HyFlux and AMRC secure funding for clean aviation cooling

The Swansea-based company will head up the new £1.5 million project, named SUPERCOOL, aimed at enabling lightweight, high-efficiency cooling required for superconducting motor operation in zero-emission propulsion systems.

HyFlux will be overseeing project delivery, system architecture, and commercial strategy. The AMRC will support the engineering validation and integration, while the Institute for Advanced Automotive Propulsion Systems (IAAPS), part of the University of Bath, will provide the test infrastructure to qualify the performance of the cooling system under realistic hydrogen conditions.

The Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) Programme funding is funding £1.1 million towards the work - with the remaining amount financed by the lead partner.

“This project marks a critical step forward in realising our vision for zero-emission propulsion,” said Paul Perera, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of HyFlux. “By bringing together cutting-edge IP from Victoria University of Wellington and world-class engineering in the UK, we are creating a powerful innovation platform for clean aviation.”

James Hunt, Project Leader for the University of Sheffield AMRC, added: "We have been working with the team at HyFlux for a number of months seeking to address some of the challenges around propulsion systems for future aircraft, and this funding from the ATI provides the validation that the technology is a credible route to decarbonising aircraft.

“The team that Paul has assembled is quite formidable and we look forward to contributing the AMRC’s capability in design, simulation and manufacturing expertise.”

Achieving zero-emission flight across different segments of aviation will require a range of advanced technology solutions, including one based on superconducting electrical motors such as the one proposed by HyFlux.

One of the key challenges to address with such a system is how to keep the motor and power electronics at the optimum operating temperature, which could be as low as minus 240°C. The SUPERCOOL project seeks to design, manufacture and test the cryogenic cooling system essential to maintaining this temperature.

HyFlux, and the AMRC will work together to create novel designs for the cooling system components such as the heat exchanger. Computational fluid dynamics will be used to simulate the performance to ensure the system is as efficient as possible.

The project will also draw on expertise from Institute for Advanced Automotive Propulsion Systems, part of the University of Bath, utilising its globally-recognised liquid hydrogen (LH2) test facility to complete ground-based validation of the cryogenic cooling system. This advanced infrastructure will be instrumental in de-risking the technology for future flight demonstrations.

Read the article online at: https://www.globalhydrogenreview.com/hydrogen/16092025/hyflux-and-amrc-secure-funding-for-clean-aviation-cooling/