MAVERICK
Design of a Multi-fuel Aircraft for Viable Emission-Reduction with Integrated Combustion of Hydrogen and Kerosene
A. Arena Lazaro (TU Delft - Aerospace Engineering)
D.S. Cienkowski (TU Delft - Aerospace Engineering)
M. de Gouvêa Pinto e Cruz (TU Delft - Aerospace Engineering)
S. Koncevičius (TU Delft - Aerospace Engineering)
T. Nootenboom (TU Delft - Aerospace Engineering)
M. Nowacki (TU Delft - Aerospace Engineering)
M.G. Orzu (TU Delft - Aerospace Engineering)
L. Rinalducci (TU Delft - Aerospace Engineering)
L.J. Valkering (TU Delft - Aerospace Engineering)
Y. Wang (TU Delft - Aerospace Engineering)
F. De Domenico – Mentor (TU Delft - Aerospace Engineering)
A.R. Rahn – Mentor (TU Delft - Aerospace Engineering)
F. Oppermann – Mentor (TU Delft - Aerospace Engineering)
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Abstract
Addressing the growing environmental impact of aviation calls for systemic changes to aircraft and fuel technologies rather than incremental improvements in efficiency. Yet implementing such changes in this safety-critical and tightly regulated industry presents a significant challenge. This report proposes a dual-fuel aircraft architecture that preserves the core aircraft and airport infrastructure while advancing the transition towards hydrogen-powered aviation. The proposed aircraft retains a conventional low-wing tube-and-wing configuration and resembles modern narrow-body airliners in layout. Aimed for market entry by 2040, it accommodates 180 passengers with a maximum range of 3000 km. To enable hydrogen-kerosene operation, the design integrates a cryogenic hydrogen tank aft of the fuselage, conventional kerosene tanks within the wings, and a forward kerosene trim tank for centre of gravity control. Liquid hydrogen is fed through a dedicated conditioning system into an adapted engine that enables simultaneous dual-fuel combustion. The aircraft is designed to carry sufficient hydrogen for a round-trip mission, requiring hydrogen refuelling at a single hub airport. Tailored operational, maintenance and manufacturing concepts further support the safe and efficient introduction of hydrogen technologies into commercial aviation. At the 2000 km design range, the aircraft achieves more than 50% reduction in CO2 emissions compared to the reference Airbus A320neo, while reducing CO, soot and additional hydrocarbon-related emissions, and lowering NOx through innovations in fuel injection. Life-cycle assessment shows a 14% decrease in overall environmental impact, demonstrating that meaningful emissions reductions can be achieved without an immediate hydrogen infrastructure rollout. As this report is limited to preliminary design, future phases of development should focus on higher-fidelity simulation and experimental validation of the dual-fuel combustor and fuel system to verify and validate performance, emissions, and safety.