses. Hydrogen risks, design mitigations to risks, leak detection approaches and test specific considerations will be discussed. READ NOW

Ilia Artemidze, AeroTEC Inc.

Nicholas Vildibill, AeroTEC Inc.

Todd Leighton, AeroTEC Inc.