The fuel cell hasn’t won yet

The traditional combustion engine offers up to 30-percent potential for improvement in consumption and emissions and, as a result, will remain the first choice for another 20 to 30 years despite fuel-cell euphoria

Bill ford, head of the world’s second largest car producer, surprised automobile experts last year at the London greenpeace conference by stating that as far as he was concerned the era of the combustion engine had come to an end .He said he was placing all his faith in the fuel cell and , under his management, Ford would become the world’s leading supplier of alternative fuel vehicles. By as early as the end of 2001, henry ford’s grandson is intending to launch a whole fleet of fuel-cell vehicles onto the market.
Daimlerchryslers’ boss, jürgen schrempp, is also investing hard in the fuel cell; by 2004, some one billion euros will have been spent on development. Necar 5 is the name of the youngest offspring of the first “zerofuel consumtion car”(Schrempp)that he proudly presented last year in Berlin together with Gerhard Schröder Germany’s automobile Chancellor.”In the Necar 5,it has been possible for the first time to reduce the fuel cell’s design volume to the dimensions of a conventional means of propulsion. The German-America group has spoken of a technological quantum leap, clearing the way for series production use of the fuel cell.
Premature Euphoria?

But the fuel cell hasn’t won yet . reinhard Kolke of the Federal German Environment Agency in Berlin put the brakes on the euphoria: “Because of the high cost and effort involved in manufacturing hydrogen or methanol, the fuel cell will only offer an advantageous rechargeable laptop battery  energy and environmental balance once it exceeds the gasoline engine’s efficiency by at least 30 percent .Apart from a few niche applications for socalled alternative drive concepts, we shall still be driving gasoline and diesel combustion engines in 20 to 30 years’ time.”
The solutions to the problems associated with the onboard storage of hydrogen are just as unconvincing as the answers to questions about a practicable infrastructure. To quote Reinhard Kolke:“if they are to be universally employed, then hydrogen and methanol, the propellants used for fuel-cell vehicles, need to be produced from natural gas. Why not ten employ natural gas directly in the combustion engine?”
The federal German Environment Agency views the intermediate fossil stage via methanol as not only costly but highly inefficient. According to the Agency’s calculations, methanol’s effectiveness along the entire energy chain is at best equal to tat of modern diesel engines. And even if, one day, 40 to 50 percent of electric current is produced from renewable energy, there will be no excess power for hydrogen production. Where, for instance, is solar energy to be obtained in the quantities required?
In contrast, when employed on static tasks, the fuel cell is not exposed to many of the unfavorable circumstances experienced during mobile operation; for this reason ,introducing this technology via static applications appears to be both economically and ecologically the more efficient way to proceed. The fuel cell could produce both electric current and heat in, for instance, buses or commercial vehicles.
Potential for the “One-Liter car”
The further development of the combustion engine is also causing the fuel cell a great deal of trouble. Volkswagen boss, Ferdinand Piëch, talks of a “One-Liter Car.” He knows that the potential is far from exhausted. By the time the fuel cell arrives. in the foreseeable future, combustion engines will possibly have improved by 20 or 25 percent. Examples of new concepts which use less fuel and produce fewer emissions are the “Valvetronic” fully-variable mechanical valve gear, which BMW has announced for summer 2001 (see “BMW’s Valvetronic” on page 72 of this issue),and the SVC(Saab Variable Compression).
“Saab Combustion Control”(SCC) is also one in the range of new approaches towards achieving considerable reductions on the emissions and consumption side. Whereas direct injection techniques for diesel power units will be characterized in the near future by further refinements to the system, the trend towards direct injection is gaining considerable impetus with the gasoline engine; although, with the gasoline engine, the hurdle which still has to be cleared is tailoring the exhaust-gas after-treatment to the DI principle.
Fritz Indra, head of Drive Development at General Motors, prophecies
that, as far as Development at General Motors, prophecies that, as far as consumption is concerned, the gap between diesel and engines will soon begin to narrow; “the diesel engine had widened its consumption advantage over the gasoline engine by 25 to 30 percent; dell inspiron 6000 battery but the gasoline engine is now catching up. And especially if you no longer express consumption in liters per 100 kilometers but as a CO2 reading. This way, the diesel immediately loses ten percent of its advantage because a liter of diesel contains 10 to 15 percent more energy”. According to Indra, this way of looking at things is becoming increasingly important, because the emission regulations, too, are targeting CO2 emissions.
An important consideration in assessing future drive technology design solutions is expressed by lanrry Burns, vice president at General Motors responsible for research and development: “The technology must remain affordable.” In his opinion, therefore, the combustion engine’s potential for improvement should continue to be exploited with the same degree of consistency, and this ought to result in a “further 30 percent” potential for reductions in consumption and emissions.
At sometime or other, the time will come

“Once the aimed-for halving of consumption has been achieved throughout the vehicle fleet, once renewable sources are being employed and excess energy is available,” then the Federal German Environment Agency will consider that hydrogen’s time has come. And so GM vice president Burns sticks with the fuel cell in spite of all its disadvantages: “The future belongs to hydrogen, and the fuel cell has already made great progress as regards effectiveness, range and its cold start behavior at below zero degrees Celsius.”
However, the biggest problems are still the infrastructure and the storing of hydrogen on the vehicle since all the procedures tested hitherto, including so-called “Nano Tubes,” have so far not gotten us any further.
According to Burns, General Motors has still not decided whether to use hydrogen in the combustion engine, as BMW proposes, or in the fuel cell, as DaimlerChrysler intends. The fascinating thing about the fuel cell is its simplicity; “nothing moves except protons and electrons.”

In order to prevent to prevent too much regulation, GM regards it as very important to cooperate with governments. For one thing, this should not lead to obstacles being placed in the way of an efficient technology, as occurred in the USA with the diesel passenger car; and for another, the American OEMs have committed themselves to putting PNGV prototypes on the road by 2004.
In less developed countries such as China, it would be possible to by-pass earlier technology stages by using the fuel cell. As Burns says: Our strategy is that these countries should get the latest technology and that they should use it.”
The deduction which follows from this consideration of the combustion engine versus the fuel cell is this optimized versions of the principles behind gasoline and diesel engines, together with new injection techniques, throttle-free load control, direct injection and efficient exhaust-gas reduction strategies, will continue to prove themselves to be the mainstay of mobility. And whenever the realization sinks in that precious oil should preferably be reserved for use in transport rather than being burned away up domestic chimneys, for instance,(the static fuel cell could serve as a pioneer in this area),it can be assumed that energy use will consist of a mix. Gasoline and diesel engines as well as the fuel cell can co-exist perfectly well as a means of vehicle propulsion.
Large-scale Trial in CaliforniaThe California Fuel Cell Partnership aims to test fuel-cell buses and passenger cars in a large-scale trial between the cities of San Francisco and Sacramento. The trial phase began in November 2000 with a modest nine vehicles. By the end, the vehicle fleet should consist of between 50 and 100 hydrogen-driven cars. The aim of the car producers and the fuel-cell manufacturers is to acquire valuable experience in the everyday use of this demanding technology.
To run them, the fuel-cell vehicles used will need hydrogen which will have to be carried on board in large pressure tanks or in liquid form at minus 253 degrees Celsius. Vehicles such as DaimlerChrysler’s Neccar 5, which generate electricity on board from methanol and oxygen, will not be used in the initial large-scale trial-especially since methanol, as a poison, is not exactly welcomed with open arms by the Americans.


The Fuel Cell’s Market PotentialFerdinand Dudenhöffer, who holds the chair of Automobile Economics at Gelsinkirchen Technical University in Germany, has drawn up a scenario for the “Market Potential of Fuel-Cell Propulsion Systems.” The assumption underlying his scenario is that , due to the high cost and the complexity of the new drive technology, a market potential will only exist prior to 2020 in the environmentally-conscious regions, and conurbations of modern economies; in, for instance, parts of the USA, such as California, in Japan and the conurbation centers of Central and Northern Europe.
Phases 1 and 2
(up to 2015)
The first stage will see hydrogen being produced in the car using reformers. Methanol and gasoline reformers will be employed. This technique will, however, diminish some of the advantages of the fuel cell because reformers produce co2, thus offering only a partial solution to the climate problem. Moreover, it is not efficient enough. During this phase, the fuel cell will be competing strongly with the optimized combustion engines. Hardly any demand can be expected because of the high prices for fuel-cell propulsion systems, the lack of any infrastructure and insufficient experience of the every day use of this technology. In zero-emission vehicle zones (e.g.in US conurbation areas), the fuel cell will be competing with the ongoing development of hybrid vehicles. And even the pure hydrogen combustion engine (the BMW approach) will emerge as competitors during this period.
Deduction: a rapid move across to alternative propulsion systems is not a realistic option. The hybrid, the hydrogen combustion and the fuel-cell concepts will lead to market fragmentation. And fragmented markets increase customer uncertainty-the potential buyer will wait to see which propulsion system catches on .
Phase 3 (2015 up to 2020)
Fuel-cell propulsion system, but now without the reformer technology. The problems of the hydrogen fuel tank have been solved. The real advantages of fuel cells, such as zero emissions and hydrogen production on solar farms, can be exploited. Bit by bit ,the new drive technology is adopted in parts of the USA, Europe and Japan. The higher purchase price for fuel-cell vehicles pays for itself where annual mileage is high, not least because of the significant rise in gasoline and diesel prices (additional CO2 taxes).
Phase 4 (2020 up to 2025)
The scarcity of fossil fuels accelerates market penetration by the fuel cell. An optimistic scenario of the potential markets would then already visualize 50 percent of new vehicles sold being equipped with a fuel-cell propulsion system .But even then, more than 90 percent of the total number of vehicles would still be fitted with combustion engines.

Opportunities and Risks the Fuel Cell Presents Automobile Suppliers
Automobile suppliers should follow the development of the fuel cell very closely. This is the only way they can adapt rapidly to changes in their markets. And the ousting of the traditional combustion engine from the engine compartment calls for considerable technical changes to occur.
Traditional drivetrain components which will need to be completely replaced or adapted for use with fuel-cell drive technology make up some 30 percent of a passenger car’s added value today. Assemblies such as the combustion engine, and conventional engine electronics and electrics will be replaced. The transmission, the exhaust system, the cooling system and the fuel tanks will be altered. ,Mainly because of the short production runs, the prices of the new components are currently several times more than the target costs.
Traction instead of Combustion Engine sony vgp-bps2 battery,sony vgp-bps2a battery  The new fuel-cell technology will replace the following components: the combustion engine will be superseded by a traction engine and a power generation system. It consists of a gas-generation system and of a so-called fuel-cell stack. At present, many system employ a methanol reformer for hydrogen generation in the vehicle.
Alternatively, the fuel cell can be operated directly using hydrogen. In this case, there would be no need for the reformer, but a more complicated and costly fuel tank system would be needed. A more complex system of sensors and control mechanisms for the gas generation system and the traction engine would take the place of the conventional engine electronics.
Since a fuel-cell vehicle needs neither a generator to produce electricity nor a conventional starter, the traditional engine electrics are replaced by new, technically comparable electric component. Apart from the traction engine, these are additional electric motors for the ancillary units.
As well as some elements being exchanged, a whole series of components and systems will need to be adapted to the new technology; the transmission, for instance, turning out to be much simpler. Instead of five gears and one revered gear, just one single-stage trans-mission and a parking mode are needed.
There are changes, too, to the exhaust system. Since the fuel cell only produces pollutantfree exhaust gases, the catalytic converter and the oxygen sensor are superfluous. Due to the less intense thermal demands made on the exhaust system, new materials, plastics for example, come into contention. The exhaust-gas temperature only reaches roughly 65 to 75 degrees. Because of the greater cooling effort required, the cooling system needs to come out significantly large in comparison. Last but not least, the air-conditioning system needs to be adjusted because there are ample quantities of electrical energy available in vehicles employing fuel-cell technology which means that providing air-conditioning to these vehicles when static no longer presents a problem.
Modified Components
Among those companies which are already urgently engaged in development work for the fuel-cell car is Kobenschmidt Pieburg AG, Düsseldorf(Germany). Research is going on into possible components for the fuel-cell system, such as air compressors, regulating and shut-off valves.
The company’s experience so far indicates that electrical exhaust-gas recirculation (EGR)valves which have been used up to now in diesel engines could, in the fuel-cell drive, assume the task of metering the gas and vapor flows in the reformer. Modified forms of secondary air pumps and shut-off valves could ensure that process air is provided in low pressure-level system.
The German piston manufacture, Mahle, based in Stuttgart, is also watching the development of the fuel cell very closely. “If the new technology were to be employed very rapidly across a broad spectrum of automobiles, many of our products would be at risk,” fears Dr.Uwe Mohr, head of the Research and Development Centre: “We are actively involved in the development of air supply components for fuel-cell system. This includes, among other things, working on air ducting, acoustics and filtration.”
All in all, the decisive factor for suppliers is whether those car producers who are developing the fuel cell are aiming to manufacture their own parts or are intending to buy parts in. In the first case, any research and development are already actively involved in development are one step ahead. apple a1185 battery