Hydrogen internal combustion engines are expected to be included in the hydrogen energy development strategy

Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology responded to two hydrogen energy-related suggestions from National People’s Congress deputies and stated that it will actively cooperate with relevant departments to formulate a hydrogen energy development strategy, study and promote the inclusion of hydrogen internal combustion engines into the hydrogen energy development strategy to provide support.

In line with the concept of carbon reduction

Different from the working principle of hydrogen fuel cells, hydrogen internal combustion engines are similar to traditional gasoline and diesel vehicle engines. They also convert chemical energy into mechanical energy, but the fuel Becomes hydrogen instead of fossil fuels.

"The transportation sector accounts for about 28% of carbon emissions and is responsible for a large carbon reduction task. The advancement of carbon reduction technology and product updates in this field will be conducive to the realization of the carbon neutrality goal. At present, Fossil fuel-based internal combustion engine vehicles still account for more than 90%. "Zhang Changling, a senior engineer at the China Automotive Technology and Research Center, believes that hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engines use hydrogen as fuel and produce basically no carbon emissions. It is not only a new technical route, but also a reduction in the transportation field. Effective means of carbon.

In April this year, Toyota Motor officially announced that it would start developing a hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engine to directly burn hydrogen to generate power. Toyota President Akio Toyoda believes that hydrogen is clean, zero-polluting, has a fast combustion rate, and can simultaneously achieve zero carbon emissions and high thermal efficiency. However, from a global perspective, the technology of hydrogen internal combustion engine has not yet ushered in large-scale application and is still in the early stage of laboratory research and development.

Promote the diversified development of hydrogen energy technology

Zhang Changling believes: “In recent years, the hydrogen energy industry has developed rapidly, and the hydrogen energy industry involves hydrogen supply such as hydrogen preparation, storage and transportation, and filling. There are many links in the application of hydrogen energy technology, but at present, the application of hydrogen energy technology in China focuses too much on fuel cell vehicles. As a new technical route for the application of hydrogen energy technology in the mobile field, it can not only promote vehicle use. The diversification of energy can also promote the diversification of technology paths for the hydrogen energy industry.”

In fact, our country has already begun to encourage diversified exploration of technology paths for automobile development. In April 2017, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Science and Technology jointly issued the "Medium- and Long-term Development Plan for the Automobile Industry", which clearly pointed out that "promoting the research and development of advanced fuel vehicles, hybrid vehicles, and alternative fuel vehicles. Encourage natural gas, biomass and other resource-rich vehicles "Regional development of alternative fuel vehicles, allowing vehicles to be labeled as both oil and gas when leaving the factory, conducting pilot projects and promoting applications, and promoting the diversified development of vehicle energy sources."

It is on this basis that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology recently proposed that it will actively cooperate with relevant departments to formulate a hydrogen energy development strategy and study and promote the inclusion of hydrogen internal combustion engines to support it.

“After years of R&D efforts, some problems existing in hydrogen fuel internal combustion engines have been overcome. For example, the thermal efficiency has exceeded 42, and knocking, high-pressure in-cylinder direct injection, and ignition angle control have all been well solved. However, There are still some problems that need to be solved." Zhang Lifang, general manager and professor-level senior engineer of Beijing Jiantong Hydrogen Energy Technology Co., Ltd., said that the efficiency of hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engines is gradually improving, and the current hydrogen consumption per 100 kilometers is about 1 kilogram.

“In fact, compared with traditional gasoline and diesel fuels, although hydrogen burning does not emit pollutant gases such as sulfide, but because the hydrogen internal combustion engine requires hydrogen to be mixed with a portion of air for combustion to provide power, nitrogen oxides still exist. Regarding the emission problem, there has been a certain breakthrough in technology, and this emission indicator can be nearly twice as low as the G5 emission standard for fuel vehicles," Zhang Lifang said.

“If developed to the same scale, the manufacturing cost of hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engine vehicles may be much lower than that of fuel cell vehicles. Hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engines can be retrofitted with old engines, and the retrofitting cost is not high, and the economy is advantageous. " Zhang Lifang said that my country currently has several hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engine vehicles undergoing data verification, and Beijing Institute of Technology, Tianjin University, FAW, Great Wall Motors, Changan Automobile, Weichai, Yuchai, etc. are all actively researching and developing.

Further demonstration of feasibility is needed

Although hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engines have returned to people's attention, whether they should be vigorously promoted and developed still requires further evaluation and demonstration.

“The development of hydrogen fuel internal combustion engines can rely on the original internal combustion engine industry foundation, and there are a large number of domestic internal combustion engine companies. However, it is worth noting that if traditional internal combustion engine companies seek green and low-carbon transformation, can hydrogen fuel internal combustion engines It is a feasible way that needs to be demonstrated, and its technical complexity, feasibility, efficiency of the hydrogen fuel internal combustion engine itself, fuel supply and other issues must also be considered. At the same time, how to use the company's existing resources must also be considered," Zhang Changling believes.

“At a technical level, it is still necessary to verify the impact of hydrogen corrosion and hydrogen embrittlement on the hydrogen fuel engine structure and internal materials of the engine. In addition, in a hydrogen environment, how to avoid the deterioration of the lubricating oil required by the engine, Emulsification needs further research," Zhang Lifang said.

Zhang Lifang emphasized that the purity of hydrogen required by fuel cells is higher, and hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engines can eat "coarse grains" appropriately. On the premise that the price of green hydrogen has not yet dropped, gray hydrogen can be used to solve the problem of hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engines. There is a problem with the hydrogen source of cars, so the cost of using hydrogen will be lower.

There is a big gap between the purity and impurity requirements of hydrogen used in hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engines and fuel cells. If existing hydrogen refueling stations are used as the hydrogen supply infrastructure for hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engine vehicles, it may be a waste of resources. . Zhang Changling bluntly said that if hydrogen fuel internal combustion engines are vigorously promoted, huge investments will be made in key technology research and development, technical system construction, demonstration and promotion of hydrogen fuel internal combustion engine vehicles, and supporting infrastructure construction. In addition, in terms of top-level design, industrial management, and industrial system construction, These are huge projects, and how to solve these problems deserves in-depth consideration.

In addition, Zhang Lifang said that there are currently no relevant industry standards for hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engines, and its promotion and development requires corresponding policy guidance and support measures, as well as the establishment of a standard system, pilot demonstration projects and supporting hydrogen supply systems.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology also emphasized in its reply that the next step will be to further evaluate the adaptability and differences of the current standard system based on the technological progress and application promotion of hydrogen engines, arrange pre-research on relevant standards in advance, and promote urgently needed standards in a timely manner formulated.