A new NASA-funded project brings together the experts in blended-wing-body airplane design at Jet Zero with the Center for Sustainable Aviation at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The collaboration will work to develop a sustainable aircraft design that integrates liquid hydrogen power and energy systems with a blended-wing-body airplane to meet the zero emissions aviation goals for 2050.

There are multiple awards being granted under this NASA program, but the University of Illinois is the only academic institution working with the JetZero team on NASA’s Advanced Aircraft Concepts for Environmental Sustainability, also called AACES 2050. The project builds on previous work at Illinois that emphasizes the synergistic benefits of BWB aircraft architectures for hydrogen storage and the advantages of hydrogen as a zero-emission fuel.

“JetZero has a long history of leading the way in design of blended-wing-body aircraft from previous programs supported by NASA and is even working on building a full-scale demonstrator aircraft with support from the Air Force and other investors. We’ll be focused on how best to integrate hydrogen power and energy system in a novel aircraft design, which is optimally configured for step-change improvements in energy efficiency and emissions,” said Phil Ansell, professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and director of the Center for Sustainable Aviation.

The Illinois team includes faculty members Matthew Clarke and Jason Merret. The team will also be working with ZeroAvia, a company which develops propulsion systems that use hydrogen fuel cell power.

Ansell said it’s not just about designing an environmentally sustainable airplane. Much like the auto industry has experienced with electric and hybrid vehicles, there are a lot of questions to answer about the future of energy infrastructure, upcoming improvements in manufacturing technology, the role that aviation serves in future transportation markets, and ultimately what aircraft technologies and next-generation systems will be best suited for ushering in a sustainable aviation future.

“We’ll be working to define the environmental impacts that are not just limited to the aircraft in flight, but also those associated with producing hydrogen,” he said. “Ensuring a renewable production process for hydrogen is pivotal to ensuring this solution meets the sustainability needs for the future. And, while the use of hydrogen on an aircraft doesn’t directly emit carbon, there are other emissions associated with other losses, such as due to hydrogen venting or leaks, as well as non-CO2 emissions that are produced. We believe these emission impacts are fairly benign in comparison to other greenhouse gases, but concluding this definitively will require dedicated research. Another key area where we are contributing is in the hydrogen integration strategy on the aircraft. If it stored as a liquid, it must be kept incredibly cold. So, for example, we will be developing a detailed model of the hydrogen storage, distribution, and propulsion network that can be integrated into the design process.”

Ansell said the project will move through several phases, including scenario development, technology, model development, and finally the actual conceptual designs of an aircraft.

“We know some of the estimates of how much fuel we need and how to integrate it, but now we're intimately coupling it with the aircraft design process,” he said. “The other novelty is that this next generation in sustainable aircraft brings together the advantages of hydrogen as a zero-emission energy source for aviation with the uniquely suitable blended-wing-body design. Doing so will allow the aircraft concept to efficiently carry lightweight, but high-volume hydrogen in an aerodynamically optimized configuration. That’s the goal.”

That the Center for Sustainable Aviation at Illinois was selected to partner with JetZero is not a surprise. Illinois has been a leader in exploring electrification of airplanes and hydrogen aviation systems. As one example, Ansell said he sees some of his conceptual design illustrations used on presentations from other individuals at conferences.

“We’ve been working on sustainable aviation for quite some time now with NASA, the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy and other stakeholders,” Ansell said. “And with each successive program, we learn more. This particular effort will take us a step further to quantitatively demonstrate why a blended-wing-body airplane design is also the most promising approach to integrate hydrogen on transport-class aircraft. The technological strengths of hydrogen and BWB are ideally compatible. Illinois has a history of considering what is necessary for a hydrogen aircraft and how it can be most beneficially utilized in fuel transition scenarios.

“Similarly, the experts at JetZero have decades of experience with blended-wing-body airplanes. We both know the design traits that are going to be beneficial here and can effectively design a system that demonstrates both reductions in the required energy for the actual aircraft to fly a given mission and do it only with water vapor emissions.”

About the collaboration, JetZero’s Head of Propulsion Romar Frazier said, “No university has the depth of experience and proven track record in hydrogen work like The University of Illinois. The institution is the perfect partner for this research and we look forward to furthering our collaborative work exploring systems technology for liquid hydrogen fuel on a long-range blended wing body airplane.”