ZeroAvia aircraft
The ZeroAvia company, together with the startup Verne, has begun to develop a technology for using cryohydrogen in aircraft engines. Last year, Verne, together with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, managed to obtain cryovoltaics, which contains 27% more hydrogen in the same volume as conventional liquefied hydrogen. Now they hope to use this factor to create a fuel with a higher specific energy capacity to develop the idea of decarbonizing aviation. Cryohydrogen will also increase the flight range by 40%.
Cryohydrogen, aka CcH2, was created by Salvador Aceves of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory 25 years ago. After that, experimental power plants operating on this substance were developed by various structures. It is believed that cryohydrogen can be used as a fuel with an energy reserve of 3,000 Wh/kg, but its combustion does not create emissions into the atmosphere. To obtain cryohydrogen, it must be additionally compressed during cooling, but the exact parameters of the process are precisely the subject of research. The substance in this state stabilizes, it is not prone to boiling out, creates less load on storage tanks, so you can significantly save on equipment for its transportation and pumping. However, all this is only in theory, the profitability of the technology has yet to be studied with its systematic application and large-scale operation.
Cryohydrogen storage system
Alexander Martynenko
