Alset dual-fuel Hybrid Hydrogen system to debut in Aston Martin Rapide S at the Nürburgring
12 April 2013
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| Alset’s dual-fuel Hybrid Hydrogen system. Click to enlarge. |
A prototype, twin-turbo, Aston Martin Rapide S at the 41st ADAC Zurich 24 Hours of Nürburgring (19-20 May 2013) will debut Alset Global’s dual fuel Hybrid Hydrogen system, which enables the turbocharged 6.0-liter V12 engine car to run on pure gasoline or hydrogen or a blend of both.
Austria-based Alset Global’s Hybrid Hydrogen system comprises a hydrogen fuel rail, storage tank and proprietary engine management system. The system can use either pure hydrogen, gasoline or a blend of both to deliver optimum power, acceleration and CO2 reduction.
Four carbon-fiber tanks holding 3.23 kg of gaseous hydrogen—two housed next to the driver and two in the trunk of the car—and the refueling system developed by Alset Global and its partners are approved by German motorsport’s governing body, the DMSB. In addition, the use of the existing 6.0 liter engine will showcase that engine downsizing or electrification is not the only way to achieve low emissions, the company said.
Alset Global and its partner organizations hold a number of key patents relating to the entire system. Integral to Alset’s core technology is a proprietary system especially designed and programmed to adjust and control all of the engine’s functioning variables in order for the engine to burn hydrogen during combustion, while maintaining the same engine performance as when burning gasoline. This proprietary system is programmed into the vehicles’ ECU as a second engine management mode (Hydrogen mode).
A special control system allows instant shifting from one engine management software to the other. The engine’s variables are instantly adjusted and controlled as the engine switches back and forth from hydrogen to gasoline. The shifting process occurs seamlessly while the engine is running, even at high speeds.
Partners include Magna Steyr, which has developed the storage tank and pressure regulation system; Linde, which will supply the hydrogen for the race; Gigatronik, which has supported the programming software verification and loop testing; and TÜV SÜD, which certified the technical safety requirements for the hydrogen system.
Our system offers, dependent on tank size, a range of up to 250 km [155 miles] with zero [tailpipe] CO2 emissions.
— Alset Global’s VP of product management and technology, Thomas Korn.
(Previously at BMW, Korn has an extensive background working with alternative propulsion technologies such as hydrogen internal combustion engines, fuel cells and electric drive trains as well as the certification and homologation processes.)
Alset estimates that applying its dual fuel Hybrid Hydrogen system would entail a price premium of around 15 % over today’s new car prices.
Dual fuel vehicle is the right way to launch hydrogen, because at 1st the infrastructure will be scarce, that's is why fuel cell is not the right approach in the 1st place and for many decades to come
Posted by: Treehugger | 12 April 2013 at 07:52 AM
How did Henry Ford managed to sell over one million Model T without having to wait for 1+M gas stations? None of the early ICEVs could run on hay and oat?
Ultra quick charge stations + Hydrogen stations (fixed or mobile) will see the day in great numbers when demand is there. Many speculators will fight to get licenses. That is NOT the problem with EVs nor with FCs.
Posted by: HarveyD | 12 April 2013 at 08:32 AM
no he was replacing horse and carriage not cars with cars
Posted by: danschl | 12 April 2013 at 10:43 AM
Posted by: Engineer-Poet | 12 April 2013 at 10:55 AM
It would be nice to see this system offered as an option on small ice cars and trucks.
Posted by: A D | 12 April 2013 at 11:23 AM
Harvey
I think you got the answers above, and your comparison doesn't make any sense, people today would never accept what people were ready to accept in 1906, people could, back then, store 10 gallons of gas at home, you can't store hydrogen at home, neither buy it a the supermarket or the drugstore. in 1906 the worse car was still a giant step compare to a horse, to day a H2 powered would do any better than a gas car in assuring your mobility.
Posted by: Treehugger | 12 April 2013 at 11:43 AM
@ Harvey, Is there a possibility to install a small hydrogen maker at your home or better if minuiturized enouph to install it inside the car. I think that hydrogen maker( electrolyzer ) are scalable.
Posted by: A D | 12 April 2013 at 11:51 AM
It is extremely easy to have 1 H2 fill-up pump at a larger gas station having larger than 12 gasoline pumps. The H2 is produced by electricity from the grid and is fed to the electrolyzer and stored in a H2 tank under the ground.
Later, a H2 piping system will deliver H2 to houses and buildings all around town. Local electrolyzers will produce H2 from the grid, and the waste heat from these electrolyzers can be used for hot water heating. Excess renewable energy from wind or solar energy will trigger these electrolyzers to produce H2.
Remember who has the deepest pocket? The "Energy" Companies. The investment in H2 retailing system for larger gas stations is peanut in comparison to their tens of billions of yearly profits. These same "Energy Companies" will have the deep pocket to invest in these H2, FC and CHP facilities to replace the profits they made from fossil fuels in the past. A smooth transition to the zero-carbon economy (RE and nuclear).
Posted by: Roger Pham | 12 April 2013 at 09:17 PM
The Home Energy Station
Honda has operated an experimental Home Energy Station in Torrance, California, since 2003.
The Home Energy Station, which generates hydrogen from natural gas, is designed to provide heat and electricity for the home through fuel cell cogeneration and to supply fuel for a hydrogen-powered fuel cell electric vehicle.
http://automobiles.honda.com/fcx-clarity/home-energy-station.aspx
Posted by: SJC | 13 April 2013 at 08:23 AM
H2 is produced in most every city in any industrial nation as its that common a product already. So finding it isn't the issue. Making cost effective durable filling station equipement IS.. but the industry is working on that and will have that handled way before the industry actualy needs it.. 2030-2060 timeframe.
Posted by: wintermane2000 | 14 April 2013 at 10:25 AM
It is not clear from Honda's description whether this is an auto-reforming SOFC, or if it is a PEM FC with an external reformer. Regardless, it is the wrong technological pathway for two reasons:
- It fosters a complete dependence on natural gas. We made this mistake with oil, doing it again is insane.
- It does not sequester carbon, and only lowers emissions by 30%. We need to lower emissions by at least 80%, so switching to this technology as a "solution" builds infrastructure that will be in place for decades with far higher emissions than we can allow.
Maybe we can go with some hydrogen (though I think it's one of the less-desirable options), but nuclear power has to supply the vast majority of the energy because it is the only source that is clean and abundant enough to do the job.Posted by: Engineer-Poet | 15 April 2013 at 09:01 AM