Rolls-Royce Tests Gas Its Turbine With Hydrogen
Rolls-Royce has powered a turboprop engine with hydrogen during a ground test in partnership with EasyJet.
The trial was conducted at an outdoor test facility at the Boscombe Down military airfield in the UK, using a converted Rolls-Royce AE2100-A, and represented the first time a current-generation aero engine had been powered by hydrogen, the manufacturer says.
AE2100-A engines were installed on Saab 2000 regional turboprops. Subsequent variants of the AE2100 family power Lockheed Martin C-130 and Leonardo C-27J military transports.
Rolls-Royce highlights that the green hydrogen deployed for the trial was produced using wind and tidal power at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) test facility in the Orkney Islands.
The engine maker describes the early concept demonstrator trial as a "key proof point" in its own and EasyJet's decarbonization strategies. The two companies plan to conduct further rig trials before a "full-scale ground test" with a Pearl 15 business-jet engine, and they have a "longer-term ambition to carry out flight tests", Rolls-Royce says.
At the Farnborough air show in July, EasyJet and Rolls-Royce revealed the programme, dubbed H2ZERO, to develop hydrogen combustion technology for aircraft. The project, to which EasyJet contributes investment and airline operational know-how, builds on previous hydrogen combustion and fuel system rig tests conducted by Rolls-Royce with Cranfield and Loughborough universities.
Rolls-Royce chief technology officer Grazia Vittadini describes the trial at Boscombe Down as a "landmark achievement", adding: "We are pushing the boundaries to discover the zero-carbon possibilities of hydrogen, which could help reshape the future of flight."
EasyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren states that the UK low-cost airline is supporting the research because "hydrogen offers great possibilities for a range of aircraft, including [narrowbodies]. That will be a huge step forward in meeting the challenge of net zero by 2050."
The UK's secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy Grant Shapps, meanwhile, asserts that the nation is "leading the global shift to guilt-free flying".
He adds: "This is a true British success story [and] is a prime example of how we can work together to make aviation cleaner while driving jobs across the country."
EMEC was established in 2003 after a UK parliamentary committee recommended that a wave and tidal energy test facility be set up. The site has since received funding from the UK and Scottish governments, local and regional government bodies, the Carbon Trust, and the European Union.