March 2007

E-Mail This Article Printer-Friendly Version

MUNICH/BRUSSELS/WASHINGTON, DC - Modern internal combustion engines, laid out specifically for hydrogen fuel, offer clear advantages in terms of performance and cost over other propulsion systems.

This is the conclusion and bottom line of the three-year HyICE study investigating optimization of the combustion process in such an engine, carried out by ten European car manufacturers, suppliers and two universities and supported by the European Union.

The study, coordinated by German carmaker BMW’s Research and Technology Group, developed two methods of hydrogen/air mixture formation plus key components that were released for car and city bus internal combustion engines, according to a BMW announcement. In addition, the team members developed simulation tools to analyze hydrogen combustion characteristics to help develop future series production of hydrogen engines. The European experts exchanged data on a regular basis with American researchers working for the U.S. Energy Department, making it the first transatlantic project of this type for the European Commission.

Janez Potocnik, the EU’s science and research commissioner, said HyICE “shows the key role of EU research in reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. It’s an example of successful EU investment in pre-competitive research whose potential effects will reach far beyond European borders.”

Added Potocnik, “the results that have been achieved with a hydrogen combustion engine should encourage industry to continue developing this type of mobility. It represents a key contribution to protection of the environment and to secure Europe’s leading role in global competition.”

One key result was achieving engine performance of 100 kW (134 hp) per liter of engine displacement, on a par with conventional i.c. engines, the release said. It added that this marked the first time that researchers were able to focus completely on a hydrogen engine, permitting the full exploitation of hydrogen’s characteristics. Previously, i.c. engines had to be designed to accommodate both hydrogen and gasoline as fuel because of the absence so far of a hydrogen fueling station infrastructure - a compromise that entails less than top performance with either fuel. An example of bi-fuel technology is BMW’s new Hydrogen 7, launched last fall in Berlin (H&FCL Dec. 06).

Specifically, a team consisting of experts from Graz University and Hoerbiger Valve Tec, both of Austria; German truck and busmaker MAN; Sweden’s Volvo and BMW further advanced direct hydrogen injection and a technology known as external mixture formation, two areas BMW has been researching for years. The bottom line is that with either technology fuel consumption was reduced while output was doubled, BMW said.

Together with BMW, Sweden’s Mecel Engine Systems company developed an ignition system tailored to hydrogen’s flammability limits which are much wider than for gasoline: hydrogen/air mixtures of as low as 4% and as high as 74% will burn (The range for gasoline is 1-7.6%).

France’s Institut Français du Pétrole together with the German Armed Forces University developed two simulation models for hydrogen combustion, and combustion processes could be observed via a so-called optical engine at Graz Technical University, Austria.

Ford Motor Co.’s German research center in Aachen coordinated the transatlantic information exchange via its own hydrogen i.c. engine project in the United States and with two national laboratories and other universities.

Summarizing, Prof. Raymond Freymann, general manager of BMW’s Research and Technology Group, reiterated the carmaker’s long-standing view that “the internal combustion engine is among those industrial products with the most advanced level of development. More than 100 years have been invested in its development. It is characterized by high performance and variability, low cost and simple maintenance in daily use. With the use of hydrogen it offers a well-developed technical solution for sustainable mobility.”

Contact: BMW media, Daniel Kammerer, +49/89/382-25506; presse@bmwgroup.com