- Francesco Mastropierro (AIT) presented on the topic: “Sensitivity of LH2 Aircraft Refuelling to Process and Tank Parameters”.
The EASN Conference is one of Europe’s key events for the aerospace research community, bringing together scientists, industry experts, and policymakers to share the latest advances in aviation innovation. The 15th EASN International Conference was held in Madrid, Spain from 14–17 October 2025, offering a vibrant platform for discussing sustainable technologies and hydrogen-based solutions to support the aviation sector’s decarbonisation.
At this year’s EASN Conference, ALRIGH2T partner AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, represented by Francesco Mastropierro, presented their research on “Sensitivity of LH2 Aircraft Refuelling to Process and Tank Parameters“. The presentation, which gathered around 40–50 attendees, showcased the project’s progress in modelling key aspects to develop direct refuelling for future hydrogen-powered aircraft. This is a valuable opportunity to to raise the project’s profile, demonstrate its impact, and engage with other researchers working in the field.
A closer look at ALRIGH2T’s presentation
The scientific programme of the EASN Conference 2025 features a very diverse range of sessions, highlighting the latest advances in sustainable aviation. Among them, the session “Propulsion System Advancements for the Near Future” brought together researchers exploring new approaches to electrified and hydrogen-powered propulsion systems. Within this context, the presentation shared insights from the ALRIGH2T project on developing scalable, safe refuelling solutions for future liquid hydrogen aircraft.
The research introduced a newly developed digital tool and demonstrated its use in analyzing how selected key parameters influence the refueling process. In particular, the effects of thermodynamic conditions inside the cryogenic tank, alternative refuelling speed profiles, and first assessment of cross-feed refuelling strategies were examined, with the objective to minimise the vented mass and the pressure buildup inside the tank. The initial and venting pressure and the initial temperatures in the tank are the most influential parameters; potential trade-offs with system weight, tank gravimetric efficiency and refuelling time are also highlighted.
The presented tool will be further developed throughout the project, integrating data from Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and ALRIGH2T’s upcoming demonstrations at Milan–Malpensa, for more accurate insights. The ultimate goal of this simulation work is to build a digital twin of the refueling process, supporting the design, planning, monitoring, and optimization of liquid hydrogen operations. The digital twin is also expected to inform the design of future hydrogen fuel systems for both aircraft and ground support equipment.
The session sparked lively discussions afterward on the foundational assumptions underlying low-order models, the required improvements for performance assessment of cryogenic tanks at system level, and the physical, operational and safety implication of refuelling at very high mass flow rates.
Moving forward
The results presented by AIT represent an important step towards understanding how factors such as tank design and thermodynamic of liquid hydrogen influence the refuelling of disruptive aircraft concepts. While the findings are encouraging, they also highlight the need for further research to deepen this understanding and translate it into practical solutions.
These advances will support ALRIGH2T’s upcoming demonstrations at operational airports and strengthen the project’s contribution to decarbonising aviation through hydrogen innovation.
