by (Fuenti Tech): US-based Light Electric has announced a 100-seat electric short-hop aircraft scheduled to enter service by 2026. It is powered by hydrogen or uses a recyclable metal that the company calls an “aluminum fuel cell…
Wright is working on a number of large electric aircraft projects, including even larger ones 186-seater Developed in collaboration with European airlines EasyJet and BAE Systems. This is “low emission” electricity, perhaps using a fossil fuel range extender to replenish the battery and extend its flight range to approximately 1,290 km (800 miles). The partnership is touting it as a “road” to clean aviation, a type of empty Prius, proving an electric drivetrain while waiting for zero energy storage.
However, Wright’s latest project is completely zero emissions, using high-density energy storage to tackle up to an hour of flight. This is enough for a hop of about 1,000 km (620 miles) between Sydney and Melbourne, or London. -Geneva, or Tokyo-Osaka, or LA-San Francisco.
Basically, when production goes on, the BAE 146-based Light Spirit will be a simple 100-seat electrical option that carriers can use on a variety of very popular flight routes.
Light Spirit can offer many popular short-haul routes, even when powered by aluminum. Light electric.
Wright is primarily focused on his area of expertise. Megawatt-scale motors and inverters were needed to lift such an ancient Bessie into the air.Indeed, the company does not seem to be settled on energy storage solutions at this stage, assessing the strengths and weaknesses of both hydrogen fuel cell systems, including: What we are currently seeing from various companiesAnd the “aluminum fuel cell” system that really fascinated us.
Would you like to run straight on hydrogen, as most other decent-sized clean airliner programs do? One of the motivational factors is volume. Liquid hydrogen is a lightweight energy storage medium that excels in weight. Its specific energy is 33,313.9 Wh / kg, which is almost three times that of jet fuel (~ 12,000 Wh / kg). But volumetrically, it’s terrible. At just 2,358.6 Wh / liter, the amount of energy given in the form of liquid hydrogen occupies almost four times the space (~ 9,000 Wh / l) of the same energy of jet fuel.
Quantity is a big issue for commercial aircraft operators. Most of these early projects were modifications to the airframe that were not designed to carry extra amounts of hydrogen. All seats that need to be turfed from the cabin to make way for fuel are a direct punch of revenue. And that’s what makes aluminum so interesting.
How does it work? Well, in effect it’s an aluminum-air battery. Aluminum acts as an anode, in contrast to a carbon cathode with a catalyst behind a porous polymer separator. There is an electrolyte, usually a basic liquid, between the two. Aluminum reacts with atmospheric oxygen at the cathode to form hydrated aluminum oxide and release energy.
Cathodes and electrolytes add some weight to the overall system and limit the specific energy limits of aluminum to 60-70 percent of what a hydrogen system can achieve. But Wright said, “Half of the single-aisle market is for flights shorter than 800 miles, so distance penalties may not be as important as they were originally.”
Wright calls it a fuel cell rather than an aluminum-air battery to avoid confusion. It cannot be charged like a battery. Instead, it needs to be refueled like a fuel cell and has the additional task of removing aluminum oxide sludge for recycling at the smelter.
According to Wright, this isn’t as difficult as dealing with a liquid hydrogen tank, and it also needs to be sent to an external facility for replenishment. But with all the hydrogen infrastructure needed to be built, there are already smelters everywhere where aluminum oxide can be returned to new metals, loaded into canisters and attached to airplanes, or used for other purposes. I have.
Logistically, that would be easy. Canisters can be carted on standard trucks and loaded onto airplanes like cargo. In the form of pellets, metal can be piped as needed.
Challenges remain. The thin, cold, low-oxygen air at cruising altitude means that aluminum-fueled aircraft need to run compressors and heat exchangers that can blow away heavy budgets. To achieve useful specific energy numbers, the entire aluminum cell needs to be further developed from its current state. Today’s aluminum-air batteries are typically designed for low C discharge rates, as opposed to the operating requirements of aircraft engines. To get higher kinetics, more aluminum needs to be exposed as powders or pellets may be used instead of plates. So there is a way to go.
Perhaps the most interesting kicker here is revenue. Running a rough “first pass” simulation of airline operating costs, Wright said that if hydrogen fuel cells are likely to increase costs by about 25% and biofuels are likely to add about 32%, aluminum systems are actually Predicts that it will be hair. Cheaper than today’s jet fuel operations.
Light electric
Between the cost advantage and the fact that these planes can run more seats than hydrogen planes in remodeling scenarios, aluminum air raises a compelling case for short-range commercial flight. There is likely to be.
However, for this type of system to become an environmentally friendly option, carriers must source aluminum from the Green Smelter using clean energy, clean heat, and a carbon-neutral smelting anode. As a reminder, these technologies are under development and hydrogen has its own challenges in achieving zero emissions.
Wright is an agnostic at this point, summarizing the discussion of hydrogen and aluminum as follows:
“Hydrogen fuel cell: longer distance, smaller payload, more difficult operation, higher cost.
Aluminum fuel cell: shorter range, larger payload, easier operation, lower cost. “
If the technology makes the necessary advances, it can be a problem for horses on the course. But even though it looks like the only viable way to clean long-haul flights, it’s to see that hydrogen may not be the only viable way to decarbonize commercial air travel. It’s certainly a good thing.
