A Review of Hydrogen-powered Aircraft

Hydrogen energy is one of the critical clean energy sources. The status of arts of hydrogen energy applications in the aviation industry is reviewed, including two solutions of hydrogen-powered aircraft (direct combustion in internal combustion engines and fuel cell power generation), hydrogen production (fossil fuels and electrolyzed water), hydrogen storage (gaseous, liquid, and solid), multiple fuels assessment (mass & volume, well-to-wheel emissions, and cost). Specifically, the combustion emissions using hydrogen as fuel, two layouts of hydrogen tanks (the top tank layout and the dual tank layout), and two fuel cell solutions, proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) and solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC), are introduced in details. Finally, the trends of hydrogen-powered aircraft are pointed out.