2024-04-04 20:22:16
In the cars, a place must be found for another tank – with water
Will the automotive revolution occur with the creation of a water-cooled internal combustion engine that burns hydrogen rather than gasoline or diesel?
Is the battery electric car the only alternative for the future of mobility? Maybe not. As research continues especially on the hydrogen combustion engine side, which is becoming an increasingly possible solution.
The transition to cars without harmful carbon emissions (at least while in use) is underway and it seems that nothing can stop it, although manufacturers are starting to have some doubts because the market does not follow the imagined sales curve.
However, until now the politicians and the majority of the car giants
believe that the only solution is in an electric car with batteries
But this is not yet the case for all companies. Toyota, the world’s leading manufacturer, has already explained that it does not believe in a single, one-size-fits-all solution and that tomorrow’s mobility will include a mosaic of possibilities – including a hybrid car, but also one that runs on hydrogen.
And it is not a question of a hydrogen car in its current form, equipped with a fuel cell, in which hydrogen is used as an energy vector in the sense that it is transformed through electrolysis into electricity, which in turn feeds a small battery (1 or 2 kWh), to make the car run.
There are other technologies that automakers are working hard on. And they are developing. Toyota, and not only, is exploring the possibility of direct injection of hydrogen into an internal combustion engine.
In this case, in principle, hydrogen replaces gasoline or diesel.
This is a technology that BMW has studied extensively for 20 years, but without being able to fully develop it due to engine pump losses, but also because of the difficulty in controlling the burning of the highly flammable hydrogen.
However, the Japanese manufacturer has filed a new patent for an engine that presents some specific features and above all a solution to the biggest difficulty encountered in the hydrogen combustion engine: its cooling.
To control combustion, engineers developed a system to inject water into the cylinders. The principle is as follows: between the combustion phases, during which hydrogen is injected and then burned,
water injection is used to cool the inner walls of the cylinder
and thus make the process sustainable.
This technique is quite similar to that developed by engine specialists AVL Racetech, who also made a hot water injection system to achieve more homogeneous combustion and reduce the risks of auto-ignition due to the flammable nature of hydrogen. The difference is that AVL Racetech’s device injects water at the same time as the hydrogen. And apparently it works, as one engine is currently using this power process.
It develops a maximum power of 400 hp.
and torque up to 6500 rpm, which is quite promising.
It remains to be seen whether all this will be implemented in real-world conditions in the long term and whether there is reliability. In addition, manufacturers will also have to estimate the amount of water that a car should hold. With this new technology, two full tanks will be needed – one with hydrogen and one with water. In addition, the auto giants will also need to produce green hydrogen from renewable energy sources – en masse, for this new solution to be truly environmentally friendly by modern standards.