Welsh researchers contribute to world-first hydrogen aircraft engine breakthrough

Mark Mansfield

Researchers at Swansea University have played a key role in a major aviation milestone after a four-year international programme successfully demonstrated that hydrogen could be used as a fuel for future aircraft engines.

The project, led by Rolls-Royce and easyJet, culminated in what has been described as the first successful test of a modern aero engine running on 100% hydrogen at full take-off power.

The breakthrough is being seen as an important step in efforts to develop lower-carbon aviation technologies.

Scientists at Swansea University’s Institute of Structural Materials (ISM) contributed to the UK Research and Innovation-funded HYEST (Hydrogen Engine System Technologies) programme by providing data on how materials perform under the extreme conditions required for hydrogen-powered engines.

As part of the project, researchers developed new testing facilities capable of examining materials at cryogenic temperatures and in high-pressure hydrogen environments.

The facilities were created through a collaboration between the Institute of Structural Materials and Swansea University’s Steel and Metals Institute.

Researchers say the equipment allows them to recreate the conditions experienced inside hydrogen-fuelled engines and generate data needed to assess the safety and performance of future designs.

Professor Geraint Whittaker, director of the Institute of Structural Materials and the Rolls-Royce University Technology Centre in Materials at Swansea University, said the project built on the university’s existing expertise in materials testing.

He said: “ISM is an internationally recognised research centre specialising in mechanical testing in high-temperature environments.

“SAMI brought complementary expertise in working with challenging industrial gases such as hydrogen, enabling us to create truly unique facilities.”

Professor Whittaker said the research had generated extensive data to support the development of hydrogen-powered gas turbines.

He added: “Our close relationship with Rolls-Royce has created an environment where laboratory-scale mechanical characterisation can directly inform how materials behave in a hydrogen-fuelled engine.”

The programme involved partners across the UK and internationally, with the final testing taking place at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in the United States.

Louise Gale, a materials specialist at Rolls-Royce, said the work formed part of a wider effort to determine whether hydrogen could safely and efficiently power future aircraft.

She said: “The testing programme at NASA Stennis represents the culmination of a comprehensive, global programme that set out to prove that hydrogen can safely and efficiently deliver power for aerospace engines.”

Ms Gale said Swansea University’s specialist testing capabilities had been important to the project.

She added: “The development of hydrogen-fuelled engines requires novel materials test capability to validate material behaviour in hydrogen environments.

“The test capability developed by Swansea has allowed us to generate key materials data to support component design and safety assessments.”

Hydrogen is seen by many in the aviation industry as one possible route towards reducing the sector’s carbon emissions, although significant technical and infrastructure challenges remain before it could be used on a commercial scale.