Mazda Hydrogen Rotary Now Street Legal

[clive]

October 27, 2004  
 

Mazda Hydrogen Rotary Now Street Legal

- Japanese ministry gives go-ahead for public road testing -
 
 

HIROSHIMA, October 27, 2004 â€" Today, Japan\'s transport authorities gave Mazda permission to road test a hydrogen-fueled, rotary-engine version of its RX-8 sports car. This unique vehicle features a dual-fuel system that allows the driver to select hydrogen or gasoline with the flick of a switch. In what could prove a historic event, this will be the world\'s first "street legal" dual-fuel hydrogen rotary.

 
Mazda RX-8 hydrogen rotary engine vehicle  

Permission from Japan\'s Ministry of Land Infrastructure and Transport (MLIT) comes 12 months after Mazda unveiled a hydrogen/rotary concept version of the award-winning RX-8 at the 2003 Tokyo Motor Show. Mazda\'s near-term goal is to assess the practicality of this unique powertrain in everyday use. In the next-stage, expected within two years, test vehicles will be leased to governments and fleet users.

Known as H2RE, the test vehicle will deliver good performance with no loss of interior space for four people--the high-pressure hydrogen fuel tank is mounted in the vehicle\'s trunk. The H2RE is powered by a modified version of Mazda\'s award-winning RENESIS rotary engine that features an electronically controlled hydrogen gas direct injection system on the rotor housing.

RENESIS has proved ideal for burning hydrogen as the intake area of a rotary engine stays relatively cool in temperature, reducing the tendency for engine backfire--a significant challenge in conventional engines. The hydrogen/rotary combination likewise offers superior environmental performance--zero emission of CO2 and near zero NOx emissions. And because existing parts and production facilities are used, the innovative engine can be built reliably at a relatively low cost.

More importantly, the hydrogen/gasoline dual fuel system will enable the H2RE to travel beyond the range of the few hydrogen filling stations now available. Mazda will continue to develop this technology for practical use and work to support the development of a hydrogen-fueled society.

Major specifications of "Mazda RX-8 Hydrogen Rotary Engine Vehicle"
   - Base model
 Mazda RX-8
 
- Base engine
 13B Dual Fuel Hydrogen Rotary Engine
 
- Length
 4.435m
 
- Width
 1.770m
 
- Height
 1.325m
 
- Wheelbase
 2.7m
 
- Weight
 1,440kg
 
- Passenger capacity    
 Four adults
 
- Fuel
 Hydrogen or Gasoline
 
- Fuel tank
 Hydrogen: 74L / 35MPa high-pressure tank
Gasoline: 61L
 
 

History of Mazda\'s hydrogen vehicle development
   1991
 Developed first hydrogen rotary engine vehicle, HR-X
 
1992
 Test drive of golf cart equipped with fuel cell
 
1993
 Developed second hydrogen rotary engine vehicle, HR-X2
Developed MX-5 test vehicle equipped with hydrogen rotary engine
 
1995
 Conducted Japan\'s first public road test with Capella Cargo equipped with hydrogen rotary engine
 
1997
 Developed Demio FC-EV
 
2001
 Developed Premacy FC-EV, conducted first public road test in Japan. (Methanol Reforming)
 
2003
 Announced RX-8 hydrogen rotary engine vehicle development
 
2004
 Received MLIT approval for public road testing of the H2RE dual-fuel RX-8

[Norton]

On the face of it this looks like excellent news... BUT... i have been discussing rotaries on a motorcycle forum and we got onto the subject of hydrogen being the future of the rotary, this is part of someones response...
\'As for hydrogen powered vehicles creating zero emmisions, this is a mis-leading urban myth. Yes, the vehicles only emmit H2O, but where does the hydrogen come from? Cracking methane over a nickle catalyst bed at 900deg. C in a steam rich enviroment. I happen to do this for a living and it takes one hell of a pile of natural gas to supply both the energy and the feedstock for the reaction\'
Oh dear!! that doesnt sound so good, a bit like plugging an electric vehicle into a dirty great oil burning Power Station overnight to recharge the batteries, then claiming the vehicle has zero emmisions. Any reaction / comment anyone?

[BlueAdept]

Yes, hydrogen... like electricity is a way to deliver energy cleanly... but how it\'s generated is still at issue...

Theoretically however it CAN be made cleanly, so the hydrogen car is a good option as it isn\'t tied to one source of energy.

Also, it\'s a good thing from a city point of view because the polution isn\'t centred in an area of population...

[zevans]

It also takes a hell of a lot of energy to crack crude and produce petrol - especially RON98, and then ON TOP OF THAT, 100,000 miles of emissions during the running of the car. And then you have to pump the crude from somewhere in the first place...

Add that lot up and I suspect the gap in the energy cost pe mile between the fuels is pretty small.

It\'s also a matter of economies of scale - there\'s almost 100 years and MILLIONS of man-years of experience out there in refining petroleum. The hydrogen production process is young (and therefore inefficient) in those terms.

And finding crude is going to get harder - more expensive in terms of energy consumed - and refining hydrogen is going to get easier.

[MikeLMR]

according to an article in "Engineer"  it would require 100 Nuclear power stations or 1\'000\'000 wind turbines to produce enough energy to produce the hydrogen to fuel the UK at current levels.

[zevans]

Originally posted by MikeLMR
according to an article in "Engineer"  it would require 100 Nuclear power stations or 1\'000\'000 wind turbines to produce enough energy to produce the hydrogen to fuel the UK at current levels.

Interesting...

Did it say how much energy is currently used to provide the current petrol consumption?

[MikeLMR]

These would be additional to the power generation reserves already in the UK

IIRC Catalyst cracking of petrol and other fractions of crude oil wasn\'t that huge a consumer of energy.

you also have to remember that as well as producing hydrogen you have to have the facilities to store and transport it.

[g11ary]

There is one simple question, where will we buy our hydrogen from, how long has lpg been out, how often do you find a garage that sells it. Now they are talking that the fuels they wanted to get us onto will no longer see the advantages, ie no congrestion charges, increasing fuel costs etc.
It sounds a great idea, lets hope they dont use it to screw the motorist once again.
My daughter did a short coarse at school and she recons that a train (as they keep pushing transport) polutes more than every one on a full train using there car.

[Norton]

So where are we going to put the one million wind turbines? anyone got a big back garden?
What we want is to fill the \'petrol\' tank up with the garden hose and for a little device in the fuel line the size of a mobile phone and running on two AA batteries to split the water into \'H\' & \'O\'... i shall work on it over the weekend, should have it perfected by Sunday tea time.

 :guinness :guinness :guinness

[zevans]

Originally posted by Norton
So where are we going to put the one million wind turbines? anyone got a big back garden?
What we want is to fill the \'petrol\' tank up with the garden hose and for a little device in the fuel line the size of a mobile phone and running on two AA batteries to split the water into \'H\' & \'O\'... i shall work on it over the weekend, should have it perfected by Sunday tea time.

 :guinness :guinness :guinness

It\'s back yards that are the problem with wind power... As in, "Not in mine" (c) Daily Mail :rolleyes:

Doesn\'t bother the Dutch, look!

When you\'ve got those fuel cells going I\'ll have a few for my mobile - should be good for six months without charging!

Apparently tidal power is the thing...