For the first time in the history of aviation, a human pilot flew a plane powered by hydrogen. The historic flight was made over Spain by Boeing
The small plane developed by Boeing made three short flights at an airport in southern Madrid and became the first plane to fly on hydrogen. According to the company, the latest experiment will pave the way for the creation of green planes and a clean future.
Aviation giant Boeing has developed a small plane that uses hydrogen instead of standard jet fuel. The fuel cells installed in the plane are electrochemical devices that generate electricity from hydrogen. The byproduct of hydrogen is heat and water, the heat creates electricity that drives the propeller, and the water is a byproduct that is not harmful to the environment.
The flight range of the test plane is 45 minutes but the test was limited to half that time. The pilot who performed the experiment climbed to a height of 1,000 meters above sea level and flew at a speed of 100 km/h to demonstrate the aircraft's capabilities.
According to Boeing researchers, the technology has potential in the enjoyment of small planes - manned and unmanned. In the longer term, hydrogen-based fuel cells will be used as secondary electrical systems in large passenger aircraft, but in the company's opinion the technology will not replace the main electrical systems in commercial aircraft in the future. At the same time, Boeing will continue to explore the potential of the technology and the capabilities of additional green technologies.
The construction of the plane was made possible with the help of combining advanced solutions from various fields, while integrating factors from the international industry that includes companies from Australia, France, Germany, Spain, Great Britain and the USA.
green sky
Hydrogen-powered planes have flown before, but never by a human pilot. In 2005, California-based AeroVironment flew an unmanned aircraft powered by liquid hydrogen. Other companies have developed alternative green technologies, for example at the beginning of 2008 the Virgin Atlantic company made the first commercial flight in a vessel partly powered by bio-fuel. And in 2007, the defense company Qinetiq flew an unmanned aircraft powered by solar energy for 54 hours - a world record for a vehicle of its type.
Introducing green technologies to the aviation industry is a strategic matter for Boeing. While its main competitor Air-Bass chose to develop larger planes, Boeing decided to produce smaller and more economical planes. So the latest experiment fits into the company's long-term strategy. Using green technologies in airplanes can save a lot of money for the airlines that will buy Boeing airplanes since they will reduce the dependence on jet fuel. The greater the savings in ongoing flight costs, the more orders Boeing will receive. A situation where everyone benefits, especially the environment.
13 תגובות
eyebrows,
1. How much did it cost to produce gasoline in the early 20th century?
2. Does it seem to you that the gasoline tank you have in cars today is exactly the same as the fuel tank from the first gasoline-powered vehicle produced (1885)?
Give technology the moment and a half it deserves to evolve
Optimizing its utility will come with time
And to be honest, the predictions say that its efficiency will be much higher than a normal combustion engine.
From the basic problems:
1 . How much energy is required to produce liquid hydrogen, or in a gaseous state?
2. The problem of hydrogen storage.
What is seen at this stage, as something closer to inflating a balloon filled with hydrogen, than transporting vehicles of various types, including those that fly overhead.
If I'm not mistaken, then the reaction between the hydrogen and oxygen in the fuel cells releases free electrons that drive the plane's electric motor, the heat and water are a byproduct
It is interesting to know what the difference is in the average flight if they take the same plane on regular fuel
If the same specific volume and specific weight of engine unit + fuel system.
It is interesting that the American Boeing goes strategically in the "green" direction, while the European Air Boss does not. Europe in general has much more "green" awareness and activity than the United States.
Also spelling errors in the article (p. 4 Q. 1: "Technology has potential in the enjoyment of small airplanes" - interesting, did they develop technology that contributes to the airplane being enjoyable?) and spelling errors in the comments... I'm sad.
On the other hand, most of the responses (except for the first response, which I think is a troll) are actually relatively learned, so maybe that makes up for the errors... or maybe not.
Hydrogen explodes at normal pressure (one atmosphere) and gasoline only explodes at very high pressures, but that doesn't mean that there would be a problem in my opinion if I were to travel in a car if there was a hydrogen tank instead of gasoline, aha, and by the way, they said a fuel cell is supposed to be that it's not really hydrogen, so they know it without the electrons or something like that And it is not held in these balloons between plates below that the electricity is not produced from the heat but from the electrolysis process that is created between the hydrogen and the oxygen on their way to turn water I think the article needs to be corrected....
The explosiveness is irrelevant since in both explosions the passengers in the vehicles will die
Given sufficient protection for the hydrogen tank in a vehicle that would buy insurance equivalent to a gasoline-powered vehicle (assuming that gasoline is really less explosive than hydrogen - I have no information regarding this), there is no reason why we should not see vehicles, planes, and even spaceships that operate with a hydrogen cell.
It seems to me that the explosiveness of gasoline is still significantly smaller compared to the explosiveness of hydrogen... So it's not exactly the same...
palm tree,
All in all, this is a milestone. Perfect technologies are not created overnight but slowly and with many milestones such as this one.
This technology can certainly replace the jet planes given enough time to develop and improve it.
Don't forget that even the gasoline engines of 70 years ago were not powerful and efficient enough (if we ignore the jet limit) to propel a passenger plane of the sizes that exist.
Doesn't sound like really useful technology. As you can understand, this is a plane with an electric engine, which receives its electricity supply from a hydrogen cell. This technology can replace the piston planes that exist today, but they make a minimal contribution to air pollution. The jet planes (the really big polluters) this technology cannot replace, unfortunately.
Ronen,
And sitting on a pool of 50 liters of gasoline when you travel at 110 km/h (at best) is it better?
It's all a question of how they will plan and protect the hydrogen tank just like they did with the gasoline.
It seems to me that the last time a zeppelin that was filled with hydrogen flew there was not much left of it...
So what now come back to it again?
I therefore do not understand the CATCH
Very serious!! It is written in the interpretation that the plane creates heat and as a result it will contribute to further warming of the earth, this dangerous project must be stopped immediately before it causes the glaciers to melt and the salt level in the water to rise!!