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The Hydrogen Motorsport Challenge Mr David Bascombe Jr. Mr Tomás Coleman Mr Mark Douglas Mr Stéphane Folio Mr Georgios Kalogeropoulos Mr Naman Negi Mr Robin Pernet Mr Chris Senn www.motorsport.cranfield.ac.uk School of Applied Sciences, Cranfield University, Bedfordshire, MK43 0AL Email: [email protected] Summary Storage & Delivery Hydrogen benefits from a high energy density compared to gasoline, even though its storage is not as straightforward. The implemented storage features: • Gaseous storage; • High pressure vessels (700 bar); • Type IV storage: polymeric liner and carbon fiber structure; • 3.5kg distributed over 2 vessels The pressure is regulated at 20 bar to safely deliver the gas to the engine common rail. Other safety equipment: • Pressure sensors & atmospheric hydrogen sensors • Electronic shutoff valves & control unit with autonomous energy supply • LED safety display system Engine A twin turbocharged, direct injection Ford Ecoboost 3.5L V6 engine is used. The engine has been modified in order to run with gaseous hydrogen instead of gasoline and has been simulated in AVL Boost. A lean Air-Fuel Ratio (AFR) of 75:1 (λ = 2.18) has been chosen to prevent pre-ignition and excessive NOx emissions. Other modifications implemented: • Custom hybrid turbochargers • Compression ratio of 12:1 • Gaseous injectors • Cold-rated, non-platinum tipped spark plugs • Pneumatic Variable Valve Timing Chassis Key challenges for the chassis design: • Redesign to accomodate hydrogen storage tanks • Provide a protective rigid structure for safety under crash/impact • Optimise the weight and inertia and target baseline torsional and bending stiffnesses • Avoid protrusion in the hydrogen storage area in side impact scenario • Comply with side crash based on Euro-NCAP ® regulations • Inclusion of a single-piece firewall to isolate the cabin from the fuel storage solution. T45 steel material is used in the front and rear roll-hoop to improve chassis stiffness. Background With the advent of the hydrogen economy, when the use of fuel cells and e-powertrains are commonplace, the safety and packaging issues these technologies bring may pose issues to the motorsport industry. The solution to bridge the gap between gasoline Spark Ignition (SI) engines and new powertrain may present itself as a Hydrogen SI engine. Aim & Objectives The project focused on designing the chassis and modifying the engine of the Radical RXC to race safely with a hydrogen powered combustion engine. The chassis must retain the RXC safety standards whilst accomodating the alternative fuel storage, meanwhile the engine should be modified to deliver the best performance and limit the fuel consumption. Cargine ® pneumatic VVT actuator The gusseted section to improve directional stiffness. Double- tube design: • +18.7% longitudinal bending stiffness • +66% lateral bending stiffness • +5% weight increase 3.39kg of H 2 * 3.15kg of H 2 * *Based on numeric simulation **Estimated values based on 2012 US EPA values 19 laps 13 laps £12,000 for storage system £2,200 for the delivery system £3.71 to refuel ** PROBLEM DEFINITION & CONSTRAINT IDENTIFICATION BASELINE MODELLING & ASSESSMENTS LITERATURE REVIEW MODIFICATION INNOVATION PRODUCTION DECISION DESIGN OPTIMISATION Power: 258 kW (347 bhp) @ 6,000 rpm Torque: 446 N.m @ 5,000 rpm BSFC: 67 g/kWh @ 5,000 rpm Supported by:
