For several years, BMW has been building custom prototypes of luxury cars that can switch between hydrogen and gasoline in an internal-combustion engine. Now, the automaker is touting a version that has gone through rigorous product-development steps, so that it could theoretically be mass-manufactured--although BMW will make only 100 of them and give them away to a privileged group of as-yet-unnamed celebrities and politicians.
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The internal combustion engine in BMW’s new hydrogen-gasoline hybrid engine can switch seamlessly between the two fuels. And control systems optimize the concentrations of hydrogen being burned, which can minimize or eliminate one of the downsides of hydrogen combustion: the formation of nitrogen oxides. While BMW hopes its new model will help drive the adoption of hydrogen in vehicles, experts are skeptical. (Credit: BMW)
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Many observers feel hydrogen as a transportation energy source is a far-out proposition. With this move, BMW has at least made a strong case that it will be more practical to burn hydrogen in a traditional internal combustion engine than to pass it through fuel cells to produce electricity to drive electric motors.
The question now is whether BMW's project really pushes hydrogen cars any closer to adoption, or just represents a refinement of the necessary engineering details.
"They have come down on the side of "OK, if we are going to use hydrogen, using it in an internal combustion engine specially designed for that purpose is the better technology path," rather than trying to bring brand-new technology to market, says John Heywood, director of the Sloan Automotive Laboratory at MIT. "I think it's a technical judgment they are making, and maybe it's got a mid-term, as opposed to a long-term, timescale. They are a high-performance-engine, fun-to-drive-car company. That is their culture, so this fits in with that culture."
The hydrogen/gasoline prototype is based on BMW's 7 series sedans, many of which retail for more than $100,000. (No price has been set on the new hybrid, since the car will not be sold.) The vehicle has a super-insulated tank that stores liquid hydrogen at minus-480 degrees F, and a special fuel-injection system that can switch between gasoline and hydrogen. The engine can pack a 260-horsepower wallop while burning hydrogen--something that an electric car powered by a hydrogen fuel cell cannot now do in such a large car, BMW says.
Thomas Korn, senior project engineer for BMW's hydrogen program in Oxnard, CA, says the new car boasts not only high performance, but also low emissions. Hydrogen combustion leads to the formation of nitrogen oxides, but BMW's new car has sophisticated control systems that optimize the concentrations of hydrogen being burned and the engine timing, to minimize or eliminate the formation of nitrogen oxides.
Should a demand ever emerge for such cars, BMW could theoretically mass-produce them, Korn says. Unlike an earlier batch of 12 hydrogen-powered prototypes made by BMW, the new car has gone through brutal longevity tests, and uses parts that can be mass-manufactured by suppliers, rather than one-off, custom-crafted components.
"It went through production process, so we have the technology to industrialize it," says Korn. "On the other hand, the situation out there is not such that we can sell the car, because the potential customer hardly will find a place to fill up the car."
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Comments
GM and other manufacturers created an electric car that was powerful, fast, and had the potential to go 80-300 miles on a single overnight charge. They killed it...or should we say "big oil" killed it.
<groan!>
We could reduce the world's "carbon profile" dramatically within a year if we tooled up for it like we did in WWII. We'd simply say, "Hey, its a war on CO2...this is what's going to happen...deal with it." We'd adjust to electric cars pretty quickly.
Hardheadjarh...
09/22/2006
Posts:15
tomklein
09/22/2006
Posts:4
will not repay their investment at the low price.
A capital intensive alternative energy project will only be built if expected average prices are high enough. This is the market talking, not a whispered conspiracy.
lambdafunds
09/22/2006
Posts:9
ny_rebel
09/23/2006
Posts:3
MITBeta
09/25/2006
Posts:29
And the energy equation is more or less symmetrical: it may require a lot of energy to produce hydrogen, but once you made it, it carries that energy in it.
Hydrogen is a good choice - the big question is how do we get a clean energy source to produce enough cheap hydrogen? We should consider further developing clean nuclear reactors.
gabrielg01
09/26/2006
Posts:402
Are you forgetting the laws of pysics. there is going to be major energey loss when you use electricity to make H2. Then when you make it back into electricty via FC, or even kenitic energy via ICE.
Also it must be noted that hydrogen (the smallest adom you can get) leaks readly from pretty much any container when in gas form. and takes large ammounts of energy to keep it chilled and in liquid form. Placing H2 in a solid state by binding it with other compounds reduces its energy output and adds to the energy required to process it. Therefore unless we find a better way to store H2 its all just a pipe dream.
jimbob
10/10/2006
Posts:1
ny_rebel
09/26/2006
Posts:3
We will hit the point where fossil fuels and renewables will not be able to provide all the energy we need. Fossil fuels also pose the CO2 problem.
Nuclear energy gives us a clean and sustainable energy option, in spite of the hysteria surrounding it.
With nuclear power plants we can make all the hydrogen fuel we want.
gabrielg01
09/22/2006
Posts:402
Oh and nuclear power is NOT sustainable (you might want to look up the meaning of sustainability)
folicular
09/22/2006
Posts:1
Reactors that generate very low quantities of high level waste can be built. They are not because of the proliferation risk.
justinm1
09/22/2006
Posts:1
Read this, from IAEA, not suspect of hysteria I think...
http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Booklets/Chernobyl/chernobyl.pdf
Regards
jlvillalobos
09/23/2006
Posts:1
MITBeta
09/25/2006
Posts:29
JH
09/22/2006
Posts:8
As for nukes, most people do not realize just how common Uranium really is--and Uranium is not the only natural fission fuel. Uranium is common enough that low grade deposits are ignored now, and as mentioned, breeder reactors, and newer waste-burning reactors are very efficient and clean. More Uranium is put into the air by burning coal--which contains trace amounts) than leaks from reactors. We just need to build good reactors.
kitk
09/22/2006
Posts:65
monte_meade
09/24/2006
Posts:1
H24meNu
10/04/2006
Posts:10
Why don't you go visit the Edison museum and find out HOW many times he FAILED before the light bulb was created...
Rocket Science!
rocketscienc...
09/23/2006
Posts:6
users.adelphia.net/~bobhargraves/solvingtheusenergycrisis.ppt.
bobhargraves
09/27/2006
Posts:7
Looks like cars can run on alcohol by fuel cells or internal combustion. Such engines could run solely on hydrogen (with or without CO2) or alcohol or both.
H24meNu
10/04/2006
Posts:10
BMW has to inject liquid H2, utilising air for combustion. Tanks are available, or nearly so, to store 11,400 psi H2 which is the same amount of H2 as liquid. Got the picture?
H24meNu
10/04/2006
Posts:10
H24meNu
10/04/2006
Posts:10
H2O/H/OO
03/03/2007
Posts:1