GENERAL NEWS
First flight of hydrogen regional airliner
Universal Hydrogen Co . flew a 40-passenger regional airliner using hydrogen fuel cell propulsion on 3 March 2023 . The aeroplane , nicknamed Lightning McClean , took off at 8:41am PST from Grant County International Airport ( KMWH ), USA , and flew for 15 minutes , reaching an altitude of 3,500 MSL .
The flight , conducted under an FAA Special Airworthiness Certificate , was the first in a two-year flight test campaign expected to culminate in 2025 with entry into passenger service of ATR 72 regional aircraft converted to run on hydrogen . Representatives from Connect Airlines and Amelia , the U . S . and European launch customers for the hydrogen airplanes , respectively , were on hand to witness the historic flight .
“ The flight is the largest hydrogen fuel cell-powered aeroplane ever to take to the skies and largest airplane to cruise principally on hydrogen . We have a rapidly growing order book , today totalling 247 aircraft conversions from 16 customers worldwide , with over US $ 1 billion in conversions backlog and over US $ 2 billion in fuel services over the first ten years of operation ,” commented Universal Hydrogen Co .
“ Today will go down in the history books as the true start to the decarbonisation of the global airline industry and we are extremely proud of the role that we , as the first U . S . operator , will play in leading the way with Universal Hydrogen ,” said John Thomas , CEO of Connect Airlines . Connect will begin a regional turboprop service this spring and has placed a first-position U . S . order with Universal Hydrogen to convert 75 ATR 72-600 regional aeroplanes to hydrogen powertrains with purchase rights for 25 additional aircraft conversions . Deliveries will start in 2025 .
“ We have committed to being North America ’ s first zero-emission airline and this historic flight , taking hydrogen which can be made with nothing but sunshine and emitting only water , is a key milestone on our journey ,” continued Thomas .
In this first test flight , one of the aeroplane ’ s turbine engines was replaced with Universal Hydrogen ’ s fuel cell-electric , megawatt-class powertrain . The other remained a conventional engine for safety of flight . The company ’ s powertrain is built around
Universal Hydrogen successfully completes first flight of hydrogen regional airliner ( photo : Business Wire ).
Plug Power ’ s ProGen family of fuel cells specially modified for aviation use . The powertrain does not use a battery — the fuel cells drive the electric motor directly — drastically reducing weight and cost . The motor , a modified magni650 electric propulsion unit , and power electronics were supplied by Everett-based magniX . Seattle-based AeroTEC assisted with engineering efforts , including design of the modified nacelle structure , aircraft systems design and integration , as well as aircraft modifications and installation of the Universal Hydrogen powertrain onto the flight test aircraft , accomplished in less than 12 months .
The test flight comes on the back of
successful demonstrations in December 2022 of Universal Hydrogen ’ s modular hydrogen logistics system conducted at the company ’ s engineering centre in Toulouse , France .
“ Our business model resolves the chicken-and-egg problem between hydrogen aeroplanes and hydrogen infrastructure by developing both in parallel and with a uniquely low-cost approach ,” said Paul Eremenko , co- Founder and CEO of Universal Hydrogen . “ The aeroplanes are converted to hydrogen using an aftermarket retrofit conversion kit , tackling the existing fleet rather than developing a new aeroplane . And hydrogen fuelling uses modular capsules compatible with existing freight networks and airport cargo handling equipment , making every airport in the world hydrogen-ready .”
The company , backed by GE Aviation , Airbus Ventures Toyota Ventures , JetBlue Ventures and American Airlines , as well as several of the world ’ s largest green hydrogen producers and financial investors , plans to springboard from regional aeroplanes to larger ones and to hydrogen fuel deliveries for other mobility applications using its modular logistics network .
“ More than half of aviation CO₂ emissions today come from the A320 and 737 family of aircraft ,” said Eremenko . “ Both Airbus and Boeing will need to replace these venerable aeroplanes with a new design starting development in the late-2020s and entering passenger service in the mid-2030s . Making their successors hydrogen aeroplanes is a golden opportunity — perhaps the only opportunity — for aviation to get anywhere near meeting Paris Agreement emissions targets without having to curb aviation traffic volumes .” n
Automated slitting line
CR Slitters has purchased a high-production slitting line from Athader SL ( part of The Bradbury Group ). The line will be installed at CR Slitters ’ new manufacturing facility in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield , QC ( Canada ). It will be capable of slitting 0.140 ” x 62 ” x 60,000 lbs . coils , running up to 1500fpm , and includes a high-speed packaging line . The line will also feature the latest automation including automatic coil loading ; dual doubleeccentric slitter heads with capstan and automatic slitter tooling changeover ; loop doubler ; mobile tension stand ; automatic separator changeover and a highly automated slit coil packaging line .
CR Slitters has been slitting steel and aluminium coils since 1986 . Based in Spain ,
Athader S . L . offers complete slitting or cut-tolength lines designed for lean manufacturing , scrap reduction and increased efficiency . It specialises in the design and manufacturing of slitting ; cut-to-length ; levelling ; multiblanking and recoiling lines as well as coil / sheet automated packaging systems . It has supplied more than 300 new coil-processing lines worldwide . The company celebrated its 30th anniversary last year and pursues a strategy of continuous improvement and modernisation .
“ Our vision over the next few years is to continue growing with our customers . We are focusing our efforts on improvements relating to equipment process automation and the reduction of downtime and production costs .
Athader ’ s engineering team .
We are developing virtual vision models and software tools to increase and improve the productivity of our lines , in addition to the remote assistance functionality which we implemented years ago on all our lines ,” Harkaitz Luengo , MD of Athader SL , told ISMR last November . n