A Hybrid Vehicle Powered by Hydrogen and Ammonia Pont-Tech scrl, Pontedera Italy

Format:

Conference/Event

Author/Creator:

Pozzana, Pozzana, author.

Contributor:

Bonfanti, Neri

Dario, Paolo

Doveri, Nicolò

Frigo, Stefano

Mattoli, Virgilio

Ragnoli, Marina

Conference Name:

2012 Small Engine Technology Conference & Exhibition (2012-10-16 : Madison, Wisconsin, United States)

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

Warrendale, PA SAE International 2012

Summary:

A partnership of Research and Industry entities has developed afully working hybrid electric vehicle equipped with a 15 kW ICengine fuelled with liquid ammonia as range extender of the lithiumbatteries pack on board. All the vehicle powertrain, id est, the ICengine, the electric generator coupled with the engine, theelectric motor, the electronics, et cetera, has been studied anddesigned.Regarding the IC engine, as known, ammonia combustion ischaracterized by a high activation energy and a low flame velocity,therefore a small amount of hydrogen is requested as igniter andcombustion promoter. The necessary amount of hydrogen is comingfrom the thermal decomposition of the same ammonia by cracking itat approximately 400°C inside a special catalyst (purposelyrealized within the project) heated by the engine exhaust gasses.The Nitrogen and Hydrogen mixture coming from the cracker isintroduced, by an indirect injection, into the intake manifoldtogether with the ammonia.Ammonia is stored on board inside a tank very similar to the LPGgas tanks, being ammonia maintained in a liquid state atapproximately 0.9 MPa. The pipelines had to be resistant to thechemical aggression of ammonia and special part had been used. Thecombustion of ammonia has as reaction products only water andnitrogen oxides, being these last ones easily removable by means ofa catalytic system (SCR) helped by the presence of ammonia.A first campaign of engine testing has been carried out givinggreat results, considering that an optimization phase has to come,confirming that the amount of hydrogen produced by the catalyst(roughly 1,3 m₃/h) is enough for a satisfactory engine running.Road tests for the entire vehicle are actually on course.However, the use of ammonia for the propulsion of motor vehiclesintroduces some issues on safety, because of the chemical-physicalcharacteristics of the substance. Ammonia is moreover a toxic gaswhose ways of penetration in the human organism can be: inhalation,ingestion and contact. This is why a complete work package of theproject has been given to safety, building up a sensors system inorder to detect presence of ammonia in the local of the engine andin the exhaust system. This kind of vehicles for transport withseries hybrid propulsion (vehicle electrical worker fed frombatteries charged by an ammonia generator) would allow to have ZEV("Zero Emission Vehicle") and stationary generationdevices fuelled with ammonia turn out interesting also for thestorage of energy coming from renewable sources (wind,photovoltaic, et cetera) which actually use grid as storage system

Notes:

Vendor supplied data

Publisher Number:

2012-32-0085

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license