Aerospace

Towards zero emission aviation.

From lightweight intercoolers for hydrogen fuel cell powertrains to isothermal battery management technology for electric aircraft – our pioneering thermal management solutions are making zero emission aviation possible.

See the transformation for yourself.

Reaction Engines will be demonstrating the transformative power of our sustainable thermal management technology at this year’s Electric & Hybrid Aerospace Technology Symposium in Frankfurt. The two day event takes place from May 31 to June 1, and we’d love to discuss how we could work with your business. Book a face-to-face appointment below, or come and see us at the event. 

Making sustainable aviation possible.

Decarbonising the aerospace industry is one of the planet’s biggest challenges. Air traffic is predicted to reach over 10 billion passengers a year by 2050* and contributes a disproportionate percentage of global carbon emissions. Reaction Engines develops technology to help the industry significantly reduce these emissions – and at the same time improve efficiency, range and performance.

*Waypoint 2050 report, Air Transport Action Group et al, 2021.

Thermal management technology to
transform the aerospace industry.

From lightweight radiators for hydrogen fuel cell powertrains to isothermal battery management technology for electric aircraft – our pioneering thermal management solutions are making zero-carbon emission aviation possible.

Lightweight.

Ultra-light space-saving units which reduce mass and drag.

Ultra-compact.

Allows for design flexibility and can be adapted into existing systems.

Scalable.

Can be adapted for any application where heat is a factor in performance.

Effective.

Extremely high levels of thermodynamic effectiveness.

System level optimisation – unlimited heat transfer.

Our technology allows systems to take on detailed heat transfer models – as much as is required. We do this through attribute trade-offs across the system. Through a balance of plant analysis we can assess the ability to trade-off mass, drag or temperatures to determine optimal performance.

We size our heat exchangers to achieve the optimum balance of mass and drag, based on customer requirements. 

We can supply integrated subsystems, inclusive of structural mountings, ducts and active elements to take greater responsibility of the thermal management across the propulsion unit.

Our modular design gives us a large amount of flexibility in the trade-off between mass, drag and heat transfer.

Our sizing process can consider a range of operating conditions, to provide the best attribute balance for the full service life of the heat exchanger.

Helping hydrogen fuel cell flight to take off.

Hydrogen propulsion offers a credible and viable route to decarbonising the aerospace industry. It’s a zero-carbon solution that produces a lot of energy per unit of mass – even more than traditional jet fuel.

Project FRESSON aims to exploit recent advances in hydrogen fuel cell technology to develop a powertrain solution for a passenger aircraft.

The project is led by Cranfield Aerospace Solutions (CAeS) and supported by the UK Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) – and Reaction Engines’ world-leading fuel cell cooling technology is critical to its development.

Our technology delivers an elegant, efficient, light and low-drag solution to handle over 600kW of rejected heat. It will operate for the first time at this scale on a fully hydrogen-powered, twin-engine passenger aeroplane.

Adapting rocket technology for hydrogen propulsion.

At the heart of our rocket technology is a cutting-edge microtube heat exchanger that can cool high-pressure air from 1,000oC to -150oC in 1/20th of a second.  This ground-breaking thermal management solution incorporates thousands of millimetre-scale tubes – made from hair-width materials and arranged in a spiral design. The result is incredibly high levels of heat transfer – as high as 99% effective cooling – within a much smaller and lighter device. 

By applying this technology to fuel cells, we can solve the heat problem that could otherwise keep hydrogen fuel cell planes grounded.

Our ground-breaking technology.​

Fuel Cell Intercoolers.

Our water-cooled intercoolers are compact and ultra-lightweight with over 99% air cooling effectiveness and low charge air pressure drop. They are highly scalable, allowing for design flexibility with various installation options including charge air cooling on internal combustion engines and fuel cell powertrains.

Data

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Compact and lightweight.

Increases power – faster lap times.

Low, stable plenum temperatures.

Very low pressure drop.

Modular design and common components.

High reliability and longer life.

Low Drag Radiators.

Our high performance, multifluid radiators are ideal for side pod installations on ICE and fuel cell powertrains. Significantly lower mass and volume than conventional radiators, they reject a large amount of heat with minimal overall drag.

Data

Data

Compact and lightweight.

Reduction of frontal area – low drag.

Multiple fluids cooled in common core.

Enables zero emissions powertrains.

Drum style architecture protects from debris ingestion.

Battery Cooling Foils.

Our patented, isothermal battery heat management system for electric vehicles facilitates significantly faster charging rates, whilst maintaining a low pack weight and volume.

Data

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10x Reduction in cell temperature variation.

Increases performance and minimises cycle times.

Ultra-lightweight.

Recyclable – non toxic material.

High reliability, low complexity.

Flexible/conformable construction.

Microtube Condensers.

Our microtube condensers come in a variety of form factors for design flexibility. They are ideal for thermal lift systems in electric aviation rotorcraft applications and provide maximum heat rejection at minimum mass.

Data

Data

Compact and lightweight.

Low air pressure drop.

Uniform flow distribution.

Condensate pooling minimised.

High thermal effectiveness.

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Fuel Cell Intercoolers.

Our water-cooled intercoolers are compact and ultra-lightweight with over 99% air cooling effectiveness and low charge air pressure drop. They are highly scalable, allowing for design flexibility with various installation options including charge air cooling on internal combustion engines and fuel cell powertrains.

Data

Compact and lightweight.

Increases power – faster lap times.

Low, stable plenum temperatures.

Very low pressure drop.

Modular design and common components.

High reliability and longer life.

Low Drag Radiators.

Our high performance, multifluid radiators are ideal for side pod installations on ICE and fuel cell powertrains. Significantly lower mass and volume than conventional radiators, they reject a large amount of heat with minimal overall drag.

Data

Compact and lightweight.

Reduction of frontal area – low drag.

Multiple fluids cooled in common core.

Enables zero emissions powertrains.

Drum style architecture protects from debris ingestion.

Battery Cooling Foils.

Our patented, isothermal battery heat management system for electric vehicles facilitates significantly faster charging rates, whilst maintaining a low pack weight and volume.

Data

10x Reduction in cell temperature variation.

Increases performance and minimises cycle times.

Ultra-lightweight.

Recyclable – non toxic material.

High reliability, low complexity.

Flexible/conformable construction.

Microtube Condensers.

Our microtube condensers come in folded straight rack (FSR) or cylindrical straight rack (CSR) forms for design flexibility. They are ideal for thermal lift systems in electric aviation rotorcraft applications and provide maximum heat rejection at minimum mass.

Data

10x Reduction in cell temperature variation.

Increases performance and minimises cycle times.

Ultra-lightweight.

Recyclable – non toxic material.

High reliability, low complexity.

Flexible/conformable construction.

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