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A hydrogen internal combustion engine vehicle (HICEV) is a type of hydrogen vehicle using an internal combustion engine. Hydrogen internal combustion engine vehicles are different from hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (which use electrochemical conversion of hydrogen rather than combustion); the hydrogen internal combustion engine is simply a modified version of the traditional gasoline-powered internal combustion engine.
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History
Francois Isaac de Rivaz designed in 1806 the De Rivaz engine, the first internal combustion engine, which ran on a hydrogen/oxygen mixture. Étienne Lenoir produced the Hippomobile in 1863. Paul Dieges patented in 1970 a modification to internal combustion engines which allowed a gasoline-powered engine to run on hydrogen.
Tokyo City University have been developing hydrogen internal combustion engine from 1970. Recently developed hydrogen fueled Bus and Truck.
Mazda has developed Wankel engines that burn hydrogen. The advantage of using ICE (internal combustion engine) such as wankel and piston engines is that the cost of retooling for production is much lower. Existing-technology ICE can still be used to solve those problems where fuel cells are not a viable solution as yet, for example in cold-weather applications.
Between 2005 - 2007, BMW tested a luxury car named the BMW Hydrogen 7, powered by a hydrogen ICE, which achieved 301 km/h (187 mph) in tests. At least two of these concepts have been manufactured.
HICE forklift trucks have been demonstrated based on converted diesel internal combustion engines with direct injection.
Alset GmbH developed a hybrid hydrogen systems that allows vehicle to use petrol and hydrogen fuels individually or at the same time with an internal combustion engine. This technology was used with Aston Martin Rapide S during the 24 Hours Nürburgring race. The Rapide S was the first vehicle to finish the race with hydrogen technology.
Low emissions
The combustion of hydrogen with oxygen produces water as its only product:
2H2 + O2 → 2H2OIn contrast, combustion of high temperature combustion fuels, such as kerosene, gasoline, or natural gas, with air can produce oxides of nitrogen, known as NOx. Tuning a hydrogen engine in 1976 to produce the greatest amount of emissions possible resulted in emissions comparable with consumer operated gasoline engines from 1976.
H2 + O2 + N2 → H2O + NOxAdaptation of existing engines
The differences between a hydrogen ICE and a traditional gasoline engine include hardened valves and valve seats, stronger connecting rods, non-platinum tipped spark plugs, a higher voltage ignition coil, fuel injectors designed for a gas instead of a liquid, larger crankshaft damper, stronger head gasket material, modified (for supercharger) intake manifold, positive pressure supercharger, and a high temperature engine oil. All modifications would amount to about one point five times (1.5) the current cost of a gasoline engine. These hydrogen engines burn fuel in the same manner that gasoline engines do.
The power output of a direct injected hydrogen engine vehicle is 20% more than for a gasoline engine vehicle and 42% more than a hydrogen engine vehicle using a carburetor.