Grant: Engage Grants Program

Solar Ship is a company that specialises in the design and production of hybrid aircrafts, which rely on bothbuyancy and aerodynamics to provide lift. The aircrafts are design for extreme short takeoff and landing, inorder to access very remote areas to deliver cargo. The aircrafts have a large surface area for solar electricpower generation, allowing for long ranges of operation. So far, the Solar Ship designs have relied on heliumas the lifting gas (in the wings). Helium is an inert gas, making it safe to handle. However helium is notrenewable, remains in high demand and suffers from persistant supply and costs issues, particularly in theremote areas where Solar Ship aircrafts are designed to operate.This project seeks to examine the possibility of replacing helium with hydrogen, which is a better lifting gasand which is far more accessible than helium. As hydrogen is combustible, it présents safety issues that need tobe examined before it is used as a lifting gas.The purpose of this project is to examine the safety issues presented by the use of hydrogen as a lifting gasusing computer fluid dynamics. Specifically, we will 1) study the potential hazards posed by an hydrogen leakcoming from a breach in Solar Ship wing under various cruising airspeed including airport parking, leak orificesizes, internal hydrogen pressure and surrounding obstructions and 2) study the mixing of air and hydrogen bydiffusion/osmosis through the air bladder membrane used for pressure regulation inside the wings.The project is key first step to determine if hydrogen is a viable option for the company (leading to loweroperational costs), and to identify the design changes in their current models that would be required to ensurethe safe use of hydrogen as a lifting gas.