Much is said about hydrogen to replace fossil fuels in present car engines and even more so when the issue of pure electricity is being recalculated in scope, times and infrastructure, figures that today are not so positive.
There are brands in the automotive sector decidedly committed to the issue of hydrogen, because this It is a real alternative in the environmental approachabsolutely viable in assembly, but tremendously limited in its widespread use because, although hydrogen is obtained from the air without drilling in the ground, the processes are complex.
No one in the industry rules out the H2 issue, just as happened years ago with rotary Wankel engines, an issue for which everyone bought and secured patents, did research and development without knowing if tomorrow was assured. But if this issue blows up, you have to be there, at whatever size. Environmental needs demand it.
Environmental needs demand it.
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That is to say, The hydrogen cars that we are illustrated today are ultimately 100 percent electric.. And it must be noted that one thing is to produce hydrogen at an industrial level, as would be required in enormous doses and by various mechanisms, and another is to use it to convert it into electricity in cars. They are separate chains, but they are linked, obviously, in many links.
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How is hydrogen produced?
Through the result of the reaction of carbon monoxide in the air with water, applying electrical energy that separates hydrogen from oxygen. To achieve this, electricity consumption is very high. If it comes from neutral sources, such as wind or hydraulic, then its carbon footprint is almost zero. If that electricity is generated by fossil fuels derived from petroleum, the process invariably pollutes and is not as clean. Depending on how they get it, it has various color names that identify its source, although in the end all the gas is transparent.
This comes from neutral sources, such as wind or hydraulic, since their carbon footprint is almost zero.
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What is done with hydrogen?
The same as with gas for engines. Once the product is obtained, it is pumped from the production sites at high pressure and delivered to stations that retail it for industries or, in the case of cars, it is passed to special high-resistance tanks that go in the vehicle and are They fill up at service stations dedicated to the subject.
Once the vehicle’s tank is inflated, what happens?
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The hydrogen is converted back into electricity and this will charge the batteries which, in turn, power the car’s engine.
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It is profitable?
Not for the moment. Fuel cells are expensive and complex, as well as heavy and bulky.. Three factors must be separated in this analysis: one, how much it cost to produce hydrogen in the plants. Another is how expensive it is to apply it to cars to supply the cells. And then, the probable price to the public. Depending on the ways of doing it, costs vary. And to that is added the assembly of the delivery network to the end customer because, as happens with gas or gasoline, you have to tank periodically and compete against the prices of other energy alternatives.
It is practical?
At the moment, nothing is more practical, easier and immediate than liquid fuels. Unlike electric cars that can be plugged into the home network, It is impossible to resupply hydrogen outside the supply chain that is eventually implemented. In that, massive hydrogen is in embryo because there is gasoline on every corner and electricity on every pole, although transferring it to car batteries is another thing.
Doesn’t hydrogen replace the limitations of electric car batteries?
Things change because since the cell produces permanent electricity, The car battery in that case is not a huge, expensive and heavy warehouse that carries electricity between connection times to the recharging network and is gradually emptied. The batteries supported by the cells are much smaller and less demanding and the autonomy will be given by the amount of gas and not by the electricity stored.
Since hydrogen is a fuel ‘per se’, why is it not applied directly to combustion engines as is done with gas instead of gasoline or ACPM?
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In order to be able to add it to the engines, it must be brought to a liquid state., which implies temperatures in the car’s tanks in the order of 35 degrees below zero and pressures between 5,000 and 10,000 pounds per square inch. It requires more than sophisticated filling stations and although there are some fleets of experimental vehicles that use it, for now its consumption is in rockets. Furthermore, hydrogen is highly flammable, making handling very delicate.
Hydrogen is highly flammable, so handling is very delicate.
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Several countries sell cars with H2 engines, what does that mean?
The main scenario has been the state of California in the United States and there some brands have concentrated their prototypes. But the progress of infrastructure has been more than slow and Shell recently dismantled its chain of stations given the complexity of serving them and the low occupancy. But it is something that, although in a minimal amount of what happens with electric charging networks, will have to be developed. Suffice it to say that ten years ago there were no electric chargers in the world.
Those conversions that they sell on the market, what do they do?
But the studies from many sites that can be consulted on the Internet report that there are no relevant consumption improvements and although the engine power may increase somewhat, we return to the first paragraph: the amount of electricity that the alternator must produce for the system is Eat the difference there may be in performance. If that were as effective as the advertisements say, all gasoline vehicles in the world would have it.
That is to say, is the issue more in laboratories than in the streets?
Crudely, yes. Not because the process of achieving H2 and applying it to mobility is in its infancy is an idea. On the contrary, it is invented. But it is in a state of perfection in its functionality and because installing a new connected energy chain in the world is not something evident in the short term. Surely the next step is to install networks in pilot cities or between work points for light transport fleets and from there begin to set up a chain that makes it available to all people who dare to ride with this new source of clean energy.
Hydrogen tanks.
Photo:iStock
In summary…
JOSEPH CLOPATOFSKY
MOTOR MAGAZINE EDITOR
