Turbotech Revolutionizes Aviation with Hydrogen-Fueled Turbine Engine
Key Ideas
  • Turbotech collaborates with BeautHyFuel project to pioneer a hydrogen-fueled turbine engine for various aircraft applications, highlighting Ansys simulation's pivotal role.
  • Ansys simulation assists in overcoming challenges of using hydrogen as a fuel in turbine designs, ensuring safety, reliability, and efficiency.
  • Scalable approach and innovative nozzle design selection through simulation reduce costs and timelines, while maintaining structural integrity and emission levels.
  • Partnership with French Civil Aviation Authority and industry leaders advances the hydrogen aviation sector, with Turbotech leading the way in next-generation technology.
Turbotech, in collaboration with the BeautHyFuel project, has achieved a significant milestone by introducing the first viable hydrogen-fueled turbine engine for small-scale passenger planes, VTOL vehicles, drones, and more. The company's successful demonstration of a hydrogen-fueled turbine engine underscores the importance of Ansys simulation in propelling next-generation aviation technology. Traditional turbine designs face challenges in efficiently utilizing hydrogen due to issues with power output, fuel consumption, heat management, and combustion system service life. Turbotech has adopted a scalable approach, leveraging Ansys simulation to develop a gas turbine that can seamlessly transition to hydrogen fuel. Through simulation-led product development, Turbotech was able to identify the optimal nozzle designs for real-world testing, reducing prototyping costs and timelines significantly. Ansys Fluent provided crucial predictions on flame shape and temperature, ensuring structural integrity and emission levels remained stable even after 30 hours of hydrogen burn testing. By utilizing Ansys solvers on boosted workstations, Turbotech avoided the need for large computational clusters typically required for combustion modeling. Turbotech's innovative work began with a regenerative turbine developed through the Ansys Startup Program, establishing a digital thread that facilitates data connectivity and management, easing the path for hydrogen retrofitting. The ongoing tests conducted as part of the BeautHyFuel project, supported by the French Civil Aviation Authority and key industry players such as Safran, Air Liquide, and Daher, signify a significant step forward in advancing hydrogen technology in aviation. Turbotech's leadership in this domain highlights the promising future of hydrogen-fueled aviation and the crucial role of simulation in driving innovation.
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