ZeroAvia Turbo Charges a Fuel Cell

Dean Sigler Announcements, Electric Powerplants, Fuel Cells, hydrogen, Hydrogen Fuel, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Turbo chargers were an early method of increasing power at altitude and that ZeroAvia is crafting for modern electric, fuel-cell powered aircraft. Mechanical Turbochargers During WWII, your editor’s father was a crew chief and occasional flight engineer on C-47’s, B-17’s, and B-24’s.  The bombers had turbo-charged engines to increase power as noted below. (This is just part one of three training films, all on YouTube, giving some indication of the difficulties pilots faced in pre-electronic times.) The flight manual for the B-17 includes the following notes on the turbochargers. “The B-17F has four 1200 Hp Wright Cyclone Model R-1820-97 engines of the 9-cylinder, radial, air-cooled type with a 16-to-9 gear ratio. “Each engine has a turbo-supercharger to boost manifold pressure for takeoff and maintain sea-level pressure at high altitude.”   B-24’s and other similar craft had the same type of system.   (ZeroAvia’s rough equivalent is much quieter and a loss less smoky.) The manual notes the F models had manual control of …

Turbocharged Fuel Cells

Dean Sigler Electric Aircraft Components, Electric Powerplants, Hydrogen Fuel, Sustainable Aviation 1 Comment

The Engineer, a British publication, reports on a turbocharger for fuel cells.  Because a fuel cell is a cross between a combustion engine and an electric motor, the concept of pushing extra air through the fuel cell to increase power is similar to that of turbocharging a regular two- or four-stroke engine.  The publication says this could double the output of a hydrogen fuel cell. Like other combustion engines, a fuel cell can be limited by the airflow entering, that supply limiting their ability to release positively-charged hydrogen ions. Bryn Richards, CEO of Aeristech, explains, “Our proprietary high speed motor and control technology allows us to deliver air at a much higher pressure [than existing systems].  No other motor control arrangement is able to deliver at this pressure with such a high efficiency.” Without a lot of detailed information from Aeristech, The Engineer suggests the system uses a “sophisticated control system capable of maintaining a very consisten torque output.  This …