Is hydrogen combustion more efficient than gasoline?

Hydrogen is considered an alternative fuel under the Energy Policy Act of 1992. In fact, a fuel cell coupled with an electric motor is two to three times more efficient than an internal combustion engine running on gasoline. Hydrogen can also serve as fuel for internal combustion engines.

How is a hydrogen fuel cell different from using hydrogen gas for a combustion engine?

In a fuel cell vehicle, the hydrogen fuel is combined with oxygen. While the combustion in a hydrogen- or gasoline-powered engine is converted into mechanical energy, in a fuel cell vehicle, the chemical energy from the hydrogen and oxygen is converted into electrical energy.

Can combustion engines run on hydrogen?

Hydrogen has a wide flammability range in comparison with all other fuels. As a result, hydrogen can be combusted in an internal combustion engine over a wide range of fuel-air mix- tures. A significant advantage of this is that hydrogen can run on a lean mixture.

Are hydrogen combustion engines efficient?

Efficiency. Tank-to-wheel efficiencies range from 75 percent to 85 percent for BEVs to approximately 50 percent for FCEVs and some 40 percent to 45 percent for combustion engines.

Is hydrogen more explosive than gasoline?

Free hydrogen is extremely reactive. It is ten times more flammable than gasoline, and twenty times more explosive. And the flame of a hydrogen fire is invisible. This makes it very dangerous to work with, particularly in fueling stations and transportation vehicles.

Are hydrogen engines more powerful?

Modern direct-injection turbocharged hydrogen engines can produce more power than an equivalent petrol engine by increasing the proportion of hydrogen in the fuel-air mixture – but the NOx levels increase. Hydrogen can be stored in the same well-proven 700-bar compressed gas tanks used in fuel cell vehicles.

What is a disadvantage of using hydrogen as fuel?

There are disadvantages to using hydrogen-oxygen fuel cells in cars. These include: hydrogen is in the gas state at room temperature and pressure, so it is difficult to store in the car. fuel cells and electric motors are less durable than petrol engines and diesel engines, so they are not so long-lasting.

What is the difference between a gasoline and hydrogen engine?

Jason describes eight key differences between a gasoline and hydrogen engine and the advantages and disadvantages of each. They are the combustion process itself, air-to-fuel ratio, ignition energy, flame velocity, auto-ignition temperature, diffusivity, quenching distance, and density.

Is hydrogen a clean alternative to gasoline?

If you’re looking for a clean alternative to gasoline, hydrogen’s NOx emissions take it out of the running. The answer? Use hydrogen in a fuel cell to generate electricity. Fuel cells are far more efficient than internal combustion engines, and a hydrogen fuel cell has cleaner emissions than an internal-combustion hydrogen engine.

What are the disadvantages of a hydrogen engine?

There are two major problems with a hydrogen internal combustion engine. First, hydrogen is not as energy-dense as other fuels, meaning that you need a whole lot of it to do a little bit of work.

How much CO 2 does a hydrogen engine produce?

He further calculates out that over a 200,000-mile vehicle life, the engine will only produce 413 pounds of CO 2 compared to a 200,000-mile production of 160,000 pounds of CO 2 with a traditional gasoline engine. “From a CO 2 standpoint, hydrogen combustion is great,” he says.