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4G光元：通用汽车公司和利勃海尔航空航天公司将共同开发基于氢燃料电池的飞机辅助动力装置（APU）演示模块。 该项目基于通用汽车的 Hydrotec 技术，这种技术应用于氢燃料电池堆中。

通用汽车已经制造了氢燃料电池汽车原型，并计划在火车和飞机上应用同样的技。 周四的飞机动力公告是本周通用汽车关于电气化、自主、低排放未来交通计划的最新消息。

通用公司飞机燃料电池交易是与欧洲的利勃海尔航空航天公司( Liebherr-Aerospace )达成的，有一点是需要提前说明的：目前燃料电池技术还不能推动飞机。 相反，它将替代位于飞机尾部的辅助动力装置 (APU)，当飞机在地面上或在飞行中发生紧急情况时，它会产生电力和空中动力。

在不久的将来，更强大的燃料电池系统就能直接驱动电动机驱动飞机螺旋桨。通用汽车 Hydrotec 全球执行官 Charlie Freese 坚信这一点，并补充表示，现在虽然不行，但随着时间的推移，我们将会看到飞机驱动成为燃料电池的应用之一。 他同时指出。 Hydrotec 是通用汽车氢动力系统和动力技术的品牌名称。

通用汽车与利勃海尔的交易

通用汽车正在转向利勃海尔航空航天公司，以使用通用汽车的核心燃料电池技术，并将其集成到飞机制造商和政府航空监管机构的演示系统中。

利勃海尔航空航天公司已经制造了飞机起落架系统、飞行控制和执行器、电子和热管理系统。 瑞士和德国的母公司利勃海尔以巨型矿用卡车和起升高度为 775 英尺的起重机而闻名。

通用汽车将提供基于通用汽车 Hydrotec 技术的氢燃料电池堆。 燃料电池结合氢气和空气（氧气）。 反应放出水、热和电子（电）。 利勃海尔将在其法国图卢兹工厂建造演示装置。 根据联合发告，演示器将结合通用汽车精密制造的燃料电池Hydrotec 动力立方体和燃料电池系统，以及通用汽车的控制装置和模型。

辅助动力装置（APU）通常位于飞机的后部。 连接到发
电机，它可以在主发动机关闭时提供电力。 在飞行中的紧急情况下，在停机坪,它提供电力和加压空气动力来控制飞机，并为客舱加压。 APU 无法在飞行中或在地面上推动飞机运动和飞行：它还不够强大，也没有做针对提供推力进行的优化。

为什么要更换已经工作的 APU？

飞机涡轮辅助动力装置自 1960 年代开始使用。 除飞机外，柴油发动机除了用于内燃机 APU 还用于冷却冷藏卡车和一些大型启动建筑设备上。 在喷气式飞机上，地面 APU 运行，而不是效率较低的机翼下喷气发动机。 APU 连接到单独的发电机以提供电力。

对 APU 的担忧是它燃烧碳氢燃料，增加了污染。 此外，如果飞机失去发动机动力，而失去发动机动力的一种方式是 JP-8 [喷气燃料] 的负载不佳，APU可能也无法启动，因为它使用相同的燃料源。 还有两个额外的备份，一个冲压涡轮机 (RAT)，一个从机身弹出并使用气流产生电力或液压动力的风车，以及一个在飞机在电源之间切换时提供动力的电池组。 但 RAT 每年只接受几次测试； 如果燃料电池 APU 被证明足够可靠，它可能会使冲压空气涡轮机变得不必要。

实际上，飞机的喷气发动机的功率比 APU 涡轮机功率大 100 倍，所以，目前的燃料电池APU 旨在提供电力而不是推进力。

通用汽车和利勃海尔认为飞机上的燃料电池动力装置更高效、更可靠。 要想获得认证然后出售给飞机制造商这可是一个伟大历程。 这就是航空航天的产品，比陆地产品要严格很多倍。您首先必须为机身飞行准备好技术，在空中对其进行评估，然后将其作为合格产品发布。 然后你才可以开始将它扩展到飞机的其他用途。

改用燃料电池 APU 的另一个好处：氢和氧结合产生的水蒸气可以代替装载在大型飞机上的部分或全部 2 吨水（500 加仑），用于洗手间或为飞机加湿。

通用汽车正在与西屋制动合作开发燃料电池驱动的机车。 Wabtec（代表 Westinghouse Air Brake）技术代表了 Wabco、MotivePower Industries 和 GE Transportation 之间的合并。

通用汽车电气化和氢能周

6 月 14 日，通用汽车在电气化和氢能周表示，到 2025 年，它将额外花费 350 亿美元开发电动汽车、自动驾驶汽车、美国电池厂以及用于铁路机车和固定电源的燃料电池。 通用汽车在燃料电池汽车方面的研究已有 15 年多的历史，但以往并不像今天这样把燃料电池放在重要和优先位置。 而现在的飞机应用是创建燃料电池的第一步。

电池技术比燃料电池技术发展的更成熟。 但电池的重量远比燃料电池加储罐重。不管是压缩氢还是液态氢目的只有一个，就是在一定空间内存储更多的氢气，提供更多动力。

氢燃料电池动力对于行驶相同路线或起终点在相同地点的地面车辆特别有用：转运站点、铁路站场和机场。 这些地点的加油站可以为该地区大部分燃料电池商用提供服务。 例如，美国大约有 30 个集装箱船港口和 5,000 个公共机场，而在美国 400 万英里的铺砌道路上行驶的汽车和卡车加油站超过 15万个。而铁路轨道却只有160,000 英里。

一辆从加利福尼亚长滩港出发的氢燃料 18 轮卡车可以穿过 80 号州际公路到达新泽西州纽瓦克港，中途只需要三到四个加氢站站即可跑完全程，比装载 100 至 300 加仑柴油的 18 轮柴油车。 加油所需的时间与泵送等量的汽油或柴油一样长。 根据计算，如果是一辆纯电动的 18 轮车需要 10,000 到 15,000 磅的电池才能行驶 300 到 500 英里。 这减少了 18 轮车允许的最大载重量：卡车、拖车、动力装置、能源供应和货物为 8万磅。 （300 加仑柴油，可行驶 2,000 英里，重 2,100 磅。）

2007 雪佛兰 Equinox 燃料电池电动汽车

通用汽车过去曾致力于燃料电池汽车的研发。迄今为止没有像纯电动汽车技术那样成熟，部分原因是美国只有大约 50 个加氢站，绝大多数在加利福尼亚。

燃料电池会飞吗？

有些公司正在开发由电池组驱动的短途空中出租车，其中一些飞机被提议为自动驾驶以降低成本。 因此，燃料电池推进是否是商业航空公司的问题，还有待于时间证明。但绿色航空是未来的发展方向。

配备燃料电池 APU 的飞机并不会很快升空。 展望未来，燃料电池 作为推进器的飞机也不会将你从纽约带到伦敦的直接解决方案（纽约到伦敦距离约为5584.01公里，大约是3469.74英里或3015海里，最快飞行需要5小时到）。 这是不同级别的挑战。 燃料电池可能会有一些区域性的短距离的应用。

Planes, Trains and Automobiles: If It Moves, GM Will Build Hydrogen Fuel Cells
Bill Howard
Forbes Staff
Updated: Jun 17, 2021
GM Hydrotec fuel cell
General Motors and Liebherr-Aerospace will jointly develop a hydrogen fuel cell-based auxiliary power unit (APU) demonstrator module for aircraft. The project is based on GM’s Hydrotec technology, such as in this hydrogen fuel cell stack. Steve Fecht/GM
General Motors has built hydrogen fuel-cell automobile prototypes and it plans to do the same for trains and now airplanes. Thursday’s airplane-power announcement is the most recent of this week’s GM news about plans for an electrified, autonomous, low-emissions future for transportation.

The airplane fuel-cell deal is with Europe’s Liebherr-Aerospace and there’s a big asterisk: The fuel cell technology wouldn’t propel the plane. Instead, it would be a replacement for the auxiliary power unit (APU) that sits in the tail of the aircraft and generates electrical and air power when the plane is on the ground or during an in-flight emergency.


Could more powerful fuel cell systems one day drive electric motors that turn airplane propellers? “That’s been talked about. Anything’s possible,” says Charlie Freese, GM’s global executive for Hydrotec, adding, “Over time, I can see how propulsion can become one of the applications” of an aircraft fuel cell. Just not right now, he cautions. Hydrotec is the branded name for General Motors’ hydrogen powertrain and power technology.

The GM-Liebherr Deal

GM is turning to Liebherr-Aerospace to use GM’s core fuel-cell technology and integrate it into a demonstrator system for aircraft manufacturers and government aviation regulators.


Liebherr-Aerospace already builds aircraft landing gear systems, flight controls and actuators, electronics and thermal management systems. Parent company Liebherr of Switzerland and Germany is known for giant mining trucks and a crane with a lifting height of 775 feet.

GM will supply hydrogen fuel cell stacks based on GM’s Hydrotec technology. A fuel cell combines hydrogen and air (oxygen). The reaction gives off water, heat and electrons (electricity). Liebherr will build demonstrator units at its Toulouse, France, facility. According to a joint release, “The demonstrator will incorporate GM’s precisely crafted fuel cells, Hydrotec power cube and fuel cell system, along with the GM’s controls and models.”

Honeywell HGT400 APU
The auxiliary power unit, or APU, usually sits at the rear of the plane. Connected to a generator, it can provide electricity when the main engines are off. In an in-flight emergency, it provides electrical and pressurized air power to control the flight surfaces and pressurize the cabin. An APU can’t propel the plane forward in flight or on the ground: It’s not very powerful and it’s not optimized to provide thrust. Honeywell
Why Replace APUs That Already Work?
Turbine auxiliary power units for aircraft have been used since the 1960s. Apart from aircraft, combustion-engine APUs are used to cool refrigerated trucks and start some diesel engines on big construction equipment. On a jet aircraft, the APU on the ground runs instead of the less-efficient under-wing engines. The APU is connected to a separate generator to provide electrical power.

Concerns about the APU are that it burns hydrocarbon fuel, adding to pollution. Also, says GM’s Freese, “If the plane loses engine power, and one of the ways you lose engine power is a bad load of JP-8 [jet fuel], the APU may not start” because it uses the same fuel source. There are two additional backups, a ram turbine (RAT), a windmill that pops out of the fuselage and uses the airstream to produce electrical or hydraulic power, and a battery pack that provides power when the plane switches among power sources. But the RAT only gets tested a couple times a year; if a fuel cell APU proves reliable enough, it might make the ram air turbine unnecessary.


The APU is designed to provide power but not thrust, and even if it could, the plane’s jet engines are roughly 100 times more powerful than the APU turbine.

GM and Liebherr see a fuel cell power unit on planes as more efficient and more reliable. Getting one certified and then sold to aircraft makers is a process of many years. “That’s the story for aerospace,” Freese says. “You first have to get the technology ready for airframe flight, evaluate it in the air, then release it as a qualified product. Then you can start extending it to other uses.”

A bonus in shifting to a fuel-cell APU: The water vapor produced by combining hydrogen and oxygen could replace some or all of the 2 tons of water (500 gallons) loaded on larger planes for use in washrooms or humidifying the plane.

Wabtec locomotive
GM is partnering with Wabtec to develop a fuel cell-driven locomotive. Wabtec (stands for Westinghouse Air Brake) Technologies represents mergers among Wabco, MotivePower Industries and GE Transportation. Wabtec
GM’s Big Week for Electrification and Hydrogen

Earlier in the week of June 14, GM said it will spend an additional $35 billion through 2025 developing electrified vehicles, autonomous vehicles, U.S. battery plants, and fuel cells for railroad locomotives and stationary power supplies. GM has worked on fuel cell vehicles going back more than 15 years but it’s not a current priority. Now comes the first step in creating fuel cells for aircraft applications.


Battery technology is more developed than fuel cell technology. But batteries weigh much more than a fuel cell plus a tank of hydrogen. It’s usually compressed hydrogen but possibly liquid hydrogen for more power in the same space. Hydrogen refueling stations are costly to build.

Freese sees hydrogen fuel-cell power being especially useful for ground vehicles that travel the same routes or start and end at the same places: trans-shipment points, rail yards and airports. Fueling stations in those locations could service a high percentage of the area’s fuel-cell commercial vehicles. For example, there are about 30 container ship ports and 5,000 U.S. public airports, compared to more than 150,000 gas stations for cars and trucks that travel the nation’s 4 million miles of paved road. There are just 160,000 miles of railroad track.

A hydrogen-fueled 18-wheeler starting at the Port of Long Beach, Calif., could make it across Interstate Route 80 to the Port of Newark, N.J., with just three or four stops to load up on hydrogen, a bit more frequently than a diesel 18-wheeler carrying 100 to 300 gallons of diesel fuel. Refueling takes about as long as pumping an equivalent amount of gas or diesel. A battery-powered 18-wheeler would need 10,000 to 15,000 pounds of battery, by some calculations, to travel 300 to 500 miles. That cuts into the maximum weight allowed for an 18-wheeler: 80,000 pounds for truck, trailer, powerplant, energy supply and cargo. (300 gallons of diesel fuel, good for as much as 2,000 miles, weighs 2,100 pounds.)

Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell 2007
GM has worked on fuel-cell vehicles in the past. It doesn’t have the same priority now as battery-electric vehicles, in part because there only about 50 vehicle refueling stations in the U.S., mostly in California. Here, a Chevrolet Equinox fuel cell electric vehicle at a 2007 media event. Bill Howard
But Will It Fly?
There are companies working on short-haul air taxis powered by battery packs, some of the aircraft proposed as autonomous to keep down costs. Thus the question of whether a future step for commercial airlines, all of which say they want to be green, would be fuel-cell propulsion.


Freese cautions again that planes with fuel-cell APUs won’t take to the skies anytime soon. Looking forward, he says, “A fuel cell [as propulsion] is not the immediate solution that is going to take you from New York to London. That’s a different set of challenges. There may be some regional [shorter distance] applications.”


Bill Howard
Forbes Staff
I have been past president of the International Motor Press Association, past chair of the Cornell Magazine Alumni Committee, and former president of the Cornell Alumni Association. My writings, investigative reporting and columns have been honored by the Computer Press Association, the International Automotive Media Competition and the Associated Press.

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