The HYDEA project, which stands for “HYdrogen DEmonstrator for Aviation”, proposes a robust technology maturation plan to develop an H2C (Hydrogen Combustion) propulsion system compatible with an Entry Into Service of a zero-CO2 low-emission aircraft in 2035, consistently with the expected timeframe of the European Green Deal and CA SRIA objectives. The project aims to address fundamental questions related to the use of hydrogen as an aviation fuel, concentrating on the development and testing in relevant conditions of an H2 combustor and H2 fuel system, also including emission studies and further technologies which will serve as an outlook to future engines, i.e. NOx optimization studies, potential contrails emissions and investigating integration aspects between engine and aircraft. HYDEA results will be core for the ZEROe technology exploration project, launched by Airbus in 2020. The revolutionary technologies in scope call for an early engagement and dialogue with EASA (European Union Aviation Safety Agency) within HYDEA, starting from phase 1.

Reducing SMR aircraft environmental impact is a priority of the Clean Aviation SRIA, which objective is to have technologies ready for the future generation of SMR aircraft. The engine is key in this effort and the Open Fan engine architecture is the most promising solution in terms of fuel efficiency to both achieve environmental goals (20% emissions reduction versus 2020) and target a rapid Entry into Service, as early as 2035. In synergy with national programs, OFELIA will gather a large European consortium to contribute to the RISE technology demonstration announced in June 2021. OFELIA aims to demonstrate at TRL5 the RISE Open Fan architecture, for the SMR to achieve or surpass the Air Transport Action Group’s goals on the way towards Carbon neutrality by 2050. To this end, OFELIA will focus on this high TRL full scale demonstration of the engine architecture and on the development of key enablers for the Open Fan. OFELIA will allow installation of an increased fan diameter on a conventional aircraft configuration, thanks to innovative turbomachinery technical solutions. Following the architecture definition, OFELIA will perform a large-scale Open Fan engine ground test campaign, deliver flightworthy propulsive system definition and prepare an in-flight demonstration for the phase 2 of Clean Aviation. The project will also optimize the engine installation with the airframer and address certification, in close collaboration with airworthiness authorities, taking advantage of the permit-to-fly activity. OFELIA will then deliver a TRL5 Open Fan engine architecture for SMR, demonstrate a credible path to 20% CO2 reduction versus 2020 and prepare the path to flight tests to consolidate the roadmap for EIS2035. As part of the technology maturation plan, the compatibility of Open Fan to hydrogen will be investigated in coordination with H2 pillar.

The TROPHY project, which stands for “Technological Research On Propulsion by HYdrogen”, aimed at supporting the Clean Aviation HYDEA funded project (HYdrogen DEmonstrator for Aviation), which proposes a technology maturation plan to develop an H2C (Hydrogen Combustion) propulsion system compatible with an Entry Into Service of a zero CO2 low-emission aircraft in 2035. TROPHY supported design activities related to the development of an H2 engine fuel system as well as the investigation of integration aspects between engine and aircraft. Decision was made by the consortium to close TROPHY grant agreement as it turned out that key objectives as initially envisaged were no longer relevant.

Climate change poses an unprecedented challenge on today’s society. Numerous studies highlight the urgent need to decarbonize global industry and to drastically reduce pollutant emissions across all sectors, including aviation. Although, the global environmental impact of aviation is mostly driven by small-medium range market aircraft due to the large volume of operations, the development of disruptive technologies for the power demands such applications require cannot be put in place until progressive maturation of novel enabling technologies has been achieved at lower scale or sizes. The transformation of regional aviation, i.e., aircraft serving distances of 500 to 1000 km at a capacity of up to 100 seats, will thus lead the way towards sustainability and will be of particular importance. Both battery and liquid hydrogen powered fuel cell technology will not be sufficiently matured to allow the realization of a fully electric regional aircraft within the next decade. Instead, an intermediate step will be required to significantly reduce GHG emissions already by 2035. The development of a hybrid-electric propulsion system for regional aircraft with at least 50% hybridization represents this very challenging, yet achievable intermediate step and can allow for a mission fuel burn reduction by at least 30% compared to 2020 state-of-the-art regional aircraft. A thermal engine that allows for usage of 100% sustainable aviation fuel, will allow to reduce lifecycle GHG emissions by 90% and thus close to zero. The proposed project AMBER (innovAtive deMonstrator for hyBrid-Electric Regional application) addresses this aspect and pursues the maturation of hybrid-electric key components and the validation of a product-representative parallel hybrid-electric propulsion system architecture, fuel cell based, for next-generation regional aircraft with EIS by 2035 to meet the ambitious environmental goals set out in SRIA and the Clean Aviation topic call.