04.11.2008: Lange Aviation and DLR to build research aircraft
In the future, global air traffic will continue to rise, and as a result, so will fuel consumption and the ensuing emissions. Solutions for the reduction of pollutant emissions during flight and ground handling are therefore urgently needed. The utilisation of fuel cells will, according to the agenda of the German Federal ministry for Commerce and Technology, make a significant contribution to this. The German Aerospace Centre (DLR), which is the German equivalent of NASA, was commissioned to perform the required research and development. This project runs within the scope of the ELBASYS aviation research program (Lufo IV- Projekt ELBASYS).
DLR owns and operates an Airbus A320 ATRA (Advanced Technology Research Aircraft). As a first step, and in cooperation with Airbus Germany GmbH, the auxiliary power for this aircraft is supplied by a fuel-cell system. As a second step, the permanent deployment of an improved fuel-cell system in large capacity airliners is envisioned. The primary goal of these efforts is to test fuel cells under operational conditions, and thus to qualify them as reliable auxiliary power supplies for civil aviation.
In the Antares DLR-H2, a flying high-technology test-bed is created, with which the qualification of fuel cell technology for aviation is advanced further. Project partner Lange Aviation GmbH in Zweibrücken develops and builds the aircraft, while the DLR Institute for Technical Thermo- dynamics prepares the fuel-cell system, which is used as the primary propulsive energy source. This system is practically identical to the fuel cell system which is to be used in large capacity aircraft. The energy delivered by this system is fed into the electrical power train, which has been developed and certified for aviation by Lange Aviation. The power train consists of power electronics, motor and propeller.
The research aircraft and its propulsion system is substantially based upon the Antares 20E, a self launching powered sailplane, which already has been in series production for some years. Two additional external pods, which house fuel cells and fuel tanks, are added underneath the specially strengthened wing. In the future, the performance of the aircraft may be increased substantially by using up to four external pods, or by using fuel cells of an improved design.
The cooperation between DLR and Lange Aviation has been constructed as a long term partner- ship between equals, so that the research aircraft is available to DLR until 2017. DLR provides the power source and defines and evaluates the research assignments, while Lange Aviation designs and builds the research aircraft. In doing so, Lange Aviation can build upon a decade of experience in designing and building aircraft with electrical propulsion. Lange Aviation will also operate the aircraft for the DLR.
A further application for the combination of fuel cell systems and other regenerative energy sources may very well be as propulsive power source for HALE (High Altitude Long Endurance) capable aircraft, which, according to the current state of knowledge, will be equipped with electrical propulsion.