Aeronautical firm ZeroAvia has completed testing its ZA600 electric engine. The hydrogen-powered prototype ZA600 electric engine was retrofitted to a small Dornier 228 aircraft for the testing schedule in England.
ZeroAvia is a British-American firm that is looking to transform regional transport with its hydrogen fuel-cell-powered electric engines for short and medium-distance aircraft that carry between 9 to 90 passengers.
The ZA600 is the smallest of the three-hydrogen electric engines that the firm is currently developing and testing for commercial use. The 600 in the name of the electric aircraft engine gives you the powerplant’s output – 600kW (804.6bhp).
This was the electric engine put to the test by the firm over a rigorous and complex testing schedule at the Cotswolds Airport in England. The testing schedule saw the ZA600 engine set altitude and endurance records.
As part of the testing procedure, the ZA600, which can propel 9-19-seater aircraft as far as 482km, was fitted to one wing of the Dornier 228 aircraft which retained its original engine configuration on the other wing.
As per ZeroAvia, the hydrogen-electric engine matched the power of the conventional, fossil-fuel engine on the opposite wing. Pilots also fly the Donier 228 test craft using only the thrust generated from the experimental clean propulsion system in certain tests.
The testing process saw the hydrogen-engined plane reach a maximum allowed altitude of 5,000 feet (1,524 metres). The ZA600 was also flown for over 23 minutes, operated in a wide temperature range from just above freezing to almost 30C, hitting the maximum speed under the Permit to Fly issued by the CAA.
The ZA600 runs on green hydrogen which is generated using only clean energy. The only emissions from this fuel when used to power aircraft is low-temperature water, which ZeroAvia claims studies have found to produce 90 per cent less climate change-causing emissions.
The ZA600 is the smallest of the hydrogen fuel-cell engines and is expected to be fitted to planes by 2025. The more powerful ZA2000 engines that ZeroAvia is working on are expected to go on sale.
The firm’s ZA2000 electric engine will be offered in two guises – ZA2000 and ZA2000RJ. The ZA2000 offers up a range of 926 to 1,852 kilometres for 40-80-seater aircraft and a power output ranging between 2.0 to 5.4MW (2,682 to 7,241bhp).
The even more powerful ZA2000RJ sees power rise to between 5 and 10MW (6,705 to 13,410bhp). The expected range for the ZA2000J hydrogen-electric engine is over 1,852km for a 40-90 seater aircraft.
ZeroAvia’s hydrogen-electric engines show us a path to a zero-emissions future where aircraft don’t have to drag along a heavy load of batteries to fly. The fact that retrofitting these electric engines to existing aircraft is possible will ensure that the shift to electric propulsion will be less painful for smaller players.
