CELLSIUS, an ETH Zürich student project, is building a hydrogen-electric demonstrator aircraft powered by a fuel cell. Fuel cells run at low temperatures, so heat exchangers reject waste heat, adding weight and drag. Each exchanger has a core transferring heat to air and manifolds guiding coolant.
The team kept the plate-fin core and applied ToffeeX, a physics-driven generative design platform, to the manifolds. It adds or removes material only where physics requires, aiming to lower pressure loss, spread coolant evenly, and cut fluid volume. nTop prepared the geometry, Ansys validated it, and Pilatus Aircraft printed it in metal using Selective Laser Melting. The manifolds became lighter, with even flow and lower pressure drop. The case suggests targeted generative design can support hydrogen aviation cooling.
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