本周，一架能夠載客的氫燃料電池飛機(jī)完成了首飛，向低排放和零排放飛行又邁進(jìn)了一步。
ZeroAvia的六座Piper M級(jí)飛機(jī)已經(jīng)過(guò)改裝，安裝了結(jié)合氫和氧發(fā)電的裝置，該飛機(jī)在周四完成了出租車、起飛、全程飛行和降落的任務(wù)。
ZeroAvia曾表示，此次旅行被描述為“商業(yè)級(jí)飛機(jī)的氫燃料電池動(dòng)力飛行”，是“世界第一”。但是，確實(shí)存在可以容納乘客的氫燃料電池飛機(jī)的其他示例。
早在2016年，這架HY4飛機(jī)就可搭載四人，是從德國(guó)斯圖加特機(jī)場(chǎng)起飛時(shí)進(jìn)行的首次正式旅行。HY4由德國(guó)航空航天中心的研究人員與“工業(yè)和研究合作伙伴”共同開(kāi)發(fā)。
周四的ZeroAvia航班是在該公司位于倫敦北部50英里的英格蘭克蘭菲爾德機(jī)場(chǎng)的研發(fā)基地進(jìn)行的。該機(jī)場(chǎng)歸克蘭菲爾德大學(xué)所有。
ZeroAvia首席執(zhí)行官Val Miftakhov在接受采訪時(shí)說(shuō)：“雖然一些實(shí)驗(yàn)飛機(jī)已經(jīng)使用氫燃料電池作為動(dòng)力飛行，但這種商用飛機(jī)的規(guī)模表明，付費(fèi)乘客可能很快就會(huì)登上真正的零排放航班?！?/p>
ZeroAvia正在與項(xiàng)目合作伙伴智能能源和歐洲海洋能源中心（EMEC）共同發(fā)起一個(gè)名為HyFlyer的計(jì)劃。
EMEC描述了由英國(guó)政府支持的HyFlyer，其目標(biāo)是“通過(guò)演示動(dòng)力總成技術(shù)來(lái)代替螺旋槳飛機(jī)中的傳統(tǒng)活塞發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)，使中程小型客機(jī)脫碳”。
HyFlyer項(xiàng)目的下一步將是ZeroAvia致力于從位于蘇格蘭大陸北海岸水域的群島奧克尼群島進(jìn)行250至300海里的飛行。該飛機(jī)將使用氫燃料電池。希望這次旅行會(huì)在2020年底之前發(fā)生。
在ZeroAvia的航班上，有關(guān)這一消息的新聞截止到一周，歐洲航空航天巨頭空中客車公司發(fā)布了三架氫燃料概念飛機(jī)的細(xì)節(jié)，稱它們可以在2035年投入使用。
這些名為ZEROe的設(shè)計(jì)在尺寸和樣式上有所不同，但全部都是零排放的，使用氫作為主要?jiǎng)恿Α?/p>
其中一種設(shè)計(jì)提供了關(guān)于未來(lái)幾年飛機(jī)外觀的激進(jìn)愿景?！盎旌蠙C(jī)翼機(jī)身”概念最多可搭載200名乘客，機(jī)翼會(huì)與飛機(jī)主體“融合”。
盡管飛機(jī)上氫能的廣泛采用還遙遙無(wú)期，但陸上運(yùn)輸形式已經(jīng)在使用該技術(shù)，盡管規(guī)模很小。例如，氫公共汽車已被引入英國(guó)首都倫敦。
在其他地方，歐洲公司阿爾斯通（Alstom）開(kāi)發(fā)了Coradia iLint，該火車?yán)萌剂想姵丶夹g(shù)將氧氣和氫氣轉(zhuǎn)化為電能。
據(jù)該公司稱，它可以達(dá)到每小時(shí)140公里（每小時(shí)87英里）的速度，噪音低，并且“僅排放蒸汽和水”。
原文閱讀：
A hydrogen fuel-cell plane that's capable of carrying passengers completed its maiden flight this week, in another step forward for low and zero-emission flight.
ZeroAvia's six-seater Piper M-class aircraft — which has been retrofitted with the device that combines hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity — undertook a taxi, take-off, full pattern circuit and landing on Thursday.
ZeroAvia has said the trip, described as a 'hydrogen fuel cell powered flight of a commercial-grade aircraft,' is a 'world first.' Other examples of hydrogen-fuel cell planes that can host passengers do exist, however.
Back in 2016, the HY4 aircraft, which is able to carry four people, undertook its first official journey when it flew from Stuttgart Airport in Germany. The HY4 was developed by researchers at the German Aerospace Center alongside 'industry and research partners.'
Thursday's ZeroAvia flight was carried out at the company's research and development site at Cranfield Airport, in England — 50 miles north of London. The airport is owned by Cranfield University.
'While some experimental aircraft have flown using hydrogen fuel cells as a power source, the size of this commercially available aircraft shows that paying passengers could be boarding a truly zero-emission flight very soon,' Val Miftakhov, the CEO of ZeroAvia, said in a statement.
ZeroAvia is heading up a program called HyFlyer alongside project partners Intelligent Energy and the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC).
EMEC has described HyFlyer, which is backed by the U.K. government, as aiming 'to decarbonise medium range small passenger aircraft by demonstrating powertrain technology to replace conventional piston engines in propeller aircraft.'
The next step of the HyFlyer project will see ZeroAvia work toward carrying out a flight of between 250 and 300 nautical miles from the Orkney Islands, an archipelago located in waters off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plane on this flight will use hydrogen-fuel cells. It's hoped this trip will happen before the end of 2020.
The news on ZeroAvia's flight bookends a week in which European aerospace giant Airbus released details of three hydrogen-fueled concept planes, saying they could enter service by the year 2035.
The designs, named ZEROe, differ in size and style, but are all meant to be zero-emission, using hydrogen as their primary source of power.
One of the designs offers a radical vision of how airplanes could look in the years ahead. Carrying as many as 200 passengers, the 'blended-wing body' concept would see wings 'merge' with the aircraft's main body.
While the widespread adoption of hydrogen power in aircraft is still some way off, land-based forms of transport are already using the technology, albeit on a small scale. Hydrogen buses have been introduced to the U.K. capital of London, for example.
Elsewhere, European firm Alstom has developed the Coradia iLint, a train that harnesses fuel-cell technology to turn oxygen and hydrogen into electricity.
According to the company, it can reach speeds of up to 140 kilometers per hour (87 miles per hour), is low-noise and 'emits only steam and water.'
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