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Automotive Innovation: Hydrogen Engine Reaches 410 HP. Water Injection Technology Redefines Efficiency
The water engine is functioning for the first time in history. It has 400 HP of power and 6,500 RPM. With the active search for decarbonization, engines are one of the main focuses.
For years, there has been talk of the need to achieve sustainable mobility. When mentioning the technology of the future, fossil fuels are never considered, but rather cleaner alternatives like electricity or hydrogen.
In the quest for cleaner transportation, there is consideration of the possibility of burning H with combustion engines. Its operation is less efficient than the current method (the fuel cell system), but it retains much of the essence of these types of propulsion systems, with a motor sound similar to what we find in gasoline engines.
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A Water Engine Arrives That Surprises Us With Its Power
This is what the first European water engine aims to do. In reality, it is the first European hydrogen engine that has a trick: water injection, which is why we refer to it that way. It comes from the engineers at AVL Racetech, specialists in developing competition technologies and suppliers of equipment from Formula 1 to NASCAR.
As communicated on their website, they created a 2-liter turbocharged combustion engine that develops 410 HP of power at 6,500 RPM and delivers a motor torque of 500 Nm between 3,000 and 4,000 RPM.
These figures are typical of similarly powered gasoline turbocharged engines that, until now, were above the hydrogen-burning engines. To achieve these numbers, they warn that it is vital to inject hot water into the intake system.
Through injectors, they spray water into the intake air manifold. According to their testimony, this makes possible a more homogeneous ignition of H and prevents premature autoignitions or detonations.
The Water Engine Is a Reality, But Not As You Thought: It Boasts 400 HP of Power
Now it is essential for the component to complete its testing period and undergo examination in competition. Its implementation in a realistic environment will be vital to verify to what extent we are facing a reliable system or not.
Its results will determine whether it is feasible to view it as a large-scale project or a good idea written on paper. The company is confident that it is an interesting option beyond the already known fuel cell. Their argument is that it is feasible to convert gasoline combustion engines to hydrogen without incurring additional costs.
The Water Engine Is Not Something So New
Although it seems like an innovative and futuristic presentation, we have seen this concept before. BMW has previously worked with this system. They sprayed water into the manifold to lower the temperature of the air that “landed” in the combustion chamber and exert control over these premature autoignitions generated in response to excessive temperature.
The Germans argued that this system increased power and reduced consumption. By having colder air with higher density, the oxygen content in the combustion chamber increased, allowing for a higher average pressure during combustion, implying an increase in power and torque. It even decreased the volume of nitrogen oxide particles, which are highly harmful to humans.
For now, we have to wait to see how far this new 400 HP water engine goes. Meanwhile, alternatives continue to arrive, such as the impossible engine that could be used in cars.
Nós anos 80 fiquei sabendo que um brasileiro que tiva realizado, mas se não me engano a Ford comprou os direitos, esperando a tal crise do petróleo que era anunciado
Isso é tipo o dono da Gurgel… Foi o cara pra inventar o carro elétrico apresentou o carro até no Silvio Santos….
Aí veio lá o tesla depois de décadas e fez a evolução… Brasil era pra tô no topo com o elétrico ja a decadas