COVENTRY University is working on a project aimed at developing zero-emission propulsion technology for passenger aeroplanes.
Expertise from the university will play an important part in driving the development of the technology and contribute to the UK’s leadership in clean aviation.
The research centre at the university for E-Mobility and Clean Growth aims to advance techniques for measuring performance of new hydrogen fuel cells.
Current methods only measure the the output and the new project aims to deliver more detailed measurements relating to the components and conditions.
ZeroAvia has secured a £10.5million grant from the government through the Aerospace technology Institute strategic programme and is spearheading the project.
The Advanced Fuel Cell for Aviation Decarbonisation (AFCAD) project has been designed to develop its high temperature proton exchange membrane (HTPEM) fuel cell technology.
The project will also focus on enhancing the UK supply chain and advancing manufacturing pathways.
This approach is expected to improve the commercialisation of zero-emission systems for aircrafts larger than 20 seats.
Oliver Curnick, professor of electrochemical engineering, said: “Coventry University will be helping ZeroAvia to demonstrate the capabilities of their next-generation fuel cell hardware by performing detailed characterisation at our state-of-the-art Hydrogen Energy Applications Laboratory.
“We look forward to playing our part in accelerating the journey to zero emission aviation.”
Val Miftakhov, Founder and CEO, ZeroAvia said: “The award of this project recognises that ZeroAvia is best placed to develop this technology and that the UK can garner strong industrial advantage from establishing leadership in high temperature PEM fuel cells for aviation and beyond.”
