Proactive Investors - Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC (LON:RR.) and easyJet (LON:EZJ) have successfully powered a jet engine in take-off conditions solely using hydrogen in the first test under a new partnership.
A Pearl 700 engine reached maximum takeoff thrust during the test, easyJet said on Tuesday, having been purely powered by hydrogen.
“This involved overcoming significant engineering challenges, as hydrogen burns far hotter and more rapidly than kerosene,” the airline explained.
New advanced fuel spray nozzles were designed to control the combustion process, easyJet added, with Rolls-Royce chief technology officer Grazia Vittadini dubbing the project “incredible [...] in a short space of time”.
Having successfully powered a jet engine using hydrogen for the first time late last year, the result marks the pair’s latest milestone in a bid to develop the alternative fuel for flight.
Though infrastructure and production challenges remain, hydrogen can be classed as green if it is produced using renewable energy.
As a result, aerospace companies have looked to hydrogen as an alternative to carbon-dioxide-producing kerosine, with sustainable aviation fuels also having been explored.
Rolls-Royce and easyJet have since joined an alliance focused on the role of hydrogen fuel in aviation, as the sector targets net zero by 2050.
“Both [...] are committed to being at the forefront of the development of hydrogen combustion engine technology capable of powering a range of aircraft, including those in the narrow-body market segment, from the mid-2030s onwards,” easyJet added.
The tests, which were run alongside Loughborough University and the German Aerospace Centre, prove that hydrogen can be combusted in maximum take-off thrust conditions.