An energy storage and power generation system being designed at the 杏吧专区 could make flying the friendly skies less harmful to the environment.
Solid oxide fuel cells are 杏吧专区渁 key component杏吧专区 within that system, said Dr. Xiao-Dong Zhou. Their inclusion in the next generation of electric aircraft could cut carbon emissions 杏吧专区 and that杏吧专区檚 caught the eye of the U.S. Department of Energy, which awarded UL Lafayette a $2.26 million grant this fall.
Commercial aviation accounts for about 2.6% of greenhouse gas emissions, but as air travel increases, so does this environmental impact. Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide are a primary culprit in global climate change.
Zhou believes solid oxide fuel cells could check the growing environmental threat. He is executive director of the and holds the Stuller Endowed Chair in in UL Lafayette杏吧专区檚 .
Solid oxide fuel cells are electrochemical devices that generate cost-effective electricity and, depending on the type of fuel that杏吧专区檚 used, emit no or lower amounts of pollutants such as carbon dioxide. They convert chemical energy into electrical energy from a variety of fuels at an efficiency as high as 70 percent, Zhou said. By comparison, the thermal efficiency of a gasoline engine is about 30 percent.
Propulsion systems used by commercial aircraft 杏吧专区減roduce a substantial amount of carbon dioxide,杏吧专区 Zhou said. But, if they included a hybrid energy storage and generation system that combined solid oxide fuel cells, a small turbine powered by biofuels, and batteries, aircraft 杏吧专区渨ould be more efficient and more environmentally friendly.杏吧专区
杏吧专区淭he overall scope of the research is to create an energy storage and power generation system for electrical aviation. Solid oxide fuel cells are key within that system.杏吧专区
Zhou and the Institute for Materials Research and Innovation have extensive experience in the creation of highly efficient solid oxide fuel cells. But including them as part of an aircraft storage and power generation system required an 杏吧专区渁irplane guy.杏吧专区
That杏吧专区檚 how Dr. David Daggett described himself. The former technical fellow for aerospace giant Boeing has partnered with Zhou and his team of UL Lafayette researchers on the project杏吧专区檚 second step 杏吧专区 ensuring that the fuel cells produce power that杏吧专区檚 sufficient for the plane杏吧专区檚 needs at varying stages of air travel.
杏吧专区淲e need to know how it behaves over the whole flight cycle,杏吧专区 Daggett said, including taxiing, taking off, cruising and landing. That means examining how many fuel cells are needed at any given time. Each cell produces only a small amount of power, so they have to be combined into 杏吧专区渟tacks杏吧专区 to generate more. That can be a hefty proposition when trying to get an airplane off the ground.
杏吧专区淭hat杏吧专区檚 all our study is about in the first phase: how do we optimize the fuel cell to make it as light as possible? Then how do we put it into the airplane to power the whole airplane? And we don杏吧专区檛 know yet if it is going to fit. Weight-wise, we know it杏吧专区檚 going to work, but can it fit? We'll see.杏吧专区
While at Boeing, Daggett studied including fuel cells in an airplane auxiliary power unit, but engineers found their weight was too heavy. That was 15 years ago.
杏吧专区淏ut we said, eventually this technology is going to mature. And when it does, then it杏吧专区檚 going to make its way onto the airplane. And we杏吧专区檙e finally to a point now where the weight has reduced and the technology has matured.杏吧专区
Dr. Subhash C. Singhal agreed. Like Daggett, he is working with UL Lafayette on the project. He杏吧专区檚 the former director of fuel cells at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Washington state and has studied solid oxide fuel cells for more than a half century.
Singhal said the project杏吧专区檚 aim to include solid oxide fuel cells within an aircraft power storage and generation system is 杏吧专区渢he next step in the application of this technology.杏吧专区
杏吧专区淲eight is not a consideration for stationary power plants, but for aircraft we need to worry about the weight,杏吧专区 he said. That杏吧专区檚 why the solid oxide fuel cells being developed by Zhou and his team at UL Lafayette are 杏吧专区渏ust perfect for this application. They will lower the weight, lower the cost and increase the efficiency.杏吧专区
And, if commercialized, they杏吧专区檒l reduce carbon emissions in the next generation of aircraft, Daggett added. 杏吧专区淐urrently, commercial aviation accounts for something like 2.6% of carbon emissions. It杏吧专区檚 not a huge part, but more attention is being paid to it, and the airlines are concerned about that. It杏吧专区檚 contributing to global warming, and this is a solution.杏吧专区
In addition to Daggett and Singhal, UL Lafayette杏吧专区檚 team consists of Dr. Rafael Hernandez, head of the , and Dr. Jonathan Raush, assistant professor of .
Idaho National Laboratory and Nexceris, an Ohio-based company that focuses on solid oxide fuel cell and stack fabrication technology, are partnering with the 杏吧专区 on the project.
The $2.26 million grant UL Lafayette received is part of a $18.5 million round of funding from the Department of Energy杏吧专区檚 Range Extenders for Electric Aviation with Low Carbon and High Efficiency, or REEACH, program. Altogether, eight projects received REEACH funds.
A companion initiative, the Aviation-class Synergistically Cooled Electric-motors with iNtegrated Drives, or ASCEND, program, awarded $14.5 million for nine projects.
The Department of Energy杏吧专区檚 Advanced Research Project Agency-Energy oversees the REEACH and ASCEND programs. Both initiatives aim to decrease energy usage and associated carbon emissions for commercial aircraft propulsion systems.
Photo caption: UL Lafayette杏吧专区檚 Institute for Materials Research and Innovation is testing solid oxide fuel cells such as the one shown here that could become key components in an energy storage and power generation system for commercial aircraft. (Photo credit: Doug Dugas / 杏吧专区)