September 12th, 2006
After cars, planes will be flying on hydrogen. Just ask the researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology who have successfully test piloted a hydrogen-powered unmanned aircraft. Flying on a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell using compressed hydrogen, the 22-foot (wingspan) aircraft flew on 500 watts of electricity. However, at this electricity output, only unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) can take advantage of hydrogen fuel cells.
What is more significant here is the engineering breakthrough. What the researchers from Georgia Institute are doing is laying the groundwork in design development for hydrogen-powered aircraft. By documenting the design challenges they have encountered are providing valuable information for others to use and follow.
Read more here.