If the world gets warmer, must we cool it down like this?
The technologies to cool something to liquid hydrogen temperatures (20K), have been around for a century. But for many reasons, “Physicists” have been more interested in building $10 Billion dollar instruments (like CERN) to find the ultimate reason all matter has “mass;” rather than to invent a practical application of liquid hydrogen. BUT, as of this year, the Department Of Energy, wants the world to spend many many trillions of dollars, replacing all applications of carbon fuels, because they know that the entire world’s oceans and atmosphere are going to get a lot hotter, very soon. They even have committed themselves to spending the next 10 years, developing the technologies and economic justification to generate HYDROGEN at a cost of ONE DOLLAR/KILO. Yet, very few scientists and engineers are trying to apply their cryogenic craft to the development of a commercial passenger aircraft using liquid hydrogen as an energy source, radical fuel cell designs, and even super-conducting motors, generators, cables, and power-electronics, all to obsolete JP-8 fuel for jet aircraft. Certainly, all that will not contribute much to cooling down the entire globe, but that is where the real BIG money is today. Learn that the real aviation need for light weight hydrogen is based on its cheap generation, anywhere in the world. Know that using its energy is to drive VTOL tanker-trucks in order to deliver LH2 to where it will be really needed to deal with the emergencies created by climate change.
HENCE OUR LH2 CYROGENIC COPTER CONSORTIA HUB. WELCOME ABOARD.
LH2 CRYO-COPTER GUTS
SHOWN HERE IS THE FIRST DESIGN FOR LH2 TANKING INTEGRATED WITH A SUPER-CONDUCTING MOTOR DRIVING A SLOW, QUIET SINGLE LIFT FAN FOR FUTURE VTOLS
WHO ARE THE CONSORTIA CONTRIBUTORS?
Why must the electric motors be made of super-conductors?
This “HUB” is the digital home of diverse innovators working for the next 10 years, cooperatively on the same, singular mission objective. That is not to save the global atmosphere, but to deliver “EMERGENCY VEHICLES” needed to deal with all the disasters that will be created by climate change. These innovators (gov agencies, Universities, big and small corporations and especially AGGRESIVE investors) will be using funds from various charitable R&D trusts as well as tax free city/state development “bonds” to be sold over the next decade.
Most VTOL innovations exploit the “toy-quad-copter” concept of multiple motors (& propellers) based on the high power-per-kilo-of-weight available from permanent-magnet DC motors. Key to that aircraft design strategy has been the 4, or 5 or 6 (or more) “DC-power plants changing the current (RPM speed) to the motors, and/or changing the prop’s angle of attack. That works well for staying stable in a hover mode, but that is energetically very inefficient, so all VTOLs now promote their rapid transition of leaving the hover configuration (for take off) and moving forward horizontally. The Joby aircraft tilts its well designed lift-fan propellers, from vertical to horizontal for efficient forward flight. Others simply shut down completely the multi-motor “lift function” and stability of many horizontal motors, and at sufficient altitude, turn on a forward thrust(s) to enable typical “wing” structures to provide efficient lift, for maximum travel distance on a given Gigajoule of stored energy. Liquid Hydrogen will change that dynamic. It permits a single (or 2 or 3, or 4) lift fan(s) of much LARGER dimension, with LOTS of lift fan blades (more than 5), to provide excellent HOVER efficiency by SLOWLY rotating the unique thrust-fan which, in turn, slows the downdraft airflow and hence the level of noise during near-ground hover. Adding to that, the best aerodynamic efficiency would be to put the lift-fan(s) into a duct, and the best of that is to have two counter-rotating fan-discs in a proper ducting (akin to Bell’s solution). The end result: SUSTAINED HOVERING EFFICIENCY, especially with lots of stored energy, is the real breakthrough.
WHAT CAN WE SAY HERE? (QUOTE STUFF)
The history of electric powered VTOL flight was in the hands of Mike Hirschberg, editor of “Vertiflite” the association magazine/website for the Vertical Flight Society. (he is seated third from the right (dark business jacket) at the table of innovators who launched the TRANSFORMATIONAL VTOL consortium. On the far left seat of the table, (in his white “smoking”) is the “GODFATHER” of hydrogen powered VTOL aircraft R&D, based on nearly 50 years of obsessive commitment to the subject, starting in 1970 when working effectively as a “venture capitalist” in the Central Research Labs of the 3M company (which has had a LOT to do with the materials issue of cryogenic insulation, fuel cell PEMs, aircraft fabrication adhesives, etc.)Â Â
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