World's first hydrogen powered aircraft gets aloft on Danish fuel cells, Danish Ministry of Climate and Energy

Release Date: 2009-07-23


HTPEM fuel cells from Danish company Serenergy provided the power in Germany's demonstration of world's first hydrogen powered aircraft



The German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) has demonstrated the world's first piloted aircraft capable of taking off using power solely generated by fuel cells. The presentation was conducted at Hamburg Airport, with the First Mayor of Hamburg, Ole von Beust, and about 200 guests attending the event.

High Temperature Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (HTPEM) full cell stack modules on board the Antares DLR-H2 research aircraft were supplied by Jutland-based Serenergy, a spin-off company from Aalborg University that is a partner in the project.

"It was vitally important that the flight was successful. It is a very demanding application," said Serenergy's MD Anders Korsgaard to professional journal Ingeniøren (The Engineer), which reported the news. "A lot of strain is put on our technology during take-off, which requires a good deal of extra energy. So it is a seal of approval."

Anders Korsgaard adds that the involvement with the Antares DLR-H2 aircraft has led to a number of interesting enquiries. "It is still confidential who this specifically concerns, but we are confident that it will lead to orders."

The aircraft's propulsion system has been developed at the DLR Institute for Technical Thermodynamics in collaboration with Lange Aviation, BASF Fuel Cells and Serenergy.
Type: NORMAL
Company: Danish Ministry of Climate and Energy
Country: Denmark
Url: http://www.denmark.dk/en/servicemenu/news/environment-energy-climate-news/worldsfirsthydrogenpoweredaircraftgetsaloftondanishfuelcells.htm
 
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