Computational and analytical evaluation of the efficiency of using hydrogen as a fuel in an internal combustion engine

Abstract

There are reasons to look for alternative sources of fuel because of the automobile industry development. Firstly, oil is a mined, not a produced fuel, sooner or later it will run out. According to various statistical sources, known deposits are gradually being depleted. Another important problem is air pollution caused by road transport. Most of the existing cars run on gasoline and diesel engines that burn oil to get the car going. Combustion of hydrocarbons that make up oil releases a large amount of harmful substances, in particular, particulate matter and volatile organic compounds. Using hydrogen as an alternative fuel can solve the problem of finding new oil fields, and also, due to the absence of emissions into the atmosphere, it can solve the problem of air pollution. The article presents a brief history of the development of engine building and a description of hydrogen technologies in engines. The article presents a computational and analytical assessment of the efficiency of using hydrogen fuel in an internal combustion engine in relation to the bus fleet of the Yekaterinburg city. It was found that the conversion of a gasoline engine to hydrogen fuel leads to a decrease in specific fuel consumption by 20% (at the nominal mode). It is shown that the payback period for the transfer of 20 buses to hydrogen is about 8 years. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.