Novel Boosting Solutions for the Challenges of H2-ICE

Authors

Firat AKAR, Laurentius JAEGER, Petr PRIBYL, Peter DAVIES
Garrett Motion

Summary

Stringent emissions regulations and global efforts to reduce CO2 are leading to major shifts from conventional gasoline and diesel powertrains towards battery electric and fuel cell electric vehicles. An alternative path could be a Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engine (H2-ICE). When fueled with green hydrogen, the H2-ICE produces quasi-zero CO2 and despite the challenges of hydrogen combustion, we can see strong development in this area from almost all Commercial Vehicle OEMs. The solution is clearly highly attractive for multiple applications. Hydrogen fueled combustion engines could produce significant amounts of NOx emissions unless operate under ultra-lean conditions. This is due to the unique properties of hydrogen, such as its high dispersion kinetics, high ignitability, and high laminar flame speed. H2-ICE combustion is more efficient at higher lambda values and above lambda 2.5, it is virtually NOx-free. Our target, therefore, should be as lean as possible under all operating conditions.
...