31 May Newly awarded Horizon Europe project OVERLEAF
AMADE participates in the European project entitled ““nOVel low-prEssure cRyogenic Liquid hydrogEn storAge For aviation” (OVERLEAF) with a duration of 36 months from May 2022 to 2025. The coordinator of the project is ACITURRI ENGINEERING SL (Spain). There are 10 public and private entities from 6 different countries. The project got officially launched with a virtual Kick off meeting on May 12, 2022, where different partners introduced themselves and also defined the primary tasks for the first six months.
In order to meet the objectives of the European Green Deal by 2050 in the aviation sector, the transition towards H2-powered aviation is the solution with the most potential. Although hydrogen-powered aircrafts exist, the current cost of storing and using H2 as a fuel in prolonged flights make their democratization impossible. The main blocking point is the absence of viable storage systems of H2 in aircrafts considering the strict limitations in terms of weight, volume, and cost-efficiency. A sensitivity analysis shows how the economics depend on the tank’s gravimetric index (GI). Today’s technology can barely achieve 20% GI for 500kg of H2, while industry actors need at the very least 35% GI for 500kg of H2 to transition towards H2-powered aviation.
OVERLEAF intends to develop a game changer Liquid Hydrogen (LH2) storage tank to enable the transition towards H2-powered aviation. Based on a disruptive design (under patent process) and leveraging innovative materials and technologies, the OVERLEAF solution is expected to boast a GI higher than 60% for 500kg of LH2, with no venting over 24h. Furthermore, the concept is an enabler for using the aircraft’s fuselage as the outer tank, allowing to seamlessly integrate the tank in the aircrafts structure.
OVERLEAF will have an interdisciplinary R&D approach focusing on advance materials engineering, testing and combination at lab and at pilot scale, together with appropriate simulation of different design architectures of the hydrogen storage system. The project will be based on three distinctive phases and implemented in 7 Work Packages. The consortium includes multidisciplinary partners from 6 different EU countries and contains all the necessary expertise and know-how to carry-out all tasks needed to achieve OVERLEAF’s ambitious objective.
The project has been funded by the Horizon Europe Programme, under the topic “HORIZON-CL5-2021-D5-01-05: Greenhouse gas aviation emissions reduction technologies towards climate neutrality by 2050” of the call “HORIZON-CL5-2021-D5-01: Clean and competitive solutions for all transport modes”.
‘Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or [EUROPEAN CLIMATE, INFRASTRUCTURE AND´ENVIRONMENT EXECUTIVE AGENCY (CINEA)]. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.’
