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20 May, 2008
The flight took place on March 8th, but until today the aeronautical company Boeing has not disclosed the world event, that has taken place in the aerodrome of the toledanian town of Ocaña. A team of engineers of the department of investigation of Boeing, directed by the spanish Nieves Lapeña has developed the airship prototype with the help of a dozen of companies of Germany, Austria, United States, United Kingdom, France and Spain. The aeronautical landmark has been possible starting from the structure of a two-seat Dimona motor-glider , with a span of 16,3 meters, of the company Diamond Aircraft Industries of Austria. The team of engineers of Boeing substituted the motor of conventional fuel for an electric one of 40 kilowatts of power, fed by an ion lithium battery and by the electricity generated by a fuel battery fed by hydrogen gas. The fuel battery is an electrochemical device that transforms the hydrogen in electricity and heat, without producing dioxide of carbon (CO2) and that it emits as residual water vapor. The hydrogen becomes electricity in the fuel battery by means of a chemical process known as inverse hydrolysis. The director of Programs and Engineering of Boeing Research and Technology Europe, José Enrique Román, pointed out that the important thing is that “it has been able to demonstrate that it is possible to carry out a manned flight sustained with a fuel battery” and that on the other hand “it serves as experience to develop new systems for aeronautical or aerospace platforms”. During the four flights made between February and March, the pilot of the airplane, the spanish Cecilio Barberán managed to take off and to elevate the apparatus up to an altitude of 1.000 meters over the sea level, and once in the wanted height to maintain a flight of 20 minutes at about 100 kilometers per hour, until it drained the kilo of hydrogen of its tank, that was kept at 370 pressure atmospheres. Twenty minutes in the air The take off and ascending phase, the airplane used the electric power of the conventional and the fuel battery. Already achieved the wanted altitude, the pilot disconnects the battery and the flight continued the 20 minutes exclusively with the hydrogen as fuel. For the take off and ascending phase 35 kilowatts were needed, while in the cruise phase the necessary energy was of 17 kilowatts. “It is very pleasant and precise”, declared to EL MUNDO Cecilio Barberán. The pilot highlighted as advantages of the apparatus the absence of noise and the uniform power of its electric system. “I didn´t go through fear. It was a project with all the security guarantees and now I feel proud of the obtained success”, added the crewmember. John Tracy, Technological director of Boeing, declared that Spain had been chosen to carry out this pioneer project, because our country “offers at the moment the best environmental technologies”. The giant of the aeronautical Boeing discards at the moment that the commercial civilian airplanes be impelled by hydrogen. However the technology of the hydrogen could be effective for small airships. Nevertheless, Boeing will continue investigating in the mentioned technology, because in her it sees applications for the civil aviation, when having autonomous electric generating sets of the commercial airplane to make work other apparatuses of the airship. Gustavo Catalán Deus Source: El Mundo/España Deje un comentario |
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