ars Technica by Rupendra Brahambhatt - 12/7/2022
Existing engine designs can be modified to allow hydrogen injection.A team of engineers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney has figured out a way to run a diesel engine on a mix of diesel and hydrogen, dramatically lowering its emissions.
By using hydrogen as 90 percent of the fuel, they were able to limit the engine’s CO2 exhaust to just 90 gm per kWh. This is 86 percent less carbon dioxide than a standard diesel engine would release. Furthermore, NOx emissions were also found to be reduced significantly. “We have shown in our system that if you make it stratified—that is, in some areas there is more hydrogen and in others there is less hydrogen—then we can reduce the NOx emissions below that of a pure diesel engine,” said Kook.
Although it took the researchers 18 months to develop their first hybrid engine, they claim they can now turn any diesel engine design into a dual-fuel system within a couple of months.
The vision behind the hydrogen-diesel direct-injection engine system is to provide industries with a practical solution for their carbon emissions problem. Mining companies that employ a variety of diesel-based machines and equipment alone generate up to 7 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Powering the growth of such sectors with hydrogen fuel could drastically improve the health of our planet.
Kook and his colleagues have already patented their hydrogen-diesel, direct-injection dual-fuel system, and they are planning to bring it to market within the next year or two.
More:
https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/12/mixing-diesel-and-hydrogen-provides-big-cuts-in-emissions/
