The University of Bath is set to play a key role in a new £37m programme aiming to get a hydrogen-fuelled aircraft off the ground within a decade.
It has joined the HyFIVE consortium led by UK aerospace group Marshall, which will make use of the specialised research and development capability at the university.
The consortium plans to develop a world-leading hydrogen fuel system and accompanying supply chain, with the goal of supporting zero-emission aviation in the 2030s.
It will receive initial funding of £37m, with £20m from the government and £17m from industry.
The University of Bath will receive an initial £1.8m to form a team to carry out research for the project, ahead of taking part in research and testing to bring an integrated fuel system to the point of ground testing in 2027.
The university’s success in joining HyFIVE was underpinned by the state-of-the-art testing facilities at its world-leading Institute for Advanced Automotive Propulsion Systems (IAAPS) research and innovation facility, pictured below, on the Bristol & Bath Science Park.
HyFIVE aims to develop, test and validate a modular, scalable cryogenic hydrogen fuel system architecture suitable for multiple aircraft types and compatible with either hydrogen electric propulsion or hydrogen combustion powertrains.
It will cover five key aspects of technology development for hydrogen fuel systems – storage, conveyance, indication, fuelling and venting.
Ten Bath academics, with expertise in materials engineering, turbomachinery and fluid power, will be involved in the project.
The university’s principal investigator for HyFIVE, Prof Carl Sangan, said: “We are delighted and very privileged to have been selected as a full partner on this project, which promises to fulfil so many opportunities presented by Hydrogen-fuelled aircraft and net zero flight.
“HyFIVE is an ideal platform on which to leverage and build upon the University of Bath’s growing capability and expertise as a place of nationally leading research and expertise in hydrogen energy storage and fuelling.
“Our role is primarily to develop the hydromechanical side of the hydrogen pumps and other fluidic devices, while also contributing significantly to cryogenic material selection and assessment of the associated thermal challenges within a hydrogen fuel system.”
The project is supported by the ATI Programme, a partnership between Department for Business and Trade, the Aerospace Technology Institute and Innovate UK (UKRI). Also involved are Manchester and Cardiff universities along with industry partners GKN Aerospace and Parker Meggitt.
The HyFIVE consortium members have defined a full technical programme spanning several years, starting with initial architecture development and supplier engagement and running all the way through to ground testing and final design review for the integrated fuel system.
ATI chief technology officer Jacqueline Castle, pictured above, said the HyFIVE programme was primed to solve significant technical, safety, certification and industrialisation challenges associated with using hydrogen in aviation as well as those identified by previous ATI-backed programmes.
“The HyFIVE team will work in parallel with key regulatory frameworks and infrastructure projects, including the ATI’s own Hydrogen Capability Network, to ensure the UK maximises the gains from such a significant industrial research project,” she added.
IAAPS opened last September at a cost of £70m to develop clean, sustainable and affordable technologies and support the transport industry in the transition to net zero.
It is already home to the West of England’s first green hydrogen production and storage plant, which is being used to carry out research on how to use green hydrogen in sectors such as shipping and heavy-duty transport as well as aviation.
It is one of a number of initiatives in the region investigating the use of hydrogen, including the Great Western Supercluster of Hydrogen Impact for Future Technologies (GW-SHIFT), which is co-led by the University of Bath.
Over the next four years, GW-SHIFT will support innovative research and activities to create a thriving low carbon hydrogen supercluster in the region.
Experts predict harnessing clean green hydrogen to decarbonise the region’s transport, energy and storage & distribution sectors could support up to 100,000 jobs by 2050.
