Conceptual Design of a Hydrogen-Powered 9-Seater Commuter Aircraft

Abstract

New propulsion technologies are an important factor in enabling the transformation of the aviation sector to a sustainable future. In this paper, the feasibility of a 9-seater small aircraft with a hydrogen powertrain is evaluated. One focus is on the development of tools and methods for the preliminary design of this aircraft. Based on an existing framework, a design workflow is created which contains various disciplinary tools. This workflow is designed to cover a comparably wide range of TLARs and configurations and to quickly make and evaluate new designs. The second focus is on the actual design of the aircraft. Starting with a market analysis, a set of TLARs and the overall configuration are defined. With these, the design process is executed. The result is an aircraft with air-cooled fuel cells and a distributed electric propulsion system. It is able to transport a payload of 855 kg over 600 km. For this mission, 78 kg of pressurized hydrogen is required. In the future, the design process will be expanded and improved in various ways in order to increase the accuracy of the results and to consider more aspects in greater detail.