The main effort of the Partners in the last reporting period was on the implementation of all technology development to prepare the hydrogen fuel system, to be coupled, integrated in the aircraft and in the final flying activities.
In WP1 System Architecture the activities are finished. During the period activities on safety analysis and safety of flight were performed in more detailed to prepare the requirements to flight as planned during 2023.
In WP2 the fuel cell development plan has been changed according to the amendment. The work done was related to the anode heat exchanger, the use of a new GDL in the stack under development, modification of the FC-system to work with LH2 and the simulation of operation strategies.
WP3 Hydrogen Fuel System (HFS) finished during last reporting period. ALAT team focused on supporting WP4 (coupling tests) and WP5 (flight tests).
In WP4 System Coupling the work was focused on the system coupling activities, aiming to integrate the FC-system with the LH2 fuel system at test bed level, as well as testing the functionalities and performance of the coupled subsystems and the adaptation to the battery systems and drive train. This coupling was successful completed on Air Liquide’s Campus Technologies Grenoble, in France together with Air Liquide.
WP5 has been completed successfully, achieving the planned goals of demonstrating the technology in flight. The integration of the liquid hydrogen tank into the test aircraft has been led by PVS in collaboration with ALAT and H2F. This meant modifying the left fuselage to be able to house the tank together with all related subsystems, as well as performing the necessary structural tests to ensure safety of flight. In parallel, PVS and H2F guided the process of obtainment of Permit-To-Fly from the Slovenian Civil Aviation Authority, demonstrating quality of engineering processes, build and test procedures. The obtainment of the permit allowed to perform flight tests at Maribor Airport in Slovenia demonstrating the performance, operations and safety of liquid hydrogen as an energy source for aircraft electric propulsion. Throughout the whole project, this work package included also scalability studies on the developed technology, extrapolating the key performance and technical data of high-performance fuel cells and liquid hydrogen energy storage for larger, commercially viable aircraft and for unmanned aircraft platforms.
In WP6 dissemination and exploitation as well as in WP7 communication activities, the partners worked under PVS guidelines. During the period the dissemination and exploitation plans were updated and submitted. The communication activities were reactivated (website was updated and project information was presented in the communication channels) reaching the highest level after the successful LH2 flight.
WP8 Project management, the coordination with the support of all partners was working in the submission of all deliverables and reports to finish the project. In addition, during this period H2F have worked very closely to the technical team involved in the coupling and flying tests to assure the continuous communication that allowed HEAVEN team the agile resolution of several challenges coming during this reporting period.
The final success on HEAVEN working implementation was possible with the support of each partner, that contributed with their working effort, high-level experience and motivation. The LH2-flight was a historical achievement and the mayor HEAVEN milestone contributing to clean hydrogen and clean aviation objectives.
