MTC is playing a pivotal role in a major GBP 17M initiative to accelerate the development of a zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell system that could power commercial aircraft before the end of the decade.
Project HEIGHTS – a three-year programme led by Intelligent Energy — aims to advance the company’s modular 300kW aviation fuel cell platform, IE-FLIGHT™ 300, for use in next-generation aircraft. MTC has secured GBP 1.2M in funding from the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) to support the work.
As part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, MTC will utilise the latest design tools and state-of-the-art metal additive manufacturing equipment to significantly reduce the weight and size of critical components being developed and tested in the HEIGHTS project, in a way which will also enable these parts to be manufactured on a commercial scale.
Initial applications for this fuel cell technology include Electric Vertical Take-off and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft and short-range commuter planes. IE’s new fuel cell system – IE-FLIGHT™ 300 – is expected to enter early service in Part 23 aircraft (with up to 19 seats) by the end of the decade, with scale-up plans targeting larger (Part 25) regional aircraft in the 2030s.
The project addresses the key challenge with traditional fuel cell systems – how to keep the fuel cells at the correct operating temperature without introducing significant aircraft drag from cooling systems. In aviation particularly, minimising the heat exchanger size is critical to reduce mass and drag, and to optimise overall efficiency.
IE’s patented direct water-injection technology uses air-cooled condensers with a smaller frontal area than conventional liquid glycol radiators. In Project HEIGHTS – which stands for Hydrogen Efficient fuel cell Integrated in a High Temperature System – IE will further develop this novel cooling method to achieve a significant reduction in heat exchanger size.