China’s first direct-blown cooling hydrogen engine released

China's first direct-blown cooling hydrogen engine released

Recently, China’s first direct-blown cooling hydrogen engine released. It is the first hydrogen-powered aviation engine in China that integrates propellers, motors, fuel cells, etc. The engine is powered by hydrogen fuel cells and is zero-carbon, energy-saving and environmentally friendly. Its maximum endurance time is doubled compared to lithium batteries of the same quality. 

The biggest technological innovation is the use of fusion design to use the airflow generated by the propeller directly for the air intake reaction and cooling of the fuel cell. This direct-blowing cooling design integrates the fuel cell and the propeller. The fuel cell uses the airflow generated by the propeller to perform air intake reaction and cooling. This eliminates the use of traditional cooling fans, reduces the weight of the power system, and allows the aircraft to carry more hydrogen fuel, thus extending the endurance time.

At present, most small and medium-sized drones use lithium batteries as energy storage devices. The disadvantage is that lithium batteries have low energy density and are difficult to maintain the drone in the air for a long time. Compared with lithium batteries of the same quality, hydrogen fuel cells have higher energy density and can extend the endurance time of small and medium-sized drones.

This composite wing drone with a wingspan of 3.5 meters has a direct-blown cooling hydrogen engine installed on the front end of the fuselage. After taking off, cruising, maneuvering, landing and other set subjects, the engine fuel cell output power remained stable, which means the first flight test was successful.

Hefei Sinopower develops and supplies hydrogen fuel cell power generation systems for drones, we can also customize and mass-produce hydrogen drones according to the customers’ requirement.