ENvironmentally Friendly Inter City Aircraft powered by Fuel Cells

Here's a project for those who are complaining about aircraft noise to
support:


EU BACKS FUEL CELL AIRCRAFT BID

The European Union has given Polytechnic of Turin, Italy, and its
11 partners about $6 million to install fuel cells and electric
motors in a variety of two-place aircraft to show it can be done.
But the real goal is to develop a 12- to 15-passenger commuter
aircraft powered by fuel cells. "Hydrogen and fuel cell power
technologies have now reached the point where they can [be]
exploited to initiate a new era of propulsion systems for light
aircraft and small commuter aircraft," says a report on the
ENvironmentally Friendly Inter City Aircraft powered by Fuel Cells
(ENFICA-FC) project's Web site
(http://www.enfica-fc.polito.it/en/presentation).
http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archive...ll.html#195334

Slideshow: http://www.enfica-fc.polito.it/en/documents/slideshow

http://www.enfica-fc.polito.it
ENvironmentally Friendly Inter City Aircraft powered by Fuel Cells
(ENFICA-FC).

The ENFICA-FC project led by Politecnico di Torino and comprising
11 partners has been selected for co-funding by the European
Commission in the Aeronautics and Space priority of the Sixth
Framework Programme (FP6).

The main objective of the ENFICA-FC project is to develop and
validate the use of a fuel cell based power system for the
propulsion of more/all electric aircrafts. The fuel cell system
will be installed in a selected aircraft which will be flight and
performance tested as a proof of functionality and future
applicability for inter city aircrafts.

Through this project, the research and industrial Consortium
partners will focus on developing and providing operational
zero-pollution solutions to the immediate needs of aircraft
services.

The project will bring together key industrial and academic
players in the design and development and validation of intercity
aircraft together with fuel cell expertise for propulsion systems
and hydrogen storage. The overall budget is 4.5 M€, of which 2.9
M€ will be funded by the European Commission.

Hydrogen and fuel cell power technologies have now reached the
point where they can exploited to initiate a new era of propulsion
systems for light aircraft and small commuter aircraft. In
addition, these technologies can also be developed for the future
replacement of on-board electrical systems in larger
‘more-electric’ or ‘all-electric’ aircraft.

The primary advantages of deploying these technologies are low
noise and low emissions – features which are particularly
important for commuter airplanes that usually take-off and land
from urban areas. The possibility to takeoff and land without
contravening the noise abatement regulations set for small
airfields, in urban areas and near population centres, will allow
the use of these airfields during the late night hours when the
noise abatement regulations are even more stringent.

No other Project funded by The European Commission promises such
ambitious results which will be presented at both an on-ground
public event and at an in-flight public event within the scheduled
time.

Within the course of the 3 years ENFICA-FC project, which was
launched on the 1st of October 2006, two key objectives will be
realised:

1) A feasibility study will be carried out to provide a
preliminary definition of new forms of aircraft power systems that
can be provided by fuel cell technologies (Auxiliar Power Unit,
Primary electrical generation supply, Emergency electrical power
supply, Landing gear, De-icing system, etc); also Safety,
certification & maintenance concepts shall be defined as well as a
Life Cycle Cost evaluation.

In defining the Inter-City aircraft systems that can be powered
byv fuel cell technologies, the feasibility study will take into
account the performance improvements of future generation
fuel-cells and will thereby show the technical (and performance)
advantages that could be obtained in contrast to existing
conventional systems.

In addition, the feasibility of an all-electric propulsion
inter-city aircraft (10-15 seat), completely powered by fuel
cells, will be studied in order to assess the impact that a more
silent and less polluting aircraft will have in being able to
takeoff and land from congested urban areas using short airfields.
2) By the end of the project an electric-motor-driven two-seat
airplane powered by fuel cells will be developed and validated by
flight-test at a public event.

An existing and certified high efficiency two-seat aircraft design
will be used. The fuel cell system and the electric motor will be
integrated on board; the flight control system will also be
converted into an electric system.

A fuel cell unit and a high efficiency brushless electric motors
and power electronics apparatus for their control shall be
designed, built and tested in laboratory prior to installation on
board for flight;

Efficiency greater than 90% would be obtained by an optimised
aerodynamic propeller design and the flight mechanics study of the
new aircraft will be carried out to verify the new flight
performance.

Flight testing of the aircraft capable of remaining aloft for one
hour will be a major goal of the project to validate the overall
high performance of an all electric aircraft system.

A tip-of-the-hat to the Europeans, who, along with the Asians, and the
Indians, and even some South American countries, are pulling ahead of
the Americans in any number of technology areas. But we've got
faith-based democracy! And a stay-the-course presidency. Yay.
--
"He had delusions of adequacy." - Walter Kerr, who might've said it
about dub-ya.

On Tue, 05 Jun 2007 18:35:11 -0700, Bob Fry
wrote in :

A tip-of-the-hat to the Europeans, who, along with the Asians, and the
Indians, and even some South American countries, are pulling ahead of
the Americans in any number of technology areas. But we've got
faith-based democracy! And a stay-the-course presidency. Yay.



Bowing partnered with a group in Spain:

http://www.boeing.com/news/frontiers...ust/i_atw.html
Imagine an aviation technology that one day will be so
energy-efficient and environmentally preferred that it will
revolutionize the commercial airplane industry's use of fuel. If
the Boeing Research and Technology Center in Madrid, Spain, has
its way, this future won't be so far off.

The center's first major project is one designed to both develop
and flight-test a fuel cell-powered electric demonstrator
airplane. Recently, the Center—which opened in July 2002—announced
both the project and its industry partners. The Fuel Cell
Demonstrator airplane is scheduled to make its first flight in
late 2004 or early 2005.

Boeing Phantom Works, the advanced research and development unit
of the company, operates the R&T Center.



Here's the futu


http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/...ionengine.html
http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/...r_030414s.html
EDD will lead a team in the development of advanced Carbon-Based
Ion Optics, or CBIO. These are the critical components of
high-power gridded xenon ion thrusters that have a traditionally
limited lifetime. A two-phase effort, the first phase entails a
16-month effort to design, fabricate and test ion optics made from
carbon-carbon composites and pyrolytic graphite. The CBIO project
also includes the development and validation of an Ion Optics
Lifetime Computer Model to predict the performance and lifetime of
candidate grid designs.

The second phase is a 12 1/2-month extension period to develop and
test carbon based ion optics designs for possible use on the next
generation ion engine. EDD is teamed with the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory (JPL) and NASA Glenn Research Center on the CBIO
Project.

Larry Dighera wrote:

Here's a project for those who are complaining about aircraft noise to
support:


EU BACKS FUEL CELL AIRCRAFT BID

The European Union has given Polytechnic of Turin, Italy, and its
11 partners about $6 million to install fuel cells and electric
motors in a variety of two-place aircraft to show it can be done.

Well for SIX MILLION dollars, it better be able to be done.

Anybody can throw money at a problem and eventually come up
with something that works. In the end, it has to be cost
effective, useful and practical.

On Wed, 06 Jun 2007 10:22:28 GMT, kontiki
wrote in :

Larry Dighera wrote:

Here's a project for those who are complaining about aircraft noise to
support:


EU BACKS FUEL CELL AIRCRAFT BID

The European Union has given Polytechnic of Turin, Italy, and its
11 partners about $6 million to install fuel cells and electric
motors in a variety of two-place aircraft to show it can be done.

Well for SIX MILLION dollars, it better be able to be done.

Anybody can throw money at a problem and eventually come up
with something that works. In the end, it has to be cost
effective, useful and practical.


Often the cost of developing a prototype exceeds the cost of the
production product.

"kontiki" == kontiki writes:
kontiki Well for SIX MILLION dollars, it better be able to be
kontiki done.

$6M...isn't squat these days. If they can develop a prototype at that
cost it's amazing.

kontiki Anybody can throw money at a problem and eventually come
kontiki up with something that works.

Really?? Rather, anybody can throw money at a problem, and...keep
throwing money at it. Like sending a flight loads of ca$h to Iraq
[http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1734939,00.html and many
other refs].

To actually solve a problem, regardless of money, takes insight and a
modicum of intelligence. As an American and engineer I'm seeing less
and less of both here, and it ****es me off. But we got about half
the country thinking our decline is caused because the other half
doesn't pray. Science? Engineering? Rational thought? That's for
the weird-sounding foreigns, 4-eyed geeks, and far-left libs. No, we
just need to return to God and Jesus and everything will be fine.

--
Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it, misdiagnosing
it and then misapplying the wrong remedies.
Groucho Marx, who must've known something about the bushies.

On Jun 6, 9:19 am, Bob Fry wrote:
"kontiki" == kontiki writes:

kontiki Well for SIX MILLION dollars, it better be able to be
kontiki done.

$6M...isn't squat these days. If they can develop a prototype at that
cost it's amazing.

kontiki Anybody can throw money at a problem and eventually come
kontiki up with something that works.

Really?? Rather, anybody can throw money at a problem, and...keep
throwing money at it. Like sending a flight loads of ca$h to Iraq
[http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story...939,00.htmland many
other refs].

To actually solve a problem, regardless of money, takes insight and a
modicum of intelligence. As an American and engineer I'm seeing less
and less of both here, and it ****es me off. But we got about half
the country thinking our decline is caused because the other half
doesn't pray. Science? Engineering? Rational thought? That's for
the weird-sounding foreigns, 4-eyed geeks, and far-left libs. No, we
just need to return to God and Jesus and everything will be fine.

--
Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it, misdiagnosing
it and then misapplying the wrong remedies.
Groucho Marx, who must've known something about the bushies.

Hi Bob,

As another American engineer, I'm in agreement with you 100%. Our
government is allowing, no incentivizing our corporations to take our
jobs overseas to China and India to save on salaries, medical, and
taxes. Then, when these same companies want to repatriate their U.S.
dollars, they get a special tax break cut for them by congress. Then,
because even college grads in engineering don't want to work for
peanuts, they claim that there is an "engineering shortage" because
they can't fill job requisitions that they post at below starting
salary market wages and scream to raise the H1-B visa limits so they
can bring in more slave-labor body shopper engineers from India and
China.

There is something seriously wrong with our country when an MBA
managing a Target or Walmart can make twice as much annually as an
engineering desiging multi-million dollar revenue generating
products. If this keeps up, more and more college age kids are going
to avoid this profession and corporations will get the shortage that
they are claiming. I know there is no shortage right now because
100's of good engineers are being let go by companies like HP as
recently as May 31. "Early retirement" at 48 years old? Yeah,
right...

Dean

As another American engineer, I'm in agreement with you 100%.

It's not just engineering. Pure science, which is the bastion of future
engineering as well as an attraction to bright minds, is being done
offshore because research which violates superstition or offends our
superstitous leaders (such as stem cell research) is illegal here.

Jose
--
There are two kinds of people in the world. Those that just want to
know what button to push, and those that want to know what happens when
they push the button.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

Jose wrote:
As another American engineer, I'm in agreement with you 100%.

It's not just engineering. Pure science, which is the bastion of
future engineering as well as an attraction to bright minds, is being
done offshore because research which violates superstition or offends
our superstitous leaders (such as stem cell research) is illegal here.

Jose

Stem cell research is not illegal in the US. Just because the federal
government has decided not to fund such research does not make it illegal.
So, do you have another example of scientific research that is being moved
offshore because it is illegal in the US?

"Gig 601XL Builder" wrDOTgiaconaATsuddenlink.net wrote:
So, do you have another example of scientific research that
is being moved offshore because it is illegal in the US?

Sorry to butt in (but this _is_ Usenet!) but I believe it is illegal in the
U.S. to perform any scientific research on Schedule I drugs (as defined by
the Controlled Substances Act) unless one can "get a Schedule I research
license from the DEA, an investigating new drug (IND) approval from the
FDA, a licensed commercial laboratory who will provide you with the drug,
and obtain approval of your detailed research protocol from the DEA, the
FDA and the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of the academic location where
the study will take place.
[...]
What is one to fear if he wishes to eventually do this kind of work? Aside
from the medical risks of exploring new drugs in humans, the only certain
risk is the law. Work with a competent physician, and also with a competent
lawyer. Or work in a country such as Switzerland where research of this
nature is considered a medical matter, not a legal one."[*]
[*] http://www.cognitiveliberty.org/shul...l_research.htm