Testing of the maintenance and ground processes of future aircraft generations

DLR at a glance

The German Aerospace Center (DLR) is the research center of the Federal Republic of Germany for aerospace.

The aviation industry in Hamburg is preparing for flying with hydrogen. The starting shot has now been fired for the construction of a new development platform. Funded by the Hanseatic city, DLR, together with Lufthansa Technik, ZAL and Hamburg Airport, will design and test extensive maintenance and ground processes using hydrogen technology over the next two years. For this purpose, an aircraft from the Airbus A320 family is being converted into a stationary laboratory at the Lufthansa Technik base in Hamburg.

Liquid hydrogen (LH ₂ ) is being considered more and more concretely in the development departments of the major aircraft manufacturers as a sustainably producible fuel for future generations of commercial aircraft. In order to investigate the effects of the use of LH ₂ on maintenance and ground processes at an early stage, Lufthansa Technik, the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the Center for Applied Aeronautics Research (ZAL) and Hamburg Airport are now bundling their extensive practical research and scientific expertise. The aim is to jointly develop a forward-looking demonstrator and operate it from 2022.

As the third largest aviation location in the world, the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg is funding the research project with the largest single item from its special program to mitigate the economic effects of the corona pandemic on the aviation industry.

"Hamburg is not only one of the three largest aviation locations in the world, last year the Hanseatic city also developed the clear vision of becoming an important hydrogen metropolis," explained Michael Westhagemann, Senator for Economics and Innovation of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. “I therefore see it as a logical and gratifying step to combine these two core competencies of the Hanseatic city. The port, the energy sector, industry and the entire mobility sector are involved and are preparing for this pioneering technology. With this project, we are now also making an essential contribution to the transformation of aviation into a climate-neutral mobility solution for the future. The clear goal is to set up a hydrogen economy at the Hamburg location that will take a leading position internationally.”

Erprobung der Wartungs- und Bodenprozesse zukünftiger Flugzeuggenerationen

Planning of detailed development steps begins

The aim of the partners is to identify the most urgent development areas for a more detailed scientific examination in the first phase of the project by the end of 2021 and to develop the concept for the subsequent practical testing on this basis. The practical implementation of the concept will start from the beginning of 2022 and sees the Modification of a decommissioned Airbus A320 family aircraft. This will be equipped with an LH ₂ infrastructure in order to function as a fully functional real laboratory on the Lufthansa Technik base in Hamburg. At the same time, a virtual environment is being created at DLR, which will be used to digitally and highly accurately map the previously defined development fields. The new development platform is intended to provide impetus for the design process of the next generation of aircraft through parameterized and highly precise virtual models.

Against this background, Lufthansa Technik will above all contribute its great operational expertise in the maintenance and modification of commercial aircraft to the project and, thanks to its close contact with airlines around the world, can also incorporate the customer perspective. DLR will complement its many years of cross-sector experience with hydrogen and focus on the development of the virtual environment. The ZAL is also involved with its extensive know-how in the field of fuel cell technology and its digital process mapping. As an associated partner, Hamburg Airport will above all contribute its experience from the operator's point of view, for example in the definition of requirements for the ground handling process of future LH ₂ -operated aircraft.

“There is no alternative to the transformation of our industry towards climate-neutral flying. With this project, we want to tackle this enormous technological challenge, also for the MRO industry, at an early stage. In this way, we are actively securing the future because we are already building up know-how for the maintenance and ground processes of the day after tomorrow," explained Dr. Johannes Bussmann, CEO of Lufthansa Technik AG. “I am therefore glad that we have succeeded in joining forces with strong partners on this project. I am very grateful for the foresight of the city of Hamburg and the generous support of this project.”

“The aircraft of the future will be lighter, more efficient and fly with alternative drive concepts. Hydrogen will play an important role in this. We have to learn in good time in detail what requirements real operation with hydrogen on the ground has in store for aircraft and maintenance," said Dr. Markus Fischer, DLR Head of Aviation. "With this data and experience, we are developing digital models for soil processes in the project. These digital process twins can then be used directly in the design of future-oriented and at the same time practicable aircraft configurations.”

"The development of a real laboratory and digital twin is an important component of Hamburg's Green Aviation Technology Roadmap. This was developed last year together with the members of the Hamburg Aviation Cluster in order to strengthen Hamburg's competences in research and development in a European context," said Roland Gerhards, Chief Executive Officer of ZAL GmbH. "We would like to thank the city of Hamburg for their support in jointly implementing this location strategy for the development of future LH ₂ -powered aircraft."

Michael Eggenschwiler, CEO at Hamburg Airport, said: “Climate-friendly flying with hydrogen technology is only possible if the infrastructure on the ground is also optimal. Close coordination is required here, and we as the airport are pleased to be able to contribute our know-how to this important project: from questions of storage and distribution to the refueling process on the apron. At the airport, too, we rely on hydrogen as the technology of the future for our ground transport. This project offers us the opportunity to identify and make the best possible use of synergy effects between gaseous hydrogen, such as that used to refuel our baggage tractors, and liquid hydrogen for aircraft refueling.”