Supplier engagement in early stage technology development: a case of liquid hydrogen equipment development at a major aircraft manufacturer

Challenges of supplier engagement in early stage technology development in the context of hydrogen propulsion equipment development for aircraft are uncovered. The challenges are viewed from the perspective of the engineering team members within the Liquid Hydrogen storage and distribution department in Airbus’ ZEROe project. A qualitative...

On Understanding Environmental Inefficiencies in Air Traffic Management: A Causal Inference Approach

Addressing the increasingly urgent need for sustainable aviation solutions, this study explores operational innovations as a quicker and more scalable addition to novel zero-emission propulsion systems. Through the use of regression-based causal inference methods, this study aims to understand the relationship between flight fuelburn...

Simulating the Refuelling Process for a Liquid Hydrogen-Powered Commercial Aircraft

This thesis focuses on simulating the refuelling process for a liquid hydrogen-powered commercial aircraft. The liquid hydrogen is intended to flow from the refuelling truck, through a transfer line, into the aircraft’s tank using pressure feed. The numerical simulation was built upon an existing tank model, however it did not consider the...

Institutional Analysis of Direct Air Capture in the context of Aviation Sustainability

The aviation industry is one of the most challenging sectors to decarbonise. There is an urgent need to reduce emissions in order to meet its committed goal of achieving net-zero flying by 2050. Along with the existing and proposed decarbonization options such as electric aircraft, hydrogen fuel, and operational<br/>improvements, a hard-to-abate...

Preliminary design methods for the thermal management of fuel cell powered aeroengines

Hydrogen fuel cells are set to play an important role in decarbonizing the aviation sector. They operate at higher efficiencies than turbine engines, but their low operating temperature requires a dedicated thermal management system. The added drag, weight and parasitic power of such a system has a high impact on aircraft performance and its...

An Analysis of the Transition to Liquid Hydrogen Infrastructure for Airports

Within this thesis report the transition to LH2 infrastructure at the airport is tackled. Specifically, how the airport can develop and adopt the infrastructure needed for LH2 supply logistics, storage, and refueling is researched. This process can be defined as a socio-technical transition in which a new niche technology (LH2 aviation...

Preliminary Propulsion System Sizing Methods for PEM Fuel Cell Aircraft

Fuel cells are one of the promising technical solutions for the first generation of sustainable aircraft. Currently, there are several shortcomings in the literature related to the conceptual and preliminary sizing of the propulsion systems of such aircraft: not only is there a lack of general methods, but also, much less effort is put into the...

Conceptual Design of Hydrogen Fuel Cell Aircraft: Flying on hydrogen for a more sustainable future

The demand for air travel is increasing as more people gain access to commercial aviation. As the current generation of aircraft makes use of fossil fuel combustion, this growth results in an increase in the global emissions. This is at odds with the worldwide efforts of reducing the adverse effects of climate change. Therefore, advanced...

The Impact of Electric Aircraft Taxiing: A Probabilistic Analysis and Fleet Assignment Optimization to find Potential Cost- and Emission Reductions

On-board electric motors can be used to drastically reduce the fuel usage during the taxiing phase of aircraft, leading to cost reductions for airlines and lower amounts of harmful emissions. This study analyses the current state of this innovation and its potential impact on aviation. On a global level, full adoption of electric aircraft...