RACHEL (Robustly Achievable Combustion of Hydrogen Engine Layout

RACHEL项目建立在以前的技术开发实践和合作伙伴关系的基础上，带来了大型OEM (Spirit Europe和ITP UK)，中小企业（Causeway和Reaction），研究和学术界（NCC和各种大学）以及英国供应商的子级，所有这些都带来了新颖性和敏捷性。其目标是开发技术和架构，提供有效实用的氢燃烧燃气轮机动力装置，能够在整个运行范围内安全、实用、可靠地使用液氢燃料，并提供商业上可行的产品。英国政府的绿色工业革命10点计划，Jet Zero推动了可持续航空旅行的目标。同样，航空航天技术研究所呼吁英国航空业优先考虑可持续性，并带头采取环保行动。向替代能源过渡到今天的煤油被视为技术优先事项之一，氢是未来10-15年可以为飞机提供动力的一种燃料。特别是，氢燃料燃气轮机燃烧系统的开发已被确定为零碳排放飞行的关键促成因素，因为燃气轮机动力飞机目前占当今航空碳排放量的96%。这绝非易事。尽管氢是一种非常清洁的燃料，产生的废气几乎是纯净水，但不幸的是，与煤油相比，氢的能量密度非常低，这意味着燃料必须以低温液体的形式存在，才能使飞机飞行相当远的距离。液氢的极低温度（-253°C）对发动机部件来说是一个极其恶劣的环境，要生产出与当今发动机在质量、性能、可靠性和安全性方面有着同样严格要求的氢动力燃气轮机，必须克服许多技术挑战。氢的燃烧带来了许多挑战，无论是在氢燃料（低温和气态）的运输方面，还是在热管理和二次和三次油系统方面。由于该系统利用电力，电力系统的合并和集成到发电厂是这个项目的关键。此外，创新的储罐解决方案不仅将开发能够存储气体燃料的解决方案，还将解决清洗介质存储的问题。这个令人兴奋的项目是由项目合作伙伴和英国政府机构、BEIS、Innovate UK和ATI共同资助的。

The RACHEL project builds on previous technology development in terms of both practices and the partnership, bringing a mix of large OEM's (Spirit Europe and ITP UK), SME's (Causeway and Reaction), research and Academia (NCC and various universities) plus subtiers of UK suppliers, all bringing novelty and agile working. The aim is to develop technologies and architectures that deliver an effective and practical hydrogen combustion gas turbine powerplant able to operate safely, practically and reliably with Liquid H2 fuel across the full operating range, and to deliver a commercially viable product. The UK government 10 Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, and Jet Zero pushes forward the goal of sustainable air travel. Similarly, the Aerospace Technology Institute has called on the UK aviation industry to prioritise sustainability and lead action on environmental imperatives. Transition to alternative energy sources to today's kerosene is regarded as one of the technology priorities, and hydrogen is one fuel that could power aircraft in the coming 10-15 years. Particularly, development of a hydrogen-fuelled gas turbine combustion system has been identified as a key enabler for zero carbon emission flight, as gas turbine powered aircraft currently account for 96% of today's aviation carbon emissions.This is far from easy. Despite the advantage of being a very clean fuel, producing almost pure water as an exhaust product, hydrogen unfortunately has a very low energy density compared to kerosene, meaning that the fuel will have to be in the form of a cryogenic liquid to enable aircraft to fly any appreciable distance. The extremely low temperature of liquid hydrogen, -253 °C, is an incredibly harsh environment for the engine components, and many technological challenges will have to be overcome to produce a hydrogen-powered gas turbine that has the same exacting requirements of quality, performance, reliability and safety as today's engines.Combustion of hydrogen brings many challenges, both in terms of the transportation of the hydrogen fuel (cryogenic and gaseous) and also the heat management and secondary and tertiary oil systems. As the system leverages electrical power, the incorporation of electrical systems and the integration into the powerplant is key in this project. Additionally, innovative tank solutions will not only develop solutions capable of gaseous fuel storage but will also solve the issue of purging media storage.The exciting project is jointly funded through contribution from the project partners and UK government agencies, BEIS, Innovate UK and ATI.