19 June 2023
Elixir Aircraft has unveiled a prototype for a low-carbon propulsion aircraft at the Paris Air Show which is being staged this week at Le Bourget Airport.
The prototype is powered by the new TP90 turbine from fellow French company TurboTech, which will burn Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) – a jet biofuel – at first, with hydrogen to follow once that supply matures.
The project is an industry-wide collaboration with Elixir working with Air Liquide, Safran, Daher and Turbotech under a French Civil Aviation Research Council (CORAC) programme.
Watch: Video interview with TurboTech
Elixir Aircraft says it went about the “mission of decarbonising general aviation” pragmatically, asking, “What clean energies will enable light aircraft to carry out their missions in the future?”
“There are several answers to this question and choices have to be made,” continued a statement from Elixir. “Will the solution be electric, with batteries? Hydrogen with a fuel cell? Hybrid electric? Thermal hydrogen (liquid, gas?)? Thermal biofuel (which?)?
“Faced with these questions, Elixir Aircraft has chosen its position. First of all, biofuels such as aviation kerosene (SAF) and then liquid hydrogen.
“Ultimately, the future is dictated by what works today. Commercial aviation has been moving towards biofuels for 15 years. This high-energy-density fuel does not change engines, pilot training, maintenance or distribution methods… it just needs to be mass-produced.
“As SAF is already distributed to airports worldwide, this choice of fuel seems to Elixir Aircraft to be the best compromise for the future of its propulsion.”
Elixir Aircraft unveils its turbine powered prototype at the Paris Air Show in a special ‘Air Lab’ area dedicated to decarbonising aviation
While Elixir Aircraft says it sees SAF as the sensible choice, it’s also the second choice, behind hydrogen.
“Many manufacturers are interested [in hydrogen], including producers/distributors (Air Liquide), and the technological building blocks are available (storage, combustion, distribution),” said Elixir’s statement.
“All that remains is to clear the way to integrate the whole system into a device, make it reliable and certify it. This is what the members of the CORAC hydrogen consortium are working on.”
