H2 fuel

["Storhok, Eric (E.M.)" <estorhok@domain.elided>]

No alfa content here...  But some realities of hydrogen as a fuel.

First- if you burn H2 in a normal internal combustion engine, you will still generate NOx.  Combustion temps will easily clip 4000F at the peak, which is where NOx is generated...

Second- making H2- tough- consider how much oil we use, then figure out a way to generate a little more than that just to split H2 from H2O.  Tides and sun will not generate enough.

However- H2 is perfect for fuel cells.  There you get low reaction temps- and just water.

And second however- right now the easiest way to make H2 is to pull it off of other hydrocarbons.  In my very narrow range of thinking, I always thought this would be bad for the CO2 generation (as its pretty easy to split virtually any HC or organic material into CO and H2).  But, thinking outside the box- if one could come up with a system to split HCs into H2 and SOLID C, now we are on to something.  Solid carbon is also known as both graphite and diamond, which are both incredibly useful on an industrial basis.

This is something that I think can happen, and probably will.  Once fuel cells are significantly more efficient than internal combustion engines (at best- 30%), then the lower energy density will be less of an issue.

Oh, and the air pump will convert both HC and CO, both of which need O2 to finish their reaction.  And the reaction temp is relatively low- in the 1000-1500F range, so NOx won't be generated...

Eric Storhok
Core Emissions and Fuel Economy Team
Advanced Powertrain Engineering
(313)33x75011
MD 35, FPC-B
Ford Motor Company

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