At present, most energy demands are met using primary fossil fuels that will soon run out, prompting global warming and local pollution as major motivating forces behind the search for alternate forms of energy carriers.
Hydrogen ICEs maintain much of the functionality and features found in traditional engines, while being easily integrated into service and maintenance offerings from many manufacturers, making them attractive options for fleet operators.
The Role of Hydrogen ICEs in the Transition to Cleaner Transportation
Recent years have witnessed an exponentially rising global energy demand and consumption, prompting governments to pursue sustainable solutions for meeting future energy requirements. Hydrogen represents one such promising solution as it has great potential to meet future energy demands without producing any pollution-based by-products.
Hydrogen was one of the initial elements to form after the Big Bang and is abundantly found throughout nature. Hydrogen can be obtained as a renewable energy source by electrolyzing water or decomposing organic matter, and has proven more energy-efficient and less polluting than gasoline or diesel vehicles in terms of combustion efficiency, emission levels and storage capacities compared with battery electric vehicles.
However, hydrogen engines still present some challenges to overcome. Pre-ignition is one such challenge which arises from using hydrogen in an internal combustion engine; this occurs when air-fuel mixture ignites prior to combustion taking place, creating surface hot spots. Pre-ignition is further compounded by hydrogen's low ignition energy and wide range of combustibility limits.
In order to reduce pre-ignition, both injection pressure and spark plug choice must be adjusted to match your engine's operating conditions. Furthermore, proper cooling must be ensured so as to not overheat either the cylinder head or piston during operation and then finally your combustion chamber should be cleaned so as to prevent surface deposits or suspended particles from building up in it which could potentially cause ignition problems.
To address these challenges, several strategies have been proposed. Direct introduction is one of the most widely adopted approaches for adding hydrogen into an ICE engine; this involves placing liquid hydrogen in a cryogenic tank and pumping it directly to the engine via pump, whereupon heat exchangers convert it directly to gas before injecting directly into each cylinder to avoid pre-ignition.
By mixing small amounts of hydrogen with gasoline, energy density can be increased while improving combustion process. This approach is less expensive than direct injection as it utilizes existing technology and does not necessitate complex fuel cells or batteries; additionally, there is no requirement for hydrogen fuel pumps and can therefore increase safety significantly.
Historical Context
Hydrogen has been successfully utilized in numerous engines. It may be directly injected into the combustion chamber or used as an additive; either option increases latent heat of combustor combustion and improves engine performance, while when used directly it lowers carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbon (HC), and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions which contribute to smog formation.
Hydrogen as a direct fuel requires pressurizing it to an extreme level before being delivered safely and reliably to an engine, using an injection system which delivers pressurized hydrogen at just the right moment so as to avoid pre-ignition. A multiport or direct injection system may also be utilized depending on factors like engine type and power density requirements.
Hydrogen as a direct fuel can substantially improve engine fuel efficiency compared to traditional gasoline SI engines, since hydrogen provides twice as much energy than its gaseous equivalent at equivalent pressures. However, care must be taken with managing hydrogen supply; otherwise excess NOx could be released.
One way to address this problem is with exhaust gas recirculation. Another approach is using the engine's HCCI mode for hydrogen auto-ignition; to do this, compression of hydrogen-fuel mixture up to 16:1 must take place; thus making this technology ideal for long haul trucking applications.
Today, many powertrain development companies are producing H2ICEs for heavy-duty vehicles like buses and long-haul trucks. These H2ICEs typically utilize conventional engine architecture with only minor adjustments required for operation such as modifications to fuel injection and ignition systems and changes to handle higher pressures; taking this approach allows powertrain developers to take advantage of H2ICE efficiencies without investing in entirely new engineering work.
Recent Advancements
Problematic is that ICEs remain an integral component of many manufacturers' product plans (though they also find a place in EVs), providing ample after-sales income via maintenance, parts and fuel sales. Furthermore, many passionate rev-heads are willing to pay extra for cars capable of burning cleaner fuel than gasoline; some even stripping emissions control equipment from brand-new cars in search of extra horsepower.
Hydrogen internal combustion engines offer some promising solutions to this dilemma. Hydrogen engines burn hydrogen with oxygen from the air just like regular gasoline engines do, yet emit no carbon dioxide (except for small amounts from engine oil) when combustion occurs; instead they produce oxides of nitrogen which fulfill European emission standards for carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, unburned hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides emissions.
Hydrogen internal combustion engines offer another distinct advantage over hybrid or fuel cell electric vehicles: their tolerance of impurities. As these ICEs can tolerate higher levels of contamination than hybrid or fuel cell vehicles, making them suitable for trucks that operate long hauls without stopping to replenish power cells regularly, this makes hydrogen ICEs particularly suitable for longer journeys with no opportunity for frequent stops for power cell replenishment.
Hydrogen ICEs offer another advantage by being built onto existing gasoline-powered vehicle chassis, making their introduction much simpler than designing entirely new vehicles from the ground up. This can be particularly important for heavy haulage applications where an internal combustion engine may prove more cost-efficient than fuel cells.
As such, some manufacturers have been exploring hydrogen internal combustion engines (ICEs). Mazda Wankel and piston engines stand out among these projects, though others also work on similar endeavors.
Unfortunately, hydrogen ICEs are still far from ready for prime time. Their development can be expensive, and their efficiency in most common applications has yet to match FCEVs. Furthermore, hydrogen costs remain high; although proponents believe production will eventually decrease this will take 5-10 years at least to happen.
Limitations
Hydrogen in traditional engines is far from being an eco-friendly, zero emission solution. While hydrogen combustion produces no carbon dioxide emissions, nitrogen oxide emissions do occur; in addition, hydrogen burns faster than conventional gasoline leading to higher temperatures and increased levels of airborne particulates resulting in an unpleasant odor which prohibits its use in passenger cars or internal combustion vehicles.
High temperatures increase a vehicle's energy use and generate significantly more heat, leading to greater engine wear and tear, shortening its lifespan (Luke et al. 2017).
Because hydrogen is added during compression stroke and then burned to create an homogenous mixture, more emissions than those from regular combustion engines can be released - including nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons as well as non-methane organic gases and atmospheric particulates (Wallner 2004). Thus, H2ICEs do not produce carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide directly but still release harmful pollutants (Wallner 2004).
Hydrogen as a fuel is much more costly than standard gasoline, discouraging consumers and industry leaders from investing in this technology.
H2ICEs may present several distinct advantages over electric vehicles, however. One such advantage is being able to operate them with leaner air-fuel ratios and higher compression ratios than an EV would allow. Another key benefit of hydrogen vehicles is that unlike electricity it does not lose energy during storage or transportation, thus improving efficiency and increasing performance.
Finally, certain modes of transportation -- like heavy-duty trucks and trains -- would not be viable using only electric batteries due to their large sizes and time-consuming charging requirements. Therefore, any hydrogen projects should not serve to prop up existing fossil fuel infrastructure and contribute to pollution in fenceline communities.
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