4 February 2025
It’s taken a while for the news to come out but three French companies working together have successfully ground tested the first liquid hydrogen fuel gas turbine engine for light aviation.
In September 2024, Turbotech, Safran and Air Liquide completed ground demonstration testing of a hydrogen fuel gas turbine aero engine based on an ultra-efficient regenerative cycle and fed from a liquid hydrogen tank.
The demonstration follows a first test phase in January 2024 using hydrogen fuel stored as a gas. In this second test phase, the engine was coupled to a cryogenic (–250°C) liquid storage system developed by Air Liquide to demonstrate end-to-end integration of a propulsion system.
“This is a major step forward in the transition to fully decarbonised aircraft propulsion, which will be ready to fly as soon as the world mass-produces green hydrogen,” said Damien Fauvet, CEO of Turbotech.
“The aim of this work was to achieve a similar energy density to a conventional Avgas or Jet A-1 fuel system, while taking account of the constraints associated with the retrofit, operability and certification of a cryogenic hydrogen propulsion solution.
“The project has been a complete and rapid success, thanks to a remarkable team effort by the aerospace majors and SMEs involved.”
Turbotech, Elixir Aircraft, Safran, Air Liquide and Daher formed the French govt-supported BeautHyFuel joint research project in June 2022. The aim is to design and ground test a hydrogen propulsion system rated for light aviation.
