Configuration for a LH2 fuel cell aircraft with distributed systems
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorsChellappa Balan, Michael F. Stoia, Charles Aguilar, Drew Christopher Hoffman, Luis Gonzalez, Daniel A. Watts
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An aircraft comprises a fuselage, wings connected to the fuselage, engines connected to the wings, and liquid hydrogen tanks. Each engine in the engines comprises a nacelle, an electric motor within the nacelle, a fuel cell stack within the nacelle, and a nacelle heat exchanger within the nacelle that receives air flowing through an inlet in the nacelle. The liquid hydrogen tanks are configured to store liquid hydrogen, wherein the liquid hydrogen tanks extend along an outside of the fuselage and above the wings and below windows in the fuselage.
Claims20
An aircraft comprising:
- a fuselage;
- wings connected to the fuselage;
- engines connected to the wings, wherein each engine comprises:
- a nacelle;
- an electric motor within the nacelle;
- a fuel cell stack within the nacelle;
- and
- a nacelle heat exchanger within the nacelle that receives an airflow through an inlet in the nacelle, wherein the nacelle heat exchanger is a hollow geometric conduit having a channel where the fuel cell stack and the electric motor are positioned within the channel and the airflow passes through an exterior surface of the conduit into the channel and out an outlet of the channel or the nacelle heat exchanger is a rectangular shape positioned at an angle relative to the airflow through the inlet;
- and
- liquid hydrogen tanks configured to store liquid hydrogen, wherein the liquid hydrogen tanks extend along an outside of the fuselage and above the wings and below windows in the fuselage.
An aircraft comprising:
- a fuselage;
- wings connected to the fuselage;
- and
- engines connected to the wings, wherein each engine in the engines comprises:
- a nacelle;
- an electric motor within the nacelle;
- a fuel cell stack within the nacelle;
- and
- a nacelle heat exchanger within the nacelle that receives an airflow through an inlet in the nacelle, wherein the nacelle heat exchanger is a hollow geometric conduit having a channel where the fuel cell stack and the electric motor are positioned within the channel and the airflow passes through an exterior surface of the conduit into the channel and out an outlet of the channel or the nacelle heat exchanger is a rectangular shape positioned at an angle relative to the airflow through the inlet.
An aircraft comprising:
- a fuselage;
- a pair of main wings connected to the fuselage;
- engines connected to each of the main wings wherein each engine comprises:
- a nacelle;
- an electric motor within the nacelle;
- a fuel cell stack within the nacelle;
- and
- a nacelle heat exchanger within the nacelle that receives an airflow through an inlet in the nacelle, wherein the nacelle heat exchanger is a solid geometric column and the airflow passes over an exterior of the solid geometric column;
- and
- a number of liquid hydrogen tanks configured to store liquid hydrogen, wherein the number of liquid hydrogen tanks is located outside of the fuselage and above each of the main wings and below a line of windows in the fuselage.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.