UK-based global major power and propulsion group Rolls-Royce reported on Monday that it had successfully run one of its aircraft engines using hydrogen as a fuel. This was a global milestone, the first time a modern aero engine had been run with hydrogen fuel. The test was a product of the company’s partnership with UK-based budget airline easyJet.

The test involved an AE 2100-A regional jet engine (designed and manufactured by Rolls-Royce North America) and was conducted at the UK Ministry of Defence aerospace research and flight test complex at Boscombe Down in England. The tests were conducted on the ground, using an outdoor test facility.

The test programme used ‘green’ hydrogen, produced through the use of wind and tidal power, by the European Marine Energy Centre, at Eday, in the Orkney Islands of Scotland. The renewably-produced electricity was used to power an electrolyser, which produced the hydrogen through electrolysis. The hydrogen was then compressed from a pressure of 20 bar to 200 bar, to maximise the amount that could be contained in the tank. In parallel, an AE 2100-A engine was converted to run on hydrogen, instead of the conventional kerosene fuel.

“The success of this hydrogen test is an exciting milestone,” enthused Rolls-Royce chief technology officer Grazia Vittadini. “We only announced our partnership with easyJet in July and we are already off to an incredible start with the landmark achievement. We are pushing the boundaries to discover the zero carbon possibilities of hydrogen, which could help reshape the future of flight.”

“This is a real success for our partnership team,” highlighted easyJet CEO Johan Lundgren. “We are committed to continuing to support this ground-breaking research because hydrogen offers great possibilities for a range of aircraft, including easyJet-sized aircraft. That will be a huge step forward in meeting the challenge of net zero by 2050.”

The data gathered from this early concept test would now be analysed. Once this had been completed, the two companies were planning to undertake a full-scale ground test, using a Rolls-Royce Pearl 15 jet engine (developed and manufactured by Rolls-Royce Deutschland). The longer-term ambition of both enterprises was to carry out flight tests with hydrogen fuel. Both are members of the United Nations-backed Race to Zero campaign and are committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.