Project Dragonfly

Dragonfly项目将开发Actuation Lab创新的、以折纸为灵感的阀门设计，以满足商用氢飞机的挑战性要求。2019年，使用煤油飞机燃料的长途旅行排放量总计为3.36亿吨二氧化碳当量。将这支车队转换为氢气是一种潜在可行的替代方案，可以消除这些排放并创造一个利润丰厚的市场。我们估计，氢动力飞机阀门的潜在市场超过2.3亿英镑。然而，要利用这一机会，必须解决使用液氢作为飞机燃料的几个关键技术挑战。这些因素包括氢的低点火能量，其小分子尺寸使系统容易泄漏，以及液态氢使用所需的低温（低温）。Dragonfly阀门的防泄漏设计解决了这些问题，并有可能在2050年之前实现向氢气的过渡。当前的阀门设计在阀杆存在于燃料箱中以实现驱动的情况下容易发生泄漏。我们的无柄设计是一种全新的技术，解决了竞争对手技术的真实的局限性。Dragonfly项目将解决与飞机阀门使用的特定操作条件相关的技术挑战。这些包括了解阀门在极低温度下的性能，兼容材料和解决结冰问题。我们需要探索新的复合材料和制造方法，以确保Dragonfly阀门能够满足这些要求。我们将与最终用户空中客车公司合作，确保研发符合客户需求，确保商业化路线清晰，并确保获得适当的氢气试验台。我们的研究合作伙伴斯特拉斯克莱德大学苏格兰国家制造研究所（NMIS）将支持整合，这是该应用所需的新工业研究的重要领域。

Project Dragonfly will develop Actuation Lab's innovative, origami-inspired valve design to meet the challenging requirements of commercial hydrogen aircraft. Emissions from long-haul travel using kerosene aircraft fuel totalled 336 million tonnes CO2e in 2019\. Converting this fleet to hydrogen is a potentially viable alternative that would eliminate these emissions and create a lucrative market. We estimate that the potential market for valves in hydrogen powered aircraft exceeds £230m. However, there are several key technical challenges to using liquid hydrogen as an aircraft fuel that must be addressed to take advantage of this opportunity. These include hydrogen's low-ignition energy, its small molecule size making systems vulnerable to leakage and the low temperatures required for liquid hydrogen use (cryogenic). The Dragonfly Valve's leak proof design addresses these issues and has potential to enable transition to hydrogen by 2050\.Current valve designs are vulnerable to leakage where the valve stem exists the fuel tank to enable actuation. Our stemless design is a completely new technology that addresses a real limitation of competitor technologies. Project Dragonfly will address the technical challenges relating to specific operating conditions for aircraft valve use. These include understanding valve performance at very low temperatures, compliant materials and addressing issues with icing. We will need to explore novel composite materials and manufacturing methods in order to ensure the Dragonfly valve can meet these requirements.We will work with end-user Airbus to ensure research and development is in-line with customer needs, to ensure a clear route to commercialisation and to ensure access to an appropriate hydrogen test-bed. Our research partner University of Strathclyde National Manufacturing Institute of Scotland (NMIS) will support on integration which is an important area of new industrial research needed for this application.