Shini Somara: What is your research specifically looking at?
Ashley van Bruygom: I’m based at the National Centre for Combustion and Aerothermal Technology at Loughborough University, where I’m researching hydrogen combustion for aviation. I do this under extremely controlled settings using Computational Fluid Dynamics, essentially simulating flames on the computer!
In aviation, hydrogen is a relatively new concept. There is lots of history, and knowledge when it comes to burning hydrocarbons, but hydrogen is completely different. For a start, it’s not a liquid, so we don’t have to worry about atomising it. However, as a lightweight gas, it is easy to burn and therein lies one of our greatest challenges.
Hydrogen can be stored as a gas in a highly pressurised vessel or can be cooled to extreme temperatures and stored as a liquid. Liquid hydrogen can be handled and transported more easily but burning it in this state is not so easy, especially when operating...