Alte de Boer

Alte graduated as an MSc electrical engineer from Technical University of Twente in the Netherlands in 1996. He joined the Netherlands Aerospace Centre NLR in the same year and is currently working as a senior research and development engineer for aircraft electric technologies. His research areas include sustainable aviation powertrain architecture studies, aerospace electronic systems engineering, and studies for electric subsystem technologies that emerge for sustainable aviation.

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Presentation

Sodium borohydride as an energy carrier for aviation

Is sodium borohydride (SBH) a feasible carrier of hydrogen on board aircraft? Can it be considered an alternative to liquid and gaseous hydrogen storage methods? There are potential advantages of applying SBH: storage takes place under atmospheric conditions in a powder (or dissolved in water) and hydrogen release does not need additional thermal energy. We present the results of a first feasibility study on the application of SBH in aviation. Multiple SBH fuel variants – with different amounts of water and with corresponding fuel processing architectures – were analyzed and simulated in the context of a regional aircraft mission.