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Acta Aeronautica et Astronautica Sinica ›› 2025, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (9): 629870.doi: 10.7527/S1000-6893.2024.29870

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Research progress in installation environment adaptability of cryogenic liquid hydrogen tanks for hydrogen-powered aircraft

Yongjie ZHANG, Hongchen WANG(), Bo CUI, Jingpiao ZHOU   

  1. School of Civil Aviation,Northwestern Polytechnical University,Xi’an 710072,China
  • Received:2023-11-13 Revised:2023-12-12 Accepted:2024-01-08 Online:2024-01-16 Published:2024-01-15
  • Contact: Hongchen WANG E-mail:wanghc0523@mail.nwpu.edu.cn

Abstract:

In recent decades, zero-emission hydrogen-powered aircraft have once again become the focus of attention, offering an important path to solving the global warming problem. Currently, short- or medium-range hydrogen-powered narrow-body aircraft under development typically use cylindrical tanks to store liquid hydrogen and integrate the liquid hydrogen storage tanks into the rear fuselage of the aircraft. These tanks must be able to fulfill all intended functions and performance under various environmental conditions encountered during their life cycle. This paper first provides a systematic literature review of the development history and introduces the future trends of hydrogen-powered aircraft. Then, it sorts out the requirements for the installation environmental adaptability of the aft fuselage liquid hydrogen storage tank and the environmental factors to be considered in the design stage of the tank, meanwhile proposing the aspects that need special attention in the design of the non-pressurized area of the aft fuselage and the installation structure of the storage tank. Finally, combining with the existing hydrogen safety standard system for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, it discusses the development of the hydrogen safety standard system architecture for future hydrogen-powered aircraft, and summarizes and predicts the design requirements for the environmental adaptability of the tanks in the aft fuselage and the installation structure of the tanks to provide technical support for the design of the liquid hydrogen storage system of hydrogen-powered aircraft.

Key words: hydrogen-powered aircraft, cryogenic liquid hydrogen tanks, environmental adaptation, hydrogen safety standards, tank installation structures

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