Zero Emission Hyper Sonic Transport

ZEHST (Zero Emission High Speed Transportation)
ZEHST Plane Concept
General information
TypeHypersonic airliner
ManufacturerEADS
Designer
EADS
StatusIn development

The Zero Emission Hyper Sonic Transport[1] or ZEHST[2] is a planned hypersonic passenger jet airliner project by the multinational aerospace conglomerate EADS and the Japanese national space agency JAXA.[3]

On 18 June 2011, the ZEHST concept was unveiled by EADS at the Le Bourget Air Show. The envisioned vehicle uses a combination of three different types of engines, including relatively conventional turbofans, rocket motors, and scramjets to attain a maximum speed of Mach 4.5 (four and a half times the speed of sound).[4][5] The ZEHST has been projected to carry between 50 and 100 passengers while flying at very high altitudes for greater efficiency.[4]

Conceptually, the ZEHST has been promoted as a descendant of, or a successor to, Concorde, a supersonic airliner that was withdrawn from passenger routes in 2003.[5] According to projections released, the ZEHST would be capable of flying between Paris and Tokyo in 2.5 hours, or between New York and London in one hour.[6][7] In 2011 EADS predicted that the ZEHST could be flying by 2050,[4] according to an article in SuperBlondie revising the prediction in 2024 to 40 years from then.[7]

Development

Even before the introduction of the Concorde supersonic airliner during the 1970s, the aviation industry has wanted to produce high-speed transport aircraft. Since the 1990s, several collaborative research efforts in the field have been financed in Europe.[8] By the 2010s, both the American aerospace company Boeing and the multinational aerospace conglomerate EADS were reportedly working on separate plans to develop hypersonic aircraft.[4][5] Such efforts have largely been constrained to theoretical work, but some progress has been observed over the decades, and innovations have continued to be patented in the field, such as a patent for a mixed-propulsion arrangement awarded to EADS in 2010.[9] Amongst other aspects, efforts have been made to reduce noise generated by the sonic booms commonly produced by aircraft flying at supersonic speeds.[5][10]

On 18 June 2011, EADS revealed the Zero Emission Hyper Sonic Transport (ZEHST) concept at the Le Bourget Air Show.[11][12] As originally announced, the aircraft would combine three distinct propulsion systems: two turbofan engines for taxiing, take-off, and up to Mach 0.8; then rocket boosters up to Mach 2.5, afterwards switching to a pair of underwing scramjets to accelerate up to its maximum speed of Mach 4.5 (four and a half times the speed of sound).[5][13] The fuel of these engines is envisaged to be a biofuel primarily made out of seaweed,[1] along with a combination of oxygen and hydrogen.[4] Largely due to this fuel composition, the aircraft has been referred to as a "green" aircraft that generates "almost zero emissions".[14][15]

The ZEHST has an unusually high cruising altitude of 32 km, flying within the outer atmosphere, compared to the 11km of conventional airliners; this altitude was chosen because the air is thinner and causes less drag.[4] The use of conventional turbofan engines during takeoff would make the ZEHST quieter than conventional airliners. The ZEHST's configuration has not been finalised.[4] In addition to EADS itself, much of the propulsion-based development work on the ZEHST project had been made in cooperation with the European missile specialist MBDA and the French national aerospace research centre ONERA.[8] International engagement also secured partners; the cooperative HIKARI R&D project is underway between Japanese and European agencies.[8] The ZEHST is not the only such effort that the company has engaged in; by 2015, Airbus Group (EADS's new name) was reportedly working on two hypersonic projects, one in conjunction with Japanese partners and the other with Russian and Australian involvement.[5] That same year, Airbus chief executive Tom Enders stated his support for development of a hypersonic long range passenger transport.[16]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Jones, Bryony (21 June 2011), "Race to be first with 'son of supersonic", CNN, archived from the original on January 4, 2014, retrieved 21 June 2011
  2. ^ "Concorde 2.0: New York to London in an hour?". theweek.com. 8 May 2015.
  3. ^ Lichfield, John (20 June 2011), "London to New York in 90 minutes: is this the Concorde of the future?", The Independent, UK, retrieved 25 June 2011
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "Concorde's successor revealed at Paris Air Show", The Independent, 20 June 2011, retrieved 21 June 2011
  5. ^ a b c d e f Wakefield, Jane (7 May 2015). "Could we fly from London to New York in an hour?". BBC News.
  6. ^ Chen, Stephen (4 August 2015). "Proposed Airbus hypersonic jet could fly from London to New York in one hour". scmp.com.
  7. ^ a b Thompson, Ben (2024-06-05). "'Hypersonic jet of the future' was touted to fly at Mach 4 and run on seaweed". Supercar Blondie.
  8. ^ a b c "ZEHST: A model for future flight". ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  9. ^ "US Patent 9079661: Ultra-rapid air vehicle and related method for aerial locomotion". Google =. 2010.
  10. ^ Clarke, Chris (24 November 2015). "11 Outlandish Attempts To Build The Next Concorde". popularmechanics.com.
  11. ^ "EADS unveils Concorde of the future". imeche.org. 20 June 2011.
  12. ^ "Cet avion va révolutionner le transport aérien" [This airplane will revolutionise aerial transport]. Le Parisien (article) (in French). Paris, FR. 18 June 2011. Archived from the original on 3 January 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  13. ^ Kaminski-Morrow, David (19 June 2011). "PARIS: EADS details near-hypersonic transport concept". Flight International.
  14. ^ "Green 'hypersonic' jet could fly to New York in 90 minutes". businessgreen.com. 20 June 2011.
  15. ^ "Hypersonic passenger jet to run on clean fuel is unveiled at Paris Air Show". latimesblogs.latimes.com. 21 June 2011.
  16. ^ Trimble, Stephen (3 March 2015). "Airbus chief flags interest in future high-speed aircraft". Flight International.
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