Mazda to Showcase RX-8 Hydrogen RE at Le Mans
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The event is a first for the Le Mans race, and will showcase several vehicles that use alternative powertrains, including electric, Hybrid, Natural gas and hydrogen cars.
The Mazda coupe RX-8 Hydrogen RE is powered by a rotary engine that is especially efficient at burning zero-emissions hydrogen. Being a dual fuel unit, the powerplant can also run on petrol. The vehicle will be driven by Yojiro Terada, a veteran Le Mans driver.
“In a nod to its memorable victory in 1991, the driver of the RX-8 will be Yojiro Terada, a veteran pilot who has participated in 29 endurance races at Le Mans, including 16
with Mazda, and of course as a member of the official team that took the podium 19 years ago,” stated the press release.
The demonstration of the Mazda RX-8 Hydrogen RE Hydrogen is scheduled for Saturday, June 12. Starting from 12:30, the cars will be showcased to the public in Paddock H, opposite to the Village.
The Mazda RX-8 Hydrogen RE is also offered to the general public, as the car is currently available for lease in Japan and Norway.
comments written so far
On 2 June 2010 at 22:41 UTC, kafantaris said:
Here is a comment left elsewhere that might be of interest here:
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Back in 1977 Mazda learned that hydrogen was better than gasoline to power its rotary engine because the flame front of hydrogen is much faster and can reach across the long and flat combustion chamber of the rotary.
Moreover, forty years ago NASA scientist learned that even small amounts of hydrogen added to gasoline improves mileage because it allows the leaning out of the fuel mixture:
?Lean-mixture-ratio combustion in internal-combustion engines has the potential of producing low emissions and higher thermal efficiency for several reasons. First, excess oxygen in the charge further oxidizes unburned hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide. Second, excess oxygen lowers the peak combustion temperatures, which inhibits the formation of oxides of nitrogen. Third, the lower combustion temperatures increase the mixture specific heat ratio by decreasing the net dissociation losses. Fourth, as the specific heat ratio increases, the cycle thermal efficiency also increases, which gives the potential for better fuel economy. NASA Technical Note, May 1977, ?Emissions and Total Energy Consumption of a Multicylinder Piston Engine Running on Gasoline and a Hydrogen-Gasoline Mixture?
Much of this was confirmed again last month by Changwei Ji and Shuofeng Wang at the Beijing University of Technology. They outfitted a 4 cylinder engine with hydrogen injectors, as well as with gasoline injectors, and found that adding hydrogen allowed them to cut down the gasoline used during idle and low-load, which happens to be where car and truck engines spent half their lives:
?The test results showed that, with the increase of hydrogen enrichment level, engine-indicated thermal efficiency was improved, and the lean burn limit was extended. The peak in-cylinder temperature and in-cylinder temperature at exhaust valve opening decrease with the increase of excess air ratio and hydrogen blending level.?
See http://www.greencarcongress.com/2009/08/ji-20090819.html
The question for the Mazda engineers is why did they not provide for the mixing of hydrogen with gasoline in the RX-8 Hydrogen RE, since the car comes with both fuel systems onboard? Even a small amount of hydrogen would have improved mileage on gasoline mode as the ensuing fast flame front would have propagated across the combustion chamber and burn more of the gasoline to produce power. As it is now, the unburned gas goes out to the catalytic converter, thus further perpetuating the characteristic high fuel consumption of these engines.
Mazda?s choices aside, however, some would rather see internal combustion engines abandoned outright than spend money, time and effort to improve them with hydrogen. But there are benefits in doing so, and maybe we ought to think about them.
First, using hydrogen in our vehicles now will increase demand for it, and thus hasten the setting up of the hydrogen infrastructure which will be needed for fuel cells.
Second, the increased use of hydrogen will streamline the way it is made or transported, and therefore drive down its cost. And as an added bonus, it will makes us more comfortable around hydrogen, and alleviate current fears of explosion.
Third, using hydrogen in our internal combustion engines now may salvage a century?s worth of tooling investment in them, as well as in the transmissions, axles, etc. Whether we like it or not, all these will be around for a while, so we might as well make them efficient while they are with us.
Fourth, using hydrogen to improve the mileage of our cars, trucks, boats, and airplanes, should reduce our need for foreign oil, air pollution, and greenhouse gases. This may seem impossible since hydrogen is now made predominately from natural gas. However, we are presently implementing plans to make hydrogen from electricity at hydro-electric plants, geothermal plant, nuclear plants, and from electricity derived from the sun and the wind. Moreover, we are trying to make hydrogen from methane in farms and waste dumps; and directly from sewage, bacteria, seawater, and most promising, sunlight itself.
Fifth, since hydrogen increases the thermal efficiency of fossil fuels across the board (gasoline, diesel, alcohol, liquefied coal, coal, methane, and natural gas) mixing it with these fuels should improve the efficiency of furnaces, water heaters, boilers, jet engines, and perhaps even the natural gas or coal electric generators themselves.
Sixth, a greater use of hydrogen will hasten its implementation for storing energy in a pure and potent form. Just like we can store electrical energy in batteries, we can also store it by converting into hydrogen in a tank. Once there, the hydrogen can be used when needed, and where needed. Moreover, metal hydrides, nanotubes, or even cheap charred chicken feathers, can store hydrogen at low pressure, and can make it possible to ship huge quantities of energy in the form of hydrogen to remote corners of the earth.
==============
Back in 1977 Mazda learned that hydrogen was better than gasoline to power its rotary engine because the flame front of hydrogen is much faster and can reach across the long and flat combustion chamber of the rotary.
Moreover, forty years ago NASA scientist learned that even small amounts of hydrogen added to gasoline improves mileage because it allows the leaning out of the fuel mixture:
?Lean-mixture-ratio combustion in internal-combustion engines has the potential of producing low emissions and higher thermal efficiency for several reasons. First, excess oxygen in the charge further oxidizes unburned hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide. Second, excess oxygen lowers the peak combustion temperatures, which inhibits the formation of oxides of nitrogen. Third, the lower combustion temperatures increase the mixture specific heat ratio by decreasing the net dissociation losses. Fourth, as the specific heat ratio increases, the cycle thermal efficiency also increases, which gives the potential for better fuel economy. NASA Technical Note, May 1977, ?Emissions and Total Energy Consumption of a Multicylinder Piston Engine Running on Gasoline and a Hydrogen-Gasoline Mixture?
Much of this was confirmed again last month by Changwei Ji and Shuofeng Wang at the Beijing University of Technology. They outfitted a 4 cylinder engine with hydrogen injectors, as well as with gasoline injectors, and found that adding hydrogen allowed them to cut down the gasoline used during idle and low-load, which happens to be where car and truck engines spent half their lives:
?The test results showed that, with the increase of hydrogen enrichment level, engine-indicated thermal efficiency was improved, and the lean burn limit was extended. The peak in-cylinder temperature and in-cylinder temperature at exhaust valve opening decrease with the increase of excess air ratio and hydrogen blending level.?
See http://www.greencarcongress.com/2009/08/ji-20090819.html
The question for the Mazda engineers is why did they not provide for the mixing of hydrogen with gasoline in the RX-8 Hydrogen RE, since the car comes with both fuel systems onboard? Even a small amount of hydrogen would have improved mileage on gasoline mode as the ensuing fast flame front would have propagated across the combustion chamber and burn more of the gasoline to produce power. As it is now, the unburned gas goes out to the catalytic converter, thus further perpetuating the characteristic high fuel consumption of these engines.
Mazda?s choices aside, however, some would rather see internal combustion engines abandoned outright than spend money, time and effort to improve them with hydrogen. But there are benefits in doing so, and maybe we ought to think about them.
First, using hydrogen in our vehicles now will increase demand for it, and thus hasten the setting up of the hydrogen infrastructure which will be needed for fuel cells.
Second, the increased use of hydrogen will streamline the way it is made or transported, and therefore drive down its cost. And as an added bonus, it will makes us more comfortable around hydrogen, and alleviate current fears of explosion.
Third, using hydrogen in our internal combustion engines now may salvage a century?s worth of tooling investment in them, as well as in the transmissions, axles, etc. Whether we like it or not, all these will be around for a while, so we might as well make them efficient while they are with us.
Fourth, using hydrogen to improve the mileage of our cars, trucks, boats, and airplanes, should reduce our need for foreign oil, air pollution, and greenhouse gases. This may seem impossible since hydrogen is now made predominately from natural gas. However, we are presently implementing plans to make hydrogen from electricity at hydro-electric plants, geothermal plant, nuclear plants, and from electricity derived from the sun and the wind. Moreover, we are trying to make hydrogen from methane in farms and waste dumps; and directly from sewage, bacteria, seawater, and most promising, sunlight itself.
Fifth, since hydrogen increases the thermal efficiency of fossil fuels across the board (gasoline, diesel, alcohol, liquefied coal, coal, methane, and natural gas) mixing it with these fuels should improve the efficiency of furnaces, water heaters, boilers, jet engines, and perhaps even the natural gas or coal electric generators themselves.
Sixth, a greater use of hydrogen will hasten its implementation for storing energy in a pure and potent form. Just like we can store electrical energy in batteries, we can also store it by converting into hydrogen in a tank. Once there, the hydrogen can be used when needed, and where needed. Moreover, metal hydrides, nanotubes, or even cheap charred chicken feathers, can store hydrogen at low pressure, and can make it possible to ship huge quantities of energy in the form of hydrogen to remote corners of the earth.
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