The Clean Future of Flight
Hydrogen-electric engines for zero-emission flight
The Clean Future of Flight
Hydrogen-electric engines for zero-emission flight
The Problem
Aviation is the fastest-growing source of greenhouse gas emissions
% of total Human Climate Impact
Its share of climate impact is expected to be 25-50% by 2050. Regulators worldwide are pushing for green aviation and net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Today’s aircraft engines emit substances in addition to CO2 that double or even triple aviation’s climate impact
NOx, contrails, and particulates have a specific warming effect of their own. Non-carbon emissions are thought to account for around two-thirds of climate impact.
- INDUCED CLOUDINESS
- OZONE
- CONTRAILS
- SOOT
- WATER VAPOUR
The Solution
Scalable hydrogen and electric propulsion technologies to drastically reduce environmental harm and lower costs
With up to 60 times greater specific energy and lower cycling costs than lithium-ion batteries and numerous advantages over all other decarbonisation solutions, hydrogen-electric powertrains are the only viable, scalable solution for zero-emission aviation.
Hydrogen-electric is the best option for long-term transition to clean aviation
Reduction in climate impact
Scalability
Net Impact
Key challenges
Direct CO2
NOx
Water vapour & contrails
H2-electric
Weight of the powertrain; Higher volume fuel tanks required
H2 combustion
Higher non-CO2 climate impact than fossil fuels; Even higher volume fuel tanks required
Sustainable aviation fuels
Bio feedstock sustainability; High cost of synthetic fuels Same in-flight emissions
Battery electric
Weight of battery precludes large aircraft; Frequent replacement
Hybrid-electric
Small incremental impact (10-20% max) on both economics and climate
ComprehensiveModerateLimitedHydrogen-electric engines are a superior propulsion system, offering lower fuel and maintenance cost, zero emissions and commercial ranges even when retro-fitted
90% lower
life cycle emissions compared to turbines
40% lower
fuel and maintenance costs compared to turbines
75% lower
hourly maintenance costs
250 – 1000nm
Retrofits up to 300NM <19 seat missions from 2025 and up to 1000NM 50-90 seat from 2027. Ranges cover 95%+ of missions flown today, including reserves
ZA600
Hydrogen-electric engine for 10-20 seat aircraft, beginning with the Cessna Caravan
ZA600
Hydrogen-electric engine for 10-20 seat aircraft, beginning with the Cessna Caravan
Delivering Future Zero-Emission Aviation Fuel
Green hydrogen produced through electrolysis with clean power – assured hydrogen delivery is part of ZeroAvia’s propulsion offering
H2 Compression & Storage
H2 Compression & Storage:
Hydrogen from the primary low pressure storage vessel is pushed to a compressor and compressed 15-20 times the source pressure (20-30 bar → 400 bar) and stored in high pressure vessels.
Some airports already use hydrogen to produce electricity and to power ground vehicles and other systems.
Energy Conversion Electrolysis
Energy Conversion – Electrolysis:
Producing hydrogen takes energy because hydrogen atoms don’t exist on their own — they are almost always stuck to another atom, often another element (on earth, hydrogen is abundant in the form of water – H2O). Creating pure hydrogen requires breaking those molecular bonds.
Electrolysers split water into hydrogen and oxygen. The oxygen is released into the atmosphere through a vent. The hydrogen is directed towards a storage vessel at low pressures (20-30 bar).
Energy Source
Energy Source
Zero-emission aviation starts with green hydrogen.
Green hydrogen is produced by taking renewable electricity – from wind, solar or hydro-power – to power electrolyzers.
Many airports already use solar and wind power to decarbonize their operations
Fuel Tanks
Fuel tanks
If it’s Dornier 228 on the infrastructure scheme, then we have 2 fuel tanks under each wing (4 fuel tanks in total)
Fuel tanks are high pressure tanks (at up to 350BAR), where hydrogen received from a truck or from the pipeline, is stored.
Transferring gas from one storage tank to another without a compressor will always result in less pressure in the destination tank. This is why primary storage should always be at a higher pressure (hence, 400BAR for primary storage, and 350BAR for aircraft storage).
Hydrogen has much higher energy density (about 3 times) than normal kerosene.
Hydrogen storage still needs more volume than typical kerosene storage, because of the much lower density of hydrogen. This is why, for retrofitting small aircraft for hydrogen, externally carried hydrogen storage tanks are required.
H2 Transportation and Fuelling
H2 Transportation and Fuelling:
When required, the high pressure hydrogen is then fed from the storage vessels through a pipeline to an airside refueler to refuels the aircraft. Alternatively, a refueling truck can be used to move the hydrogen to airside and refuel the aircraft.
Refueling Truck
The refueling truck can take low pressure hydrogen or high pressure hydrogen and drive to the parked airplane on the airfield.
The Refuler consists of high pressure vessels if H2 was compressed on the storage site.
The Refueler truck may also have a compressor on board to compress low pressure hydrogen from 20-30 bar to 400 bar, Then it pushes compressed H2 into the high pressure vessels (which are also inside the truck).
The truck regulates the flow into the aircraft from its high pressure tanks to the aircraft fuel tanks..
Pipeline
From the storage high-pressured hydrogen enters the pipeline through the fixed point start and goes to the fixed point airside.
A refueling trolley then connects the fixed airside of the pipeline and the aircraft, and regulates flow of the hydrogen into aircraft fuel tanks.
Aircraft
Aircraft:
ZeroAvia’s powertrain repowers existing airframe models
We work with certified fixed-wing airframe models to retrofit and linefit with our hydrogen electric powerplant, simplifying regulatory issues and reducing time to market.
The typical airframes will be:
For ZA600 model:
- DHC-6 Twin Otter
- Dornier 228
- Cessna 208B Grand Caravan
For ZA2000 model
- DHC Dash 8 Family
- ATR 42/72
For ZA2000RJ model
- CRJ100/200
Hydrogen-Electric Propulsion System
Hydrogen-Electric Propulsion System:
Includes: fuel cell, engine, propeller
How does the hydrogen-electric powertrain work?
ZeroAvia’s hydrogen-electric powertrain brings state-of-the-art fuel cell and electric motor technology together to create an unparalleled aircraft engine that will deliver improved operating economics without harming the planet.
The powertrain uses hydrogen:
- for ZA600 propulsion system – gaseous H2 stored onboard in lightweight tanks
- for ZA2000 and ZA 2000RJ propulsion systems – liquid hydrogen stored onboard in lightweight cryogenic tanks
- Hydrogen and oxygen (from the air) are fed into the fuel cells and are converted into electricity by the electrochemical reaction in the fuel cells.
- The only by-products of the fuel cells are water and heat.
Electricity generated by the fuel cells is used to:
- power electric motors, which drive propulsors or propellers to generate thrust
- power ancillaries
The Markets
We are working with aircraft operators, owners and manufacturers to supply the world’s breakthrough zero-emission engines and the infrastructure and fuel to power a revolution in green flight.
Operators
Switching to hydrogen-electric propulsion can deliver 40 percent operational cost savings and zero-emission flights
OEMs
The only alternative propulsion system that can deliver the range, payload and emissions elimination required by the market
Lessors
Dramatically cut operating costs, deliver zero-emission flight and significantly lengthen the lifespan of existing aircraft in service
Airports
Cut emissions from flights operated and wider footprint, reduce noise and air quality impact, and secure new revenue streams
