First flight of hydrogen-powered drone with water vapour exhaust

It only lasted 10 minutes and the guys in woolly hats and high-vis jackets looked like any other drone enthusiasts. But this short flight was the first by an aircraft wholly powered by solid hydrogen.

The experimental drone runs on pellets that emit only water vapour when they burn. The drone’s fuel is also three times as light as a comparable lithium battery. One day the technology could help make commercial aircraft lighter and cleaner.

more…

Solid hydrogen?

> uses around 100 solid pellets packed into a cartridge. The 1-centimetre-squared pellets are made from a chemical compound that produces a steady stream of hydrogen as they are gently heated…

The main problem with solid chemicals that absorb hydrogen is that (when I last looked) they only absorb a relatively small amount of hydrogen, so the resulting hydrogen storage is heavy and bulky.

well done