Austro Engine, a joint venture between Diamond Aircraft Industries and the Austrian Research Promotion Agency, this week launched a program to develop a hydrogen-powered piston engine for general aviation aircraft. The agency, which is known by its German acronym FFG, is jointly owned by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Mobility, Innovation, and Technology; the Federal Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs; and the Vienna University of Technology.
The partners, who also include Bosch General Aviation Technology, said they intend to develop a bivalent engine that could run on either sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) or liquid hydrogen. The research phase of the project is scheduled to be completed in 2024.
According to Austro Engine, it favors using an ignition jet to initiate the direct combustion of hydrogen in a piston engine on the basis that this will be more suitable for general aviation applications than using a spark plug. The company said this is more pragmatic in that until an assured supply of hydrogen is available, the new engine could run on 100-percent SAF to deliver early reductions in carbon dioxide emissions.
Diamond Aircraft and Austro Engine are already collaborating with Lufthansa Aviation Training to use SAF with existing piston engines. Initial work on the hydrogen engine concept will be done on a test bench as the partners determine the best approach for a possible production powertrain.