NEWBORN

Main Goals of the Project

NEWBORN focuses on development and realization of the TRL 4 ground demonstrator of the overall propulsion system using fuel cells technology for electricity generation. The fuel cell power source technology will consist of 1 MW modules, which can be paralleled to exceed the 3 MW power levels defined by the CAJU call. The consortium plans to market the technology early aboard the CS23 19-pax commuter aircraft - 2 systems, total system take-off power of ~2 MW.

CIRA Activities in the Project

Within the project, CIRA contributed to several key technical areas related to aeroacoustic, vibroacoustic, and aerodynamic analyses, supporting the development and integration of innovative hydrogen-based propulsion systems for future aircraft configurations.

CIRA’s activities included:

• Performing advanced acoustic and vibration simulations and analyses to assess:
• community and cabin noise levels for CS23 and CS25 aircraft;
• vibration immunity of the fuel cell stack.
• Developing and supporting reduced-order models focused on acoustic and vibration behavior.
• Preparing a notional integration model to demonstrate the potential implementation of the developed system within a CS25 aircraft configuration.
• Investigating certification aspects and proposing new MoC concepts for megawatt-class fuel cell powertrain systems in CS25 aircraft.
• Designing an aerodynamic intake for a benchmark airframe through CFD simulations, considering space constraints, required mass flow rate, and drag minimization.

General Project Information

Funding Programme: Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking, under the Horizon Europe framework

Start Date: 01/01/2023 ; End Date: 30/06/2026

Official Project Website: https://newborn-project.eu/

Coordinating Organization: Honeywell Aerospace

Partners: Pipistrel, Power Cell Group, Fraunhofer, Siemens, Aciturri, Reaction Engines, Test-Fuchs, University of Nottingham, CIRA, Customcells, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Friedrich-Alexander Universitaet Erlangen-Nuernberg

CIRA Contact: Mattia Barbarino, m.barbarino@cira.it