As part of the sustainability goals set by ACARE Flightpath 2050 for the aviation industry, the development of new technologies that will make air travel more sustainable in the future is currently under development. One of the projects that has made great strides in this area is ASuMED.
ASuMED was funded by the European Union as part of the Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program. The execution of the project was in the hands of an experienced consortium, in which Demaco was a member.
The goal of the ASuMED project was to develop an aircraft engine that utilizes superconductivity to achieve the power densities and efficiencies required for hybrid-electric distributed propulsion (HEDP) aircraft.
The ASuMED motor is based on the double cryostat concept and includes two separate cryostats and two separate cooling systems. The rotor is cooled with liquid helium, while the stator is cooled with liquid hydrogen.
With this project, Demaco and the other members of the consortium demonstrated that a compact and superconducting electric motor can absorb enough energy to be used in the aviation industry.
After completing the project, various experiments and research will follow, after which the new technology will hopefully be put into use. This would mean a considerable increase in sustainability within the aviation industry and a first step towards the use of hydrogen in aircraft engines.