Enhancing aerodynamic performance by waste heat in a hydrogen fuel cell powered aircraft

• Published in: Applied thermal engineering 2024-10, Vol.254, p.123873, Article 123873
• Main Authors: Wang, Yu, Xu, Zihang, Wang, Hui, Qiu, Yasong, Cheng, Xuemei, Bai, Junqiang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Curvature of the trailing edge of static blades; Heat dissipation; Hydrogen powered aircraft; Thermal management
• ISSN: 1359-4311
• DOI: 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2024.123873

•Enhancing aerodynamic performance by waste heat in aircraft is proposed.•Impacts of ducted fan and cruising speeds on heat dissipation are examined.•Thrust increases about 1.4 %- 3.2 % with heat dissipation increase of 2000 W.•Findings provide a new idea for thermal management system of FC-HPA. Although the hydrogen fuel cell aircraft (FC-HPA) can potentially attain zero emission, there is a significant problem in efficiently dissipating the waste heat produced by fuel cell. In this work, a revolutionary heat dissipation technique that can simultaneously boost FC-HPA’s thrust is proposed. To improve thrust, the waste heat from fuel cell is transmitted to the static guiding vanes’ surface. The impacts of ducted fan and cruising speeds on the fuel cell heat dissipation are examined. Results show that an increase in the number of stators results in a decrease in thrust when the wind duct fan speed increases from 4000 rpm to 8000 rpm. This is in contrast to the six-blade stator model that takes heat dissipation effects into account. The increased thrust decreases from 3.2 % to 1.4 % with a heat dissipation increase of approximately 2000 W when the stator trailing edge curvature is changed. An increase in the number of stators results in a decrease in thrust when the cruising speed rises from 50 m/s to 100 m/s. This is in contrast to the six-blade stator model that takes the heat dissipation effects into account. The increased thrust decreases from 3.7 % to 2.4 % after the stator trailing edge’s curvature is changed, along with an approximately 2000 W increase in heat dissipation. The above findings can provide a new idea for the thermal management system of FC-HPA.