Alex Lo | MEL Candidate | Dec 16, 2022
Mentors: Phil Robinson and Kurt Shewfelt, Honeywell International Inc. / Omar Herrera, CERC
Abstract
The increase of flight time enables the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (HFC UAV) having more variety of applications in different industries when comparing with Li UAV (Zacc Dukowitz, 2021). However, the HFC UAV still need to land down and refill with hydrogen fuel when the fuel tank is almost empty. Although filling up hydrogen fuel into to a tank is much faster than charging a lithium battery which having the same weight, the availability and simplicity of acquiring hydrogen fuel are low. These are the reasons why HFC UAV is less common than the Lithium Battery Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (Li UAV) in both commercial and recreational market even HFC UAV having three times more flight time than Li UAV (Intelligent Energy Ltd, 2020). Therefore, having a better dispensing route for increasing the availability and simplicity on acquiring hydrogen fuel for the society is the most direct way to shift the Li UAV demand to HFC UAV demand.
In this study, we will investigate and propose dispensing routes for the hydrogen fuel, which is used to fill the HFC UAV, so that the simplicity, commonality and acceptance by the public on using HFC UVA can be increased. Based on the proposed dispensing routes, we will compare the amount of Greenhouse Gases emitted throughout the lifecycle of hydrogen fuel and also the cost of hydrogen fuel per flight mile on a specific task. As a result, a clearer picture on the benefits of using HFC UAV technology will be revealed.