Boeing Working on Fuel Cell Aircraft

"Boeing is working with development partners on a fuel cell-based small aircraft. It seems like a logical use of the technology. Now if they can come up with a quiet, personal-sized VTOL craft a la Paul Moller's Skycar (which is anything but quiet), we'll really have something." From the article "A Boeing research director was quoted as saying, "While Boeing does not envision that fuel cells will provide primary power for future commercial passenger airplanes, demonstrations like this help pave the way for potentially using this technology in small manned and unmanned air vehicles."

Comments

ha ha

[Quadraginta]

Are the power to weight ratios comparable to current internal combustion engines?

You probably mean the external combustion engine, also known as the jet engine. Only small airplanes use pistons and such. And the answer is: of course not. This is yet another PR stunt aimed at the Gasoline Is Eeeeeeevil ninnies of the world who failed freshman chemistry.

If not, what about fuel cell powered dirigibles?

I don't think the problem with dirigibles is how to power them. I think the problem is that there's just about zero demand for a transport service that's about as slow as a ship or train but neither as efficient nor as reliable.

A big cargo ship carrying 70,000 tons of cargo can cruise at 15 knots with its 50,000 HP engines running at 80%. The EPA helpfully estimates big marine engine fuel consumption as about 250 grams per kilowatt-hour, which lets you work out that a cargo ship consumes about 4 grams of fuel per ton of cargo per kilometer traveled.

Four locomotives pulling a hundred-car freight train at 60-80 MPH, with each car carrying 100 tons of cargo, will burn about 7.5 gallons each per mile. That works out to 7 grams of fuel per ton of cargo per kilometer traveled.

There's no way any vehicle that flies can ever come close to that kind of fuel efficiency. So who would want cargo delivery that's just as slow, but much more expensive?

Re:time to educate the masses again...

[Captain Nitpick]

Go here and look at the nice picture on the right-hand side. Notice that the combustion takes place in the exhaust stream, heading out of the engine. Not inside a cylinder.

Sounds like someone failed basic understanding-of-how-things-work class.

Oh I agree, definitely.

Somebody failed looking at pictures class. The combustion chamber in a jet engine is quite definitely in the middle of the engine. Combustion takes place inside the engine, between the compressor and the turbine.

Not all ICEs have pistons, nor are all piston engines ICEs.