Fuel Cells for Aircraft Applications

摘要

Clean flying, this is the vision 2020 goals issued by ACARE (the Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research) for the aeronautic research in which a reduction of CO2 emissions by 50%, and of NOx emissions by 80% is envisioned [1].Due to their high electrical efficiency and environmental friendly behaviour, fuel cell systems are attractive solutions to improve the environmental impact of aircraft systems. Research activities in this area have growth considerably the last past years driven by the two large aircraft manufacturers Boeing and Airbus. Indeed, Fuel Cell systems can reach 50 % of electrical efficiency and advantageous replace power supply systems [2-3] as well as other applications like the provision of inert gas for the jet fuel (kerosene) tank to name one example.