Preliminary Sizing of Airport Infrastructures for Refuelling Hydrogen-Powered Aircraft

This paper illustrates a general methodology aimed at coping with the need to preliminarily assess the feasibility, cost and performance of a future commercial aviation system based on hydrogen as the in-flight energy source. The methodology is devoted to the preliminary sizing of the complex airport infrastructure needed to service hydrogen-powered airliners, namely on-site generator and liquefier, storage tank, and dispensing units, providing an optimal solution in terms of acquisition and operating costs, and eventually hydrogen cost “at the pump”. A sensitivity analysis shows how the system performs in off-design conditions, with the price of the various components needing to be shared by a smaller hydrogen production.