The “Green Deal” adopted by the European Union in 2019 with the goal of decarbonisation is putting massive pressure on the aviation industry. Various projects in applied research are dealing with new propulsion concepts accordingly. CU member Institute of Materials Engineering and Plastics Processing IWK also collaborated on the project at the Royal Institute of Technology KTH in Stockholm.

KTH is developing a flying platform for the further development and validation of novel propulsion concepts. The project is called “Green Raven” and is intended to be modular in order to be universally usable for all research areas. About 80 g of hydrogen are required for operation, which at a pressure of 300 bar occupy a volume of 3 l in a standard tank and allow a flight time of about 80 minutes. A pressure tank that can withstand around 160 bar (design pressure with safety factor: 420 bar) has some weight added to the structure. To reduce the extra weight, the already robust tank structure can be used as a structural component. Thus, KTH aimed at an integral tank – the necessary concept development was carried out together with the IWK.

Read the article about the project in the May issue of the magazine KunststoffXtra.

More information on the “Green Raven” project

Contact
IWK Institute for Materials Technology and Plastics Processing
Prof. Dr. Gion A. Barandun
OST University of Applied Sciences of Eastern Switzerland
Eichwiesstrasse 18b
CH-8645 Rapperswil-Jona
www.ost.ch/iwk