• 28 Nov 2024 12:58 PM
• 0

Hydrogen is FLYING HY

By Mike Hirschberg, VFS Director of Strategy
Vertiflite, Nov/Dec 2024

The charitable HYSKY Society held its second annual FLYING HY symposium on Sept. 3–5, collocated with the 10th Annual Commercial UAV Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada. The hydrogen symposium was sponsored by Piasecki Aircraft Corp. (PiAC), the Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) and the Vertical Flight Society.

The symposium began with a day-long Hydrogen Aviation Course, delivered by Danielle McLean, CEO and founder of the educational, non-profit HYSKY Society, with a closing talk by the author.

The second morning of FLYING HY opened with “The Hydrogen Aviation Revolution is Now” session, featuring keynotes by leading developers and enablers of hydrogen (H2) for aviation. This included Mikaël Cardinal, Vice President of Organ Delivery Systems at Unither Bioelectronics, with the keynote presentation, “Biotech Meets Aviation: Pioneering Hydrogen-Powered Helicopters for Life-Saving Missions.”

Bentzion Levinson, CEO of Heven Drones, talked about impressive progress made by the company with its series of hydrogen-powered uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs), while John Piasecki, PiAC CEO, presented the progress of the company’s compound hydrogen-electric helicopter. Matt Gregori, Technology Development Manager at SoCalGas, discussed the company’s recent hydrogen-related research, development and demonstration projects, while DBT Aero CEO Michael Duke proffered that “Business Aviation Will Lead the Adoption of Sustainable Aircraft,” harnessing innovations in aircraft propulsion and configurations.

The afternoon sessions on the first day covered the promise and progress of zero-emission aircraft and achieving sustainable goals. This included discussions of hydrogen fuel cell-powered drones, artificial intelligence (AI), developing standards, insurance, managing risk and a comparative analysis of crash fire hazards of liquid hydrogen and conventional fuels. Another session focused on the $9B of funding from the US Department of Energy (DoE) to foster the development of seven hydrogen hubs across America, as well as hydrogen's promise for sustainable and inclusive aviation.

Dr. Jacob "Jack" Brouwer, Professor and Chancellor’s Fellow at the University of California Irvine, as well as the director of the university’s Clean Energy Institute, gave two presentations. One was on the Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems (ARCHES), the California regional hydrogen hub. The $1.2B from DoE seeded another $11.7B in matching funding from the state, municipalities, port fees and private financing, and is eventually expected to result in billions of dollars of economic value in increased health and associated health cost savings per year by reducing pollution. A second talk was on “Thermodynamic and Dynamic Performance Characteristics of Retrofit and New H2 Aircraft Designs.” It was a fascinating look at the various pros and cons of conventional, fossil fuel-burning turbofan/turboprop aircraft vs. combusting hydrogen, using a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell or a hybrid solid-oxide fuel cell with a turbine engine.

The final day included sessions on hydrogen in advanced air mobility (AAM) — including electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft — and hydrogen at airports. The author kicked off the morning with the presentation, “H2 is a Game Changer for eVTOL,” while Rod Randall, Chairman of MagLev Aero, presented a fascinating presentation on the company’s HyperDrive propulsion system for civil and military applications.

The “Hydrogen at the Airport” session included insights from key innovators on hydrogen supply and distribution. Gaël Le Bris, Technical Fellow and Vice President for Aviation Planning at global engineering firm WSP, talked about work by his company and his support of the US Transportation Research Board (TRB) in a presentation on preparing for hydrogen at aviation facilities. He is currently leading an Airport Cooperative Research Program study, ACRP 03-75, “Preparing for Hydrogen at Airports,” for TRB. Joseph Sullivan, Chief Engineer for Energy and Aviation with Universal Solutions International, Inc. (USI), spoke about the airport opportunity space and use cases, as well as on-site power generation. Michael Lewison, president and founder of California-based sustainable energy company TO Viridi, spoke on “Hydrogen Hidden in Ethanol — The Solution for Advancing Hydrogen in Aviation,” using the ubiquity of ethanol (C₂H₆O) to generate hydrogen and/or electrical power. Dr. Dietmar Trees — previously with startup HyPoint when it was acquired by ZeroAvia, but now the chief technology officer and co-founder of startup HyWatts — spoke about the company’s innovative “Power-Plant-in-a-Box,” using a high-temperature PEM (HTPEM) reversible fuel cell, intended to charge both electric and hydrogen vehicles.

Finally, Carl Rivkin of engineering services company Total Hydrogen’s, spoke about the road-vehicle-based hydrogen fueling and supply infrastructure and how to use lessons learned for aviation.

FLYING HY was a great event for those wanting a deeper understanding of the enormous potential and challenges of fully developing hydrogen as a widespread fuel source for aviation. Next year’s symposium will be held in Houston, Texas. Learn more about the HYSKY Society, FLYING HY and the potential of hydrogen for aviation at www.HYSKY.org.