Kawasaki Successfully Completes Small, Hydrogen-fueled Aircraft Engine Test

Tokyo, October 17, 2024 — Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. announced today the successful operational test of a small, 100% hydrogen-fueled aircraft engine. This test was conducted as part of hydrogen aircraft core technology development efforts for a next-generation aircraft development project by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) Green Innovation Fund.

The project’s goal is to develop hydrogen combustion technologies for hydrogen aircraft engines. For this latest operational test, a standard jet-fuel-type, small aircraft engine made by Kawasaki was equipped with the newly developed hydrogen combustor and other equipment. The test was conducted at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Noshiro Rocket Testing Center in Akita Prefecture. Only hydrogen fuel was used for a full test of engine operations, starting with ignition followed by engine spool-up, steady-state operation, spool-down and stoppage. The success of the test confirmed the feasibility of stable hydrogen-fueled engine operation.

It was carried out as part of development operations for the one of three development subjects kicked off in 2021, encompassing development of hydrogen aircraft engine combustor and system technologies. The remaining two subjects, which consist of liquefied hydrogen fuel storage tank development and hydrogen-aircraft architecture concept research, are also proceeding as planned. Based on the results of this latest test, Kawasaki will continue with the development of core hydrogen aircraft airframe and engine technologies. The project adopts a ten-year core technology development period starting in 2021, and verification ground testing for evaluating the feasibility and performance of the completed and integrated system is slated for 2030.

By combining technologies and experience in the two disparate fields of aircraft and hydrogen-related products, Kawasaki is developing core technologies used in hydrogen-fueled aircraft, which contribute to reducing CO₂ emissions from aircraft operations. At the same time, the company is pursuing verification tests for the purpose of commercializing liquefied hydrogen supply chains and other efforts in the hydrogen field with the aim to realize society-wide carbon neutrality by 2050.