The Most Efficient Way for CO₂ Reduction: the New Generation of Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engines

Authors

Dipl.-Ing. T. Korn, KEYOU GmbH, Unterschleißheim

Year

2020

Print Info

Fortschritt-Berichte VDI, Reihe 12, Nr. 813

Summary

The combustion engine is the most common and sophisticated machine ever developed.
By using hydrogen (H₂) as fuel, it is possible to increase the efficiency of combustion engines while reducing emissions to near zero. The use of hydrogen in internal combustion engines is a proven technology in itself. Various automobile manufacturers (e.g. BMW, MAN, Ford, Mazda) have continuously researched the potential of hydrogen combustion until the last decade. However, due to various technical limitations, development in recent years has concentrated on combustion control and has ignored the potential of efficiency and power density. With its innovative, proprietary technology concept – the use of intelligent, lean combustion with exhaust gas recirculation (EGR), turbocharging and efficient injection – KEYOU is once again drawing attention to the hydrogen combustion engine and showing how powerful, efficient, and clean the engines of the future can be.
The focus of the following explanations will be on commercial vehicle engines, however, the technology and basic approach as well as argumentation also apply to passenger car engines due to the scalability of the technical approach.