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Proton exchange membrane fuel cells are considered to be a promising technology for future low-emission aircraft. However, the actual performance of fuel cell systems under aviation conditions is still unclear. To address this knowledge gap, this work develops a detailed model of a fuel cell system for the propulsion of a regional aircraft. The interaction of the stacks and auxiliary components is studied with validated models for the fuel cell stack, humidifier, heat exchanger and compressor. These models are coupled with a novel sizing approach that finds the smallest feasible combination of components while optimizing the stack operating conditions for each flight phase. Based on this approach, a wide range of possible fuel cell system designs is compared in terms of their mass, efficiency, drag and volume. The results show that it is beneficial to optimize these performance criteria simultaneously in a pareto optimization problem. The aircraft's electrical power demand of 3.12 MW is provided by ten identical 312 kW fuel cell systems that are distributed along the wing. Based on the model, such a 312 kW fuel cell system is predicted to achieve an efficiency of 39 % during cruise and 49 % on ground, a specific power of 0.50 kW/kg, a power density of 0.39 kW/L and a cruise drag of 333 N. Compared to conventional aircraft engines, fuel cells have the drawback of an increased mass and drag. The achievable propulsion system efficiency with fuel cells is lower than that of large turbofan engines, but higher than that of turboprop engines for regional aircraft.
Schröder et al. (Mon,) studied this question.