By Larkin Hill
17 March 1999
In 1870 Jules Verne's "Mysterious Island" told of a society that lived on a fuel derived from an inexhaustible resource: H2O. Hydrogen produced power was just a fantasy during his time, but it's a near reality today. We have the capabilities and the need. So why is the United States spending billions of dollars on fossil-fuel development and nuclear research and only millions on Hydrogen technology? Despite the fact that fossil fuel is quickly being depleted and nuclear energy may always present potentially hazardous consequences, why hasn't hydrogen technology taken hold? The two most frequently cited arguments are the high cost to deploy completely new technology and the obvious threat to the existing petroleum "workforce".
Thus far, Japan has been the first country to successfully introduce hydrogen-power technology into the everyday environment. Japan is leading the commercial market with a small fleet of hydrogen powered delivery trucks, including a modified 4-ton lorry named Musashi-9, which uses liquid hydrogen to simultaneously refrigerate the groceries it hauls and fuel the combustion engine. However, that's not to say that there aren't problems, everything takes a while to perfect, the fact is that it's happening, and it works.
Since Henry Ford made the automobile accessible to the masses, the world has had a love affair with motorized vehicles, fueled by gasoline. Today, not many people can imagine a life without motor-driven vehicles, and in the United States the automobile has become a national symbol for freedom and personal expression. Despite efforts to get people out of their cars and into mass transportation, only a limited number of cities have been successful. Rather than struggling to change attitudes and commuting habits, the use of alternative non-polluting fuels in the operation of automobiles is necessary. Only recently have automobile manufacturers acknowledged the fact that alternative fuels must become a serious component within the evolution of transportation. At present, almost every major manufacturer in the world is developing a vehicle powered by one or a combination of alternative power sources. However, limited mileage, inferior power, inconvenient fueling facilitates and time consuming re-charging capabilities continue to hinder its widespread acceptance. Additionally, exorbitant production costs still present the manufacturers with formidable barriers.
Europe is also embracing a new environmental conscious. Rigid regulations and increased social acceptance has made alternative fuel engineering a realistic goal within their respective automotive industry. Germany is at the forefront of the retail consumer market, with BMW developing a line of vehicles that run on solar gathered pure liquid hydrogen (LH2), a process that is completely neutral to the earth's environment.
Leading the way for over
20 years, BMW AG has been working on clean-burning hydrogen powered
vehicles. After four generations of improved technology and design, BMW
is preparing to launch a fleet of 7-series sedans at the EXPO 2000 in
Hannover, Germany. They will be the world's first operational example
of hydrogen powered personal transportation.
Fully loaded with all the necessary creature comforts, the sedans will not be lacking in power. At the heart of the new 7 series vehicles is a revolutionary battery and 6-cylinder fuel injected combustion engine, which will provide almost 200hp and have a driving range of nearly 300 miles. This will shatter the image that alternative fuel vehicles must be small or limiting.
The battery powering the sedans is developed in partnership with International Fuel Cells (IFC), a subsidiary of Untied Technologies Corporation (UTC), and is comprised of polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) cells. IFC is internationally recognized as the most experienced manufacturer of fuel cells, and the only company in the world that uses series production in their manufacturing process. IFC is also currently the exclusive supplier of fuel cells for NASA, which coincides with BMW's high quality standards.
The technique behind the clean burning IFC battery lies within a series of cells, where each row creates a volt of current; a reaction caused by the oxidation of hydrogen and the earth's atmospheric air. By connecting numerous rows of cells, enough energy is produced to sufficiently supply all requirements of BMW's full-size luxury sedans.
The fuel necessary to
charge the IFC batteries is liquid hydrogen. BMW's current supplier of
liquid hydrogen fuel is another German company, Linde, whose Ingolstadt
plant is a primary producer for Europe. Adding to the environmental
consciousness behind hydrogen energy, even Linde's gathering process is
non-polluting. Lind utilizes photovoltaic (PV) cells in the gathering
process, which was developed in 1953, and gets its name from light (photo)
and electricity (voltaics), which converts the energy that light provides
into direct-current electricity. Electrodes are stimulated by light,
which hit water molecules causing the two elements separate into their
component parts; hydrogen and oxygen.
Although liquid hydrogen is clean burning, it is not the easiest fuel to handle. In order to remain in a liquid state, hydrogen must be kept at -423 degrees F. Essentially, a stationary vehicle, merely sitting in the sun, could burn fuel and even exposure during the fueling process causes the gas to evaporate. BMW's recent change to a fully automated filling system and a revolutionary "hyper-isolated" holding tank has proven to be effective in mitigating these problems. With the new robotic process, re-fueling time has been cut to less than three minutes and hydrogen loss has been reduced to zero. The hyper-isolated tank does not require an additional energy source to remain cool, however, after approximately two weeks the temperature of the tank will gradually increase. As the tank warms, hydrogen begins to evaporate at about 0.8% of the tank's current level per day.
Safety is a
primary issue when dealing with a flammable product, especially when
it involves occupied automobiles that travel at high speeds. When the
topic of hydrogen is brought up in conversation, the issue of combustion
arises. One prominent historical event often recalled is the Hindenburg
disaster, which imprinted in many people's minds a direct correlation
between hydrogen and explosions. The misconception is that hydrogen is
more explosive than traditional fuels. However, nothing could be further
from the truth. To assuage possible misunderstandings, BMW conducted
numerous tests to insure that a situation of explosive levels would be
near impossible. Severe crashes were done where the hydrogen tank was
severely damaged or punctured, results showed that the liquid hydrogen
simply dissipated in the air. As for the combustion levels, hydrogen
holds the same rating as conventional fuels.
In regards to the fatal 1937 Hindenburg explosion, in an article published in the May 1997 issue of the Smithsonian Institution's Air and Space magazine, according to retired NASA hydrogen engineer Addison Bain, hydrogen played no part in the tragic accident. In fact, the aluminum treated cloth that covered the zeppelin was found to be highly flammable, and according to eyewitnesses the large colorful and odorless fire that burned was inconsistent with hydrogen fires, which emit a garlic scent and burn without visible flame.
So how long until the world starts using hydrogen as a primary source of automobile fuel? According to BMW Product Information Specialist Wieland Bruch, we still have 20 to 30 years before hydrogen fuel is widely used as an everyday alternative to gasoline. Cooperating with a network of partners, the Munich airport filling station is the second supplier of liquid hydrogen for BMWs research vehicles. The first began operations in 1990, located in the small town of Neunburg vorm Wald, in the Bavarian Forest region. While the addition of a second station shows progress and growth, the two cannot be classified as a real "network". Formidable challenges still prevail, and BMW has no foreseeable plans to build more filling stations.
There are many global changes that must occur before hydrogen becomes a realistic alternative to fossil fuel. The primary obstacle, according to Bruch, is the cost difference between liquid hydrogen and gasoline. Hydrogen is very expensive, both to produce and deliver. The infrastructure necessary for distribution and storage would cost billions worldwide. Bottom line: hydrogen will not be able to compete unless petroleum fuel becomes more expensive and hydrogen production becomes standardized, and thus less expensive.
As for the United States and its "environment-friendly" automotive technology, General Motors, Ford, and DaimlerChrysler have teamed up with the Department of Energy and a few others to form Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV). General Motors holds the strongest position on fuel cell technology, and was the first American manufacturer to develop and market an alternative fuel vehicle to the public: The EV-1 in 1996. GM is promising a fuel cell electric vehicle by the year 2004, and last year they unveiled an EV-1 that would run on methanol. DaimlerChrysler is working on an on-board reformer that converts gasoline into clean burning hydrogen. In the mean time their Jeep Commander concept vehicle utilizes two EPIC minivan electric motors to power the engine as their on-board reformer technology is being solved. Fords contribution to the environmental cause is their ultra energy efficient P2000 fuel cell, which was introduced this January. Ford plans to produce three vehicle sizes that promise to deliver competitive performance and driving range, comparable to their Taurus. However, Ford is still weighing the differences between their battery-augmented systems and pure fuel cell designs.
