Fuel Cell systems in hybrid-electric aircraft

With their actual power densities, fuel cell systems are too heavy for aviation. The power density of a fuel cell system can be increased by further developing the subcomponents. Intelligent integration of individual components in the aircraft could be a solution. For this purpose, the aircraft dimensions and simulations of 200 nmi and 600 nmi range from an EU project are used. A more granularly divided series connection of fuel cell systems is considered to integrate these systems in the aircraft more intelligently. A smart way is to equip each fuel cell system with a 640 V (323 kW) system voltage and specially integrated DC-DC boost converters. This choice of system voltage and the use of DC-DC boost converters allow for thinner cross-section cables, easier integration of DC-DC converters into the FC systems housing, and increased system redundancy. The overall control of the fuel cell systems can be carried out via low-weight CAN bus low-voltage signal cables, which hardly contribute to the aircraft's weight.