Monthly Archives: July 2010

Fuel Saving Technology – Hero or Zero?
Companies that manufacture vehicle fuel saving devices or offer new technologies appear to be thriving. So whose got it right, whom should we believe, are they all scams and what should we do, if anything, to save fuel and resultant CO2? Airmax has looked at three hydrogen technologies and in this paper reports on this alternative fuel and its effect on its core business of CANbus based vehicle diagnostics and telematics.
Steve Perham: Group MD – Airmax Group Jan. 2010

Leaving the ‘noughties’ behind and entering the ‘teenies’ and with Northern Europe in the grip of the big freeze; the coldest and snowiest winter for 50 years; we seem to have forgotten, collectively as motorists, in this volatile environment that petrol is nudging £1.15 a litre and even more for diesel.
Today there are over 800 million vehicles in the world, with the number expected to reach two billion by 2050*. The transportation sector accounts for 19% of global CO2 emissions and is the fastest growing contributor to man-made atmospheric CO2. In addition the sector is responsible for much of the poor air quality now experienced in many of the world’s population centres.
The UK Challenge
In the last decade, vehicles in Britain have increased by 6 million – now over 33 million
The UK transport system supports a staggering 61 Billion journeys per year
The Eddington Transport Study (Dec 2006) predicts that despite over £140 billion of planned investment over the next 10 years, congestion could get 25% worse by 2015
The cost of that congestion – currently £20 billion per annum – will more than double over next 20 years
A 5% reduction in travel time for all businesses and freight travel on the roads could generate around £2.5 Billion of cost savings – 0.2% GDP
By 2025 13% of traffic will be subject to stop-start travel conditions
There is a clear and uncontroversial need for a cleaner, practical alternative to the ‘fossil fuelled’ internal combustion engine to power our vehicles, and this, according the vast majority of the worlds major automakers, will be the Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) Fuel Cell. PEM Fuel Cells in a hybrid electric configuration are viewed as a highly efficient powertrain offering practical driving ranges, with much reduced overall emissions and producing no harmful emissions whatsoever at the tail-pipe. It is expensive to make, subject to massive logistical constraints and not at the stage where everyone can afford it so the question is surely, with the number of vehicles in the world, what is the risk in waiting for the roll-out of PEM Fuelled Cells and will it be too little too late?
The passenger vehicle is a very important application for Fuel Cells and Hydrogen, due to its ubiquity, which creates both a need and a route to economies of scale. Encouraging progress is evident in terms of technical performance of fuel cells (and also hydrogen Internal Combustion Engines – I.C.E.s) in the latest field-trial vehicles, and also in terms of the level of commitment displayed by a number of manufacturers. Battery-electric technologies are both a key competitor here and a complementary technology, as seen in recent prototypes with dual fuel (Hydrogen/Electricity) capability. The precise nature of the products that finally become fully and profitably commercialised will depend on the outcome of one of the defining technological battles of the twenty-first century – the battle between the storage of Electricity and the storage of Hydrogen. In the meantime, we will see the advent of concept, niche or image vehicles that may not be profitable but are still commercially relevant.
The captive fleets sector (buses, taxis, delivery vehicles) is known to be a promising early market for Fuel Cells and Hydrogen, because of lower infrastructure dependency and the beneficial effect of company politics will have on purchase decisions. Perhaps importantly, these early fleets might provide seeds for the growth of a more extensive Hydrogen infrastructure, linking city centres to highway refuelling. Technical hurdles are similar to the passenger car, although the larger daily operating range of captive fleet vehicles places Hydrogen at a clear advantage over Electricity as a fuel in many cases. The success of the next generation of Fuel Cell and Hydrogen captive-fleet demonstration vehicle will be critical to the success of Hydrogen in Transport.
There is evidence of significant recent progress in key issues such as the cost, durability and ambient operating envelope of the Fuel Cell, in both stationary and transport applications. This progress is encouraging, but there remains a need for a focused research effort, particularly in ensuring that this progress is consolidated into volume-manufactured products that are affordable and robust. Also the driving public just do not think about alterative fuels when it comes to buying decisions. This decision is last on the list of influencing factors. See table below.
Importance
Most Medium Least
Vehicle price Performance Depreciation
Size Power Sales package
Reliability Image Experience
Comfort Brand name Dealership
Running costs Insurance costs Recommendation
Fuel consumption Engine size Road tax
Appearance Equipment Environment
Vehicle emissions
Alternative fuel
There are as yet very few Fuel Cell products sold on a profitable basis, but this situation is changing very fast, with forward orders for tens of thousands of units now in the domestic heat-power and telecoms power supply markets, and for hundreds of units in goods handling vehicles. These markets, together with auxiliary power and small two-wheeled vehicles, could become profitable along their value-chains in the next decade.
Road transport is the most technically challenging application, but the latest generation vehicles are realising the efficiencies that the Fuel Cell has always promised. Sustained research effort on cost reduction, durability and on-board Hydrogen Storage remains vital to realise the great economic and environmental potential in this sector.
What is Hydrogen?
Hydrogen is a chemical element – it is colourless, odourless and a gas at room temperature. It reacts with oxygen, generating both water and energy. Hydrogen can be used as a fuel in combustion engines or to generate electricity in novel fuel cells. In many ways it can be thought of as similar to natural gas, with two important differences; Hydrogen cannot simply be mined like methane; and when hydrogen is burned (reacted with oxygen) it does not produce carbon dioxide.
Interest in Hydrogen is driven by a number of factors.
Hydrogen is able to offer:
reduction of CO2 emissions, helping to mitigate climate change
reduction of energy imports, home grown fuels – reduction on foreign supplies
diversification of energy supplies, reducing dependence on fuels such as oil
improved local air quality
reduced noise – Fuel Cell vehicles generate significantly less noise than the incumbent ICE based vehicles.
assistance in the introduction of new Fuel Cell technologies which offer high efficiencies
exemption from many carbon taxes
exemption from both congestion charges and low pollution zones
post Copenhagen commitments – both legislatively and voluntarily driven
10.company statement of greening the boardroom
11.being part of a growing carbon economy
12.status and first mover advantages
These attributes arise because hydrogen has the potential to be produced from energy sources which are carbon-free, local and renewable. Hydrogen can provide a range of energy services, from electricity to transport, while emitting only water. Given these characteristics, hydrogen fuel, together with Fuel Cell energy converters may offer a unique opportunity to create a clean and efficient energy system based on sustainable primary energy sources. The investment required to develop these new energy systems means that there is the additional prospect of developing new industries.
How is hydrogen used as a fuel?
Like any combustible fuel, hydrogen can be burned in air, producing heat. This could be used to heat a house or cook food. However, hydrogen is more often envisaged as being used in one of the following:
Fuel Cell
Fuel cells are devices which use a chemical reaction to generate electricity rather like batteries. They differ from batteries in that the reactants (the chemicals which combine to produce electricity) are stored outside the device. Hydrogen can combine with oxygen in a Fuel Cell to produce electricity, heat and water. Fuel Cells are able to operate with much higher efficiencies than combustion-based engines.
Internal Combustion Engine (I.C.E.).
Hydrogen can be burned in an internal combustion engine (very similar to petrol or petrol or diesel-fired engines) to produce mechanical energy without producing CO2 at the point of use.
Hydrogen I.C.E.
Ford is currently looking at creating a car that will bridge the gap between petrol power and the very likely future fuel, hydrogen.
The I.C.E. burns hydrogen in a slightly modified Ford engine thus incorporating the “fuel of the future” in the car of today. The idea is to market a car that will use hydrogen without the use of Fuel Cells and the associated expensive technology to power it.
Since the car is based largely on current technology (even the engine is stock with slight modifications) Ford’s intermediate line will be more affordable, rapidly available, and produce nearly zero emissions. It will also sit nicely in the maintenance and service centre environment being based on known technology.
Ford has stated that should the fuel be more widely available they could have the cars powered by hydrogen… immediately. Naturally, because hydrogen burns hotter than petrol certain engine modifications are necessary. However, the engine block itself is basically the same as a petrol powered engine. Hydrogen modifications internally are limited to the pistons; all other modifications are “external” to the engine. See list below.
Most major automotive manufacturers have some kind of activity in this field.
Daimler, Ford, General Motors, Volkswagen, FIAT, Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi and Hyundai have all shown one or more (in some cases much more) prototypes using Fuel Cell Hybrid (FC-HEV) technology. In some cases the Fuel Cell stack technology has been sourced from a supplier (most notably Ballard); in other cases it is developed in-house. In all cases the Hydrogen fuel is stored as a compressed gas.
PSA (Peugeot-Citroen) have recently shown a vehicle of the Range Extender type, with stack technology from Intelligent Energy; having shown more conventional hybrid Fuel Cell concepts in the past.
BMW have focused uniquely on the Internal Combustion Engine and on liquid fuel storage, and have a product on sale in very low volumes; Ford have also developed prototypes with a Hydrogen I.C.E., including an electrically hybrid version.
Engine Modifications
The following engine modifications are necessary to run hydrogen instead of petrol and apparently not diesel:
Valves and valve seats must be especially hardened to compensate for reduced lubricating properties. Petrol, though a fuel, does have some oil like properties that typically keep these engine components properly lubricated …hydrogen does not
Spark plugs must use iridium to withstand the higher temperatures
Ignition coils must be different due to the properties of hydrogen as fuel
Fuel injectors must be designed for a gas not a liquid
A heftier crankshaft damper compensates for the bigger kick hydrogen fuel provides
Pistons, connecting rods and piston rings must be able to withstand the higher forces and pressures produced
Head gasket must be able to withstand the higher combustion pressures
Intake manifold modified to accommodate a supercharger
Twin screw supercharger and water-to-air inter-cooler to increase power
10.Engine oil must be able to withstand higher temperatures and pressures
11.Engine oil system must include a separator to remove any hydrogen that might migrate into the oil
12.Exhaust gas system must be able sustain water produced by the hydrogen combustion
13.Dual fuel ECU
As you can see most of the modifications are “bolt-on” not radical redesigns of the engine itself. However, these modifications would add 50% of current engine manufacturing costs. Oh and I forget to add the Hydrogen storage tank.
What Remains the Same on the Engine?
The block is unchanged
The crankshaft itself and the bearings it rides on are the same
This may not seem like much compared to what has been changed, but the most expensive change was to the intake manifold and the addition of a supercharger.
Quantum Technologies, a leader in this field, in the USA has moved on to bulk hydrogen distribution and refuelling and away from in- vehicle hydrogen storage.
A statement of reality perhaps in that it’s all about the logistics of supply of the fuel itself perhaps.
http://www.qtww.com/
Whilst in the UK ITM has entered the market with its version of low cost I.C.E. vehicles. http://www.itm-power.com/
Fuel Cell Vehicle (FCV) – How they work
PEM fuel cells are the centre of an integrated propulsion system-one that is radically different from conventional vehicle systems. The diagram below shows the basic components of a hydrogen-fuelled FCV.
Fuel Cell vehicles like the one above use pure hydrogen as fuel, stored onboard the vehicle in highly pressurised tanks. Other FCVs are designed to use a liquid fuel such as petrol or methanol, which is stored in a conventional, non-pressurised tank. FCVs using these fuels also need a reformer-a fuel processor that breaks down the fuel into hydrogen for the fuel cell, carbon dioxide, and water. Although this process generates carbon dioxide, it produces much less than the amount generated by petrol-powered vehicles.
Fuel Cell vehicles can also be equipped with regenerative braking systems that capture the energy usually lost during braking and store it in an up-sized battery.
Possible pathway to a hydrogen economy
There are barriers to the market for Fuel Cell technology. Closing the deployment gap will require accelerating the convergence of three key pathways, each of which involves time lags:
engineering development and maturation of stacks and ancillaries;
cost reduction for common components of powertrain and onboard hydrogen storage; and
resolution of the technical and infrastructure barriers related to the right fuel for fuel cell vehicles.
Consumer uptake
The common theme to the barriers described above is the ‘chicken-and-egg’ dilemma. Ordinary consumers, who comprise the largest section of the market, won’t buy, for example, hydrogen cars until they are cost and performance-competitive with conventional cars, and there is sufficient refilling infrastructure. But this won’t happen until there are enough cars being produced and on the roads. The solution generally envisaged is for H2&FC technologies to gradually enter the market in ‘niche’ areas, where high costs and lack of infrastructure are less of a barrier than they are in the conventional market. Pioneering consumers and users will take the risk – and be rewarded by status and first mover advantages. Their purchases will facilitate continued investment and development in Fuel Cell and hydrogen technology. In turn, this will improve performance and reduce costs, making the technology attractive to a larger number of consumers. This virtuous circle can ultimately lead to mass-market applications.
Drivers and Barriers
The key drivers for Fuel Cell and Hydrogen technologies are the pairing of greenhouse gas reduction and fossil fuel resource depletion. However from a fleet perspective it’s all about fuel costs and cost savings. As an added bonus the Fuel Cell offers effectively zero emissions at the point of use, though this is less of an advantage than it used to be, due to progress in cleansing the emissions of conventional internal combustion engines. For example, the Californian SULEV emission standard (which is one level removed from the zero emission standard) can be met by many production Petrol-engined vehicles, and laboratory research indicates that solutions are on the way for the Diesel.
Political pressure to address the carbon/fossil dependency issue is growing, with 2008/9 seeing significant regulatory developments in both Europe and the USA:
In the EU, legislation passed through Parliament in 2008 mandated an average CO2 emission (at the tailpipe) of 130g/km for new cars, compared to 164g/km in 2007. This average can be met with much simpler technologies than Fuel Cells and Hydrogen (in fact, even Hybrids are only likely to be needed in small quantities), but the legislation could be a starting-point for further measures beyond 2020 which create pressure to commercialise more efficient alternatives.
In the USA, a new standard for Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) will require a fleet average of 35mpg (USA) by 2020. Given the high proportion of SUVs and light trucks sold as passenger vehicles in the USA, this level of legislation may require more radical change, albeit over a longer timescale.
As a result, legislative drivers post 2020 could create a market environment where a Fuel Cell or Hydrogen vehicle could succeed commercially, if the state of the art has advanced sufficiently by then to address remaining known issues. A key issue is the bulk and cost of the Hydrogen tank.
Unlike the Fuel Cell itself, there is little available information on reducing the cost of Hydrogen storage, in terms of current achievements or future projections. A recent press feature on GM’s activities cited a cost of around €10,000 per tank for production of 5000 vehicles. The 700 bar tank is a complex component, involving an impermeable liner, a carbon fibre shell that is robot-wound in a process that takes days, and typically 200 embedded sensors to monitor for the onset of failures. A tank giving 300km range in a car is a bulky component whose shape cannot be adapted to fit available package spaces. Until significant developments occur, it is possible that the tank, more than the fuel cell itself, may define what types of transport application can be successful.
As a product, the Fuel Cell car will be competing not with conventional vehicles as we know them today, but with a new generation of technologies being developed to meet the legislative challenges from 2015 to 2020.

To Be continued……
Thanks again Steve.
Bob Potchen
President
The Cell Inc
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