SEATTLE, Nov. 27, 2001 Boeing Commercial Airplanes
will develop and test an electrically powered demonstrator airplane as
part of a study to evaluate environmentally friendly fuel cell technology
for future Boeing products.
The airplane manufacturer is working with
Boeing's new Research and Technology Center in Madrid, Spain, to modify
a small, single-engine airplane by replacing its engine with fuel cells
and an electric motor that will turn a conventional propeller.
"This is the first of many advanced technology
projects focusing on the protection of the environment to be developed
in Madrid," said Miguel Hernan, the Center's director.
Fuel cells and electric motors will not replace
jet engines on commercial transports, but they could one day replace gas
turbine auxiliary power units. Auxiliary power units, which typically are
located in the rear fuselage with exhaust ports through the tail, are coupled
to generators and compressors to produce electricity and air for airplane
systems while on the ground and for backup use in flight.
"Our ultimate goal is to replace the auxiliary
power unit," said Dave Daggett, associate technical fellow in the environmental
performance strategy group. "But first, we're going to learn more about
fuel cells by powering a small airplane and, as the technology matures,
use fuel cells to power an aircraft electrical system, such as the in-flight
entertainment system."
Fuel cells are inherently cleaner and quieter
than auxiliary power units. They have fewer moving parts and can generate
more than twice as much electricity with the same amount of fuel.
A fuel cell is a chemical engine that produces
electricity directly through an electro-chemical process. Like a battery,
a reaction inside the fuel cell creates direct-current electricity. Unlike
a battery, which needs to be recharged, fuel cells keep working as long
as the fuel lasts.
"Fuel cells show the promise of one day providing
efficient, essentially pollution-free electrical power for commercial airplane
primary electrical power needs," Daggett said.
He recently witnessed a demonstration of a
hydrogen-fueled automotive fuel cell that was so environmentally friendly
its only by product was water safe enough to drink.
Most of the work on the electric airplane
will be done in Europe. Boeing Madrid will design and integrate the experimental
airplane's control system. NASA, fuel cell manufacturers, the automotive
industry and several European universities are supporting the project.
Test flights are scheduled to begin in early 2004.
"Fuel cells are an exciting new technology
that have a wide range of potential applications on future commercial aircraft,"
said Mike Friend, Chief engineer for New Airplane Product Development.
"By adapting this technology for aviation, Boeing intends to demonstrate
its leadership in the pursuit of delivering environmentally preferred products."
See the Boeing press release at:
http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/2001/q4/nr_011127a.html
De l'électricité
propre à Liège (Université de Liège)
Etudiants, chercheurs
et professeurs de l'université de Liège vont désormais
éclairer leurs travaux d'un jour nouveau. |
L'électricité qui alimente le campus
du Sart Tilman est en effet produite - partiellement - au départ
d'une pile à combustible. Installée derrière l'institut
de Botanique, la pile en question, en fait une minicentrale électrique
fonctionnant à base d'hydrogène et d'oxygène, est
particulièrement propre. Ses seuls rejets se composent de molécules
d'eau.
L'engin délivre 220 kilowatts d'électricité
et produit aussi de la chaleur qui est récupérée par
le système de chauffage de la piscine universitaire. Pour la société
Promocell, qui est à l'origine de l'implantation de cette pile,
il s'agit d'un premier succès. Le cap va
dorénavant être mis sur la production
et la commercialisation d'unités plus petites, destinées
entre autres aux véhicules de demain
CHRISTIAN DU BRULLE
ENS:
Japanese Prime Minister Test Drives Fuel Cell
Cars
TOKYO, Japan, December 17, 2001 (ENS) - After
test driving four new fuel cell cars, the Prime Minister of Japan has declared
fuel cell cars important for the energy safety of his country and is encouraging
his Cabinet ministers to drive them when they come on the market.
Prime Minister Junichiro
Koizumi was joined by Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Takeo Hiranuma
and Minister of the Environment Yoriko Kawaguchi Thursday in the parking
area on the front garden of the Diet Building for a test drive of fuel
cell automobiles developed by four Japanese automobile manufacturers. Honda,
Nissan, Toyota and Mazda demonstrated their fuel cell cars. The Prime Minister
was taken for a drive once around the garden with the president or chairman
of each of the automobile manufacturers at the wheel.
Prime Minister Koizumi enjoyed
his new transportation experience. "The ride is even smoother than ordinary
automobiles," he said. "These are the ultimate environment friendly cars,
and considered from the perspective of ensuring the energy safety of our
nation, this is an extremely important area of research and development."
The government intends to
support development of this technology and experiments to demonstrate its
practicality, Koizumi said. "If this technology can be applied to practical
use in the year 2003, I think that all of the Cabinet Ministers should
drive fuel cell automobiles," the Prime Minister said, indicating the his
government policy of encouraging greater adoption of this technology.
A fuel cell produces electricity by electrochemically
combining hydrogen fuel, which can be obtained from fuels such as natural
gas, methanol, or petroleum, and oxygen from the air. When fueled by pure
hydrogen, heat and pure water vapor are the only by-products
from the fuel cell's electrochemical reaction. |
