By the Leeham News Team

July 25, 2024, © Leeham News, Farnborough Air Show:  Rolls-Royce is calling in data specialists Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to help speed up the development of its hydrogen program, with the help of quantum computing and generative artificial intelligence.

Rolls-Royce hydrogen testing at DLR, Cologne. Credit: Rolls-Royce

The partnership – announced this week at the Farnborough International Airshow – aims to significantly shorten the design time for new hydrogen-powered propulsion systems under development at Rolls-Royce facilities.

The environmental benefits of hydrogen are gaining increased attention and have been front and centre at this year’s airshow. Hydrogen forms a central plank of the Rolls-Royce alternative fuels program.

Anupam Singhal, president of the TCS manufacturing division, told LNA the rationale for the collaboration with the engine manufacturer was bringing proven hydrogen-powered engine designs to market as quickly as possible.

“We have to look at all the tools and technologies available to us to make the entire ecosystem more sustainable,” he said. “Can we cut short the whole engine design time? Can we have this engine on the wing as quickly as possible?”

Under the expanded partnership, TCS will provide engineering skills and support for system design, component design, supply chain support, and program management to Rolls-Royce as it addresses three key challenges related to hydrogen: fuel combustion, fuel delivery, and fuel systems integration with an engine.

TCS has been working with Rolls-Royce for more than a decade, including testing to demonstrate the integration of technologies required for 100% hydrogen fuel operation on a modified Pearl 15 engine. However, this new partnership is not tied to any one product and aims to streamline the Rolls-Royce development program across its various hydrogen research projects.

AI and quantum computing

Singhal said artificial intelligence and quantum computing were critical tools to achieve this mission.

“Generative AI can cut short the design time by 10-20% because it can create multiple scenarios where the design can be tested,” he explained.

“If it needs to fail, it can fail fast, and then the next design can be explored, rather than going through the whole process and at the end realising it is not going to work. We believe technology can cut down significantly on this timeframe.”

He added: “Quantum is another area which enables faster computing. A normal computer may take weeks or months, but using quantum perhaps you can do it almost in real-time. Data sets and design data enable you to create scenarios and to test your design against certain variables.”

At the start of this year’s airshow, Rolls-Royce revealed that it had broken ground on an engine test site in Mississippi where it will perform outdoor, full-scale gas turbine hydrogen testing.

The development of the site and engine testing is in partnership with UK-headquartered low-cost airline easyJet, and will be located at NASA’s Stennis Space Center.

The testing will demonstrate the integration of technology required for the hydrogen-powered Pearl 15 engine. TCS is already providing engineering expertise to Rolls-Royce to achieve this.

Hydrogen projects

Separately, Airbus announced a new partnership with aircraft lessor, Avolon, to study the potential of hydrogen-powered aircraft, in what the OEM said was the first collaboration of its ZEROe Project with an operating lessor.

Airbus said it was working with the Irish lessor to explore how future hydrogen-powered aircraft could be financed and commercialised, and how they might be supported by the leasing business model.

Also announced at the Farnborough Airshow, GKN Aerospace’s H2FlyGHT, which is backed by a consortium of major suppliers and academic partners, will receive funding of £44m ($34m) to develop and test a fully integrated liquid hydrogen fuel system and 2 megawatt cryogenic electrical propulsion system for the next generation of zero-emission aircraft.

ZeroAvia has linked up with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines to operate a demonstration flight using the company’s ZA2000 zero-emission, hydrogen-electric engines for a large regional turboprop.

ZeroAvia has tested a prototype of its first ZA600 engine aboard a Dornier 228 aircraft at its UK base and has performed advanced ground tests in the US and UK for cryogenic tanks or LH2, and proprietary high-temperature PEM fuel cell and electric propulsion systems. ZA2000 will support up to 80-seat regional turboprop aircraft such as the ATR72 or the Dash 8 400.