The Grupo Hidrógeno, based at the Higher School of Industrial and Telecommunications Engineers of the Public University of Navarre, has managed, for the first time in Spain, to adapt a car engine so that it operates on hydrogen – an important landmark in the technological development in hydrogen-powered locomotion as regards future energy applications.
Hydrogen is an inexhaustible fuel which does not produce contaminant emissions nor the greenhouse effect during its combustion. The gas used in the project was obtained from the electrolysis of water, using energy supplied from a wind-powered energy emulator – reproducing in the laboratory the conditions of “clean hydrogen” production, i.e. from renewable sources.
The motor, adapted at the university’s combustion engine test bed, managed to record 5,000 revolutions a minute and sufficient power to reach 140 kilometres per hour.
The Grupo Hidrógeno has been working since 2001 in this field on a programme wholly financed by the Acciona Biocombustibles company, which sponsors the research of the Grupo Hidrógeno in themes related to hydrogen technologies.
The goal of this joint initiative is to encourage the creation of knowledge, technology and business using hydrogen technologies, particularly those based on clean energies, as a relevant energy vector within a sustainable model, and in which the input of fossil fuels is progressively reduced and the use of low-carbon technologies are encouraged.
The lines of research under way are threefold: production of hydrogen based on renewable energies, safety in hydrogen technology and the use of the gas as a fuel in internal combustion engines such as those in conventional automobiles.
Pioneering initiative in Spain
The Grupo Hidrógeno started the third line of its research project in 2005 with a clearly defined aim: the development of modifications and adaptations required for a conventional petrol engine to convert to a hydrogen-driven one, while taking into account the technologies associated with the combustion engine are based on the applications of this gas.
According to Pedro Diéguez Elizondo, of the Department of Mechanical, Energetic and Materials Engineering and Project Director, “in order to achieve our objective we have modified three essential systems of the motor engine: electronic control, fuel injection and refrigeration. We have also designed and built an experimental installation for the engine to operate safely.”
The motor engine used for the investigation was provided by the Volkswagen company and corresponded to the basic “Polo” model, assembled in the local Landaben plant in Pamplona. The version modified by the Group was installed at the test room in the Heat Engine Laboratory at the Public University of Navarre, being coupled to a security system installed in the lab which is specific for the use of hydrogen fuel. The laboratories using hydrogen fuel at the University have been officially approved and certified by the Office of Industrial Safety of the Government of Navarre.
This project is the first developed project for hydrogen-driven engines in Spain, “There are big companies such as BMW, Ford or Mazda which have hydrogen motors but, in Spain, nobody has done this to date, although there are enterprises who are working on the development of hydrogen-powered generating sets,” pointed out a spokesperson for the research team.
Hydrogen has very special characteristics which makes it a good candidate to be employed as an internal combustion engine fuel: it mixes with air rapidly, it has a very low ignition energy point, it has a high speed of combustion and its octane rating is greatly superior to that of any petrol.
An exhaust pipe that emits only water vapour
The project motor started up for the first time on 21 December 2007 and operated correctly until the available fuel ran out. Diéguez explains the significance of this, the culmination of many months of work, in the following manner: “After almost three years of studies, about the middle of December 2007, we initiated the first engine start-up trials with the new fuel. Using numerous petrol-driven tests with the original engine and computer simulations with hydrogen, we drew up an injection and ignition map for the start-up and another map for the operation of the engine at low revolutions – less than 1,500 revolutions per minute and in a vacuum. Finally, on the 21st of December, the engine started up and operated correctly.”
The first experiments and subsequent checks were encouraging. The researchers managed to start the motor under any conditions of temperature, maintain it ticking over in a stable condition and operate it with light loads - up to 2,000 rpm, drawing up the appropriate injection and ignition maps
Almost a year on, in November 2008, the hydrogen-fuelled engine has reached very notable operating performances: 5,000 revolutions per minute, power sufficient to reach a speed of 140 kilometres per hour and zero greenhouse effect emissions. In fact, on the test bed, it can be seen that the only thing emerging from the exhaust pipe is water vapour.
As regards the cost of hydrogen, its price varies considerably depending on the process used for obtaining it. “In any case, what is involved here is a technology at its incipient stage, and so it is not comparable with mature technologies. Development of hydrogen technologies means they will be competitive in price in the future without either the problems of storage or contamination. The tax status set by the Government for the applications of the technology will also have to be taken into account given that, this could be favourable on the basis of the advantages of hydrogen in terms of the reduction of dependence on energy and the absence de emissions.”
One of the ideas considered for the immediate future is the installation of a hydrogen engine in a vehicle in order to test its operation. “We are fomenting additional interest and financing for this new project, involving the installing of a hydrogen engine in a car motor vehicle as a prototype,” concluded Diéguez.
