Roush Showcases Bi-fuel Hydrogen Combustion Engine Conversion
28 October 2008
Roush Technologies showcased its latest bi-fuel Internal Combustion Engine conversion (H2ICE) technology applied in a Ford Transit at a Cenex-hosted UK National Low Carbon Vehicle event at Millbrook Proving Ground.
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| The Roush H2ICE demonstrator. Click to enlarge. |
The conversion features Ford’s 2.3-liter, 4-cylinder gasoline engine, to which Roush has added a belt-driven supercharger with intercooler. This provides additional combustion air under pressure when the fuel mode switch is selected to hydrogen only. The engine retains its conventional spark ignition system.
The hydrogen fuel is currently designed to be stored in three tanks, underslung below the vehicle floor. This installation provides a usable storage capacity for 4.5 kilograms of hydrogen at 350 bar (5,000 psi) and gives an estimated range between 95 miles for the urban cycle and 135 miles for open highway running. Additional capacity can be added if required. The location and configuration of the tanks allows the retention of the volume and load height of the base vehicle with no intrusion or interference within the load space.
Roush Technologies earlier this year established a collaboration agreement with ITM Power plc to provide a refuelling solution by enabling vehicle operators to generate their own hydrogen fuel with an electrolyzer. (Earlier post.)
Finally.
I am not a believer in an H2 economy at least not for the 1st half of this century, but when I see all the fuss about fuel cell when an ICE can burn H2 as efficiently as a fuel cell and can be almost as clean while offering the huge advantage of being multi-fuels which is a killing argument when it comes to transitionning to H2. If we decide tomorrow to move to H2 the availability of H2 will be a big problem to start with, so a multifuel engine is really the way to go. Try to be multi-fuel with a fuel-cell, good luck.
Posted by: Treehugger | 28 October 2008 at 08:48 PM
Try Resonant Pulse Electrolysis to break open the H-O bonds electrostatically with voltage alone and no current - obvious, simple, with distilled water as the dielectric in a stepped charged capacitor. No "laws of physics" broken, only the h-o bonds with very little electrical power. No different to using HV to deflect electrons in a CRT.
Posted by: Emphyrio | 30 October 2008 at 06:40 AM
for several months now I have been trying to put together a kit to convert a pickup to run on hydrogen. It is my intention to publish this kit on an open site so that anyone can use it. apparently I'm not the only one intersted in h2ice. the amount of traffic online an this topic has gone up 20fold since I first started. I'm not an engineer, I'm just a middle aged gardener who is sick of dwaiting for the solar/hydrogen revolution to get started. I would love to hear from anyone else interested in h2ice in general, but especialy anyone with experiance in high performance engine conversions, ie street rods, race cars
Posted by: [email protected] | 04 December 2009 at 08:11 AM