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Pininfarina Unveils Sintesi Concept Featuring On-Board Hydrogen Generation and Distributed Fuel Cell Power Modules
7 March 2008
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| The Quadrivium drive features an on-board fuel reformer to produce hydrogen and four distributed fuel-cell battery power modules. Click to enlarge. Source: Nuvera |
Pininfarina unveiled its hydrogen fuel cell concept car, the Sintesi, featuring Nuvera’s Quadrivium drive, at the Geneva Motor Show.
The Quadrivium drive is based on Nuvera’s Andromeda fuel cell and STAR (Substrate Transportation Autothermal Reformer) on-board hydrogen generator technologies. The drive system uses the centralized hydrogen generator to feed four distributed fuel cell / Lithium-ion battery wheel power modules.
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| The Pininfarina Sintesi. |
Each wheel power modules consists of a 20 kW Andromeda PEM fuel cell stack paired with a 100 kW lithium ion battery pack and power electronics. Total output from the fuel cells for the drive system is 80 kW. The battery packs provide boost for acceleration, as well as storage for energy recovered during regenerative braking.
The combined system allows for intermittent operation at above 110 kW, with transient operation up to 180 kW. Combined system efficiency is more than 40% for half of its load range, according to Nuvera.
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| The Quadrivium drive is a parallel hybrid system that uses both the fuel cell and the battery to power the wheel motors. Click to enlarge. Source: Nuvera |
Traction is provided by air-cooled, brushless DC permanent magnet motors with an integrated gear set (2.8:1), hub and brakes. The motors, which also feature regenerative braking, deliver 68 kW each, with maximum torque of 910 Nm (671 lb-ft) each.
The fuel processor uses three main reactants: the liquid fuel, air from the vehicle intake, and recycled water from the engine exhaust. The fuel processor can operate on a range of liquid fuels, including gasoline, ethanol, petroleum diesel, and biodiesel. The system features a 40-liter liquid fuel tank.
The Quadrivium Drive for the Sintesi is optimized to give high performance as a primary focus; however, fuel consumption over the combined European drive cycle is 5 L/100km (47 mpg US), yielding a driving range of 800 km (500 miles). At its optimum efficiency point, the Quadrivium Drive has CO2 emissions of 78 g/km.
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| The flow of the STAR on-board fuel processor. Click to enlarge. Source: Nuvera |
Andromeda. Nuvera began developing its Andromeda cell stack architecture in 2004. Andromeda is an entirely self-humidifying PEM fuel cell stack that uses low-cost, high-strength metal plates to yield a compact, high power design.
Compared to the original 1994 fuel cells, Nuvera’s 2008 technology is 20 times lighter and 30 times smaller for the same power output. Nuvera projects another 50% reduction in volume and mass by 2015.
STAR. Nuvera developed the STAR autothermal reformer system in conjunction with the US Department of Energy. The company is also working we are working with Renault, among other automakers around the world, on laboratory trials for the system. Nuvera suggests that pre-commercial units could be placed in demonstration fuel cell vehicles as early as 2010.
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March 7, 2008 in Fuel Cells, Hybrids, Hydrogen | Permalink | Comments (16) | TrackBack (0)
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Comments
"..integrated fear set (2.8:1)"
I think they meant "gear set".
Anyway, Nuvera has been working on reformers for quite a while and seems to have come a long way. The FC stack per wheel is a new idea. I do not know if this is cost effective, but it looks like a high end car, so maybe that does not matter as much.
Posted by: sjc | Mar 7, 2008 10:52:38 AM
I'm not sure I follow this article...does this thing run on water?
Is this system theoretical or actual?
Posted by: Schmeltz | Mar 7, 2008 11:18:49 AM
It runs on liquid organic fuels (petroleum, bio, either) it gasifies it and then puts the hydrogen in a fuel cell, its a nice idea but so dam complex that I don't see it becoming economical.
Posted by: Ben | Mar 7, 2008 11:29:34 AM
I think maybe the Quadrivium neutron accelerator drives antimatter into the STAR compressor of the Sintesi reactor based on a Mr. Fusion prototype, next to the fearbox... simple as can be! Beam me up, Scotty. :)
Posted by: x | Mar 7, 2008 11:32:44 AM
The fear box will be the big hurdle :)
Nuvera has been working on reformers for more than a decade. They can take gasoline, diesel, methanol, ethanol and reform them to H2 for the FCs. They work well. Daimler/Chrysler had the NECAR that reformed methanol to H2 for their FC and it worked just fine.
Posted by: sjc | Mar 7, 2008 11:49:12 AM
I wonder what the mileage penalty is for throwing away the embodied energy of the fuel's carbon. Is this a fuel cell vehicle with higher carbon monoxide emissions than an equal power ICE?
Posted by: tom deplume | Mar 7, 2008 12:47:16 PM
Flexfuel Pem Cells may be one of many interim solutions possible if the hardware can may made small and cheap enough
Range up to 800 Km, 5L/100 Km, CO2 down at 78 gm/Km and 40% overall efficiency of 40% is mostly better than todays hybrids.
Wonder if one of the four 20Kw fuel cells + a smaller reformer could eventually be used as a range extender for a small PHEV? This car, with its onboard 100 Kw battery pack, seems to have that capabilty allready.
Posted by: Harvey D | Mar 7, 2008 12:52:15 PM
fear--> gear. Ooops. Corrected. Thanks.
Posted by: Mike | Mar 7, 2008 12:57:33 PM
All big automaker are in the process of admitting that hydrogen wont be a solution any time soon and rather refocus on HEV/PHEV/EV. So this is totally useless project plus everybody gave up on the onboard reformer upon the evidence is not a good solution.
Posted by: Treehugger | Mar 7, 2008 1:04:47 PM
Waste of time and money.
Posted by: Enoch | Mar 7, 2008 1:42:54 PM
Schmeltz wrote: I'm not sure I follow this article...does this thing run on water?
Of course it does, Schmeltz! This is the system that Mr. WELLS has been trying to sell on his fraud site. You just dip one of the spark plug wires in a jar of water. Presto! Free fuel! Shhhhh... There's a conspiracy between GM, The Government, and Big Oil to keep this quiet.
Posted by: George | Mar 7, 2008 2:27:13 PM
Liquid to H2 to PEM to traction motors and in case that stuff doesn't work, throw in a 100kWh Li battery pack. Cost $2.3 M/unit, AND this "concept" will be ready in 2010 ... (w/o available flux capacitor. )
Posted by: gr | Mar 7, 2008 3:23:56 PM
"The car will be available if and when flux capacitors hit the market in sufficient quantities at the right price."
(a Back to the Future spokes person :)
Posted by: sjc | Mar 7, 2008 4:35:06 PM
For reference, the 1.2L sequentially boosted inline three engine proposed by Mahle is rated at 120kW and emits 130gCO2/km in the NEDC (~5.3L/100km = 44 MPGus).
In other words, virtually the same fuel economy as Pininfarina's system, which is sure to be exorbitantly expensive.
Posted by: Rafael Seidl | Mar 7, 2008 7:53:58 PM
I just read a couple of days ago that a couple of Japanese scientists developed a method of generating hydrogen and supplemented a gasoline engine with 4% hydrogen. Supposedly, fuel economy improved by 30%. There are three or four dozen companies selling electrolysis bases systems for supplimental hydrogen systems, and I know people who are using them. I am considering building one myself.
Posted by: Gyroguy | Mar 13, 2008 1:54:08 PM
I work at Nuvera - a couple of responses to the points above: Firstly, the fuel cell/battery per wheel is not the most cost or space effective solution; the point of it was to give Pinifarina's designers maximum freedom in body design for the car. However, the cost of all this stuff is actually coming down, and it should be well within the range for a car like this by the 2015 target. If low-cost is what you're looking for, check out some of the work we're doing with Fiat - their Panda FCV (using the same FC stack series as the Sintesi) is one of the least expensive FCVs to date. That doesn't mean it's affordable yet; production volume is still far too low.
Regarding efficiency / carbon emissions, the main benefit of the liquid fuel - to - hydrogen solution is that it can provide low CO2 and low NOx at the same time; even advanced technology gasoline and diesel IC engines can't do that.
Posted by: Chris | Mar 25, 2008 8:22:42 AM
