As engine manufacturers continue to refine today’s powerplants, the engines of tomorrow are taking shape in what is certain to be a highly disruptive but exciting transition for the airline industry.
At current predictions, airliners powered by hydrogen or a hydrogen-electric hybrid could enter commercial flight as early as 2025. Excluding the numerous three-to five-seat electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) concepts currently under development in urban-mobility projects, smaller turboprops look as though they will clear the regulatory hoops first, with 40-seater regional jets following a few years later and 90-seaters from the early to mid 2030s. However, there’s a mountain to climb before hydrogen power, in particular, becomes the default choice.
As the scientists and engineers at GE Aviation and Safran Aircraft Engines will tell you, hydrogen technology is extremely challenging. This steadily expanding team of boffins is trying to figure out how to use hydrogen as an aviation fuel. They are working on a GE Passport jet engine, chosen for its light weight, to try and make it compatible with the liquid fuel.
Head of the programme, Sean Binion, explained in a recent GE Aviation blog that the …
