Conversion to Hydrogen Fueling of a Range Extender SI engine for a 48 V Electric Vehicle
The purpose of the article is to present further development stages of the range extender designed at Cracow University of Technology for a 48 V electric vehicle. The initial design of the system consisted of a 160 cc single-cylinder carbureted gasoline engine coupled to a synchronous 3-phase AC generator. The mechanical conversion of the engine included an adaptation of a throttle body from a 4-stroke motorcycle engine and a commercially available CNG injector for port hydrogen injection. A stand-alone engine management system was used to control the combustion process with additional crankshaft and camshaft position sensors, engine temperature sensor and a spark plug coil. On fuel supply side, a hydrogen gas cylinder was used with a CNG reducer equipped with a pressure and temperature sensor on supply side, to calculate the fuel consumption. The energy storage system of the electric vehicle are LiFePO4 batteries, which have been installed in place of 8 6V-lead-acid batteries. The research presented in the paper was focused on engine calibration in order to achieve the highest possible fuel conversion efficiency. In addition to the basic engine performance indicators, the composition of exhaust gases emitted by the engine was also measured. Initial tests proved the conversion to be stable and the range extender reaches efficiency similar to achieved when the engine was fueled by gasoline.
Topic: Sustainability and global trends in powertrain technology
Author: Marcin NOGA
Co-authors: Tomasz MOSKAL
