The automotive and mobility sectors are going through a period of significant change, especially if we think about the near future, where they seek to achieve their set goals. zero emissions regardless of the engine used to drive the cars.
What is already a reality is the water engine, which reaches over 400 HP and could be an important rival for electric motors.
Could the water engine mean the end of electric cars?
There has been talk in recent years that hydrogen is a serious alternative to fossil fuel engines, to the point that every year we can see how many units equipped with this engine are sold.
Experts give it a lot of future, some even believe that they have a better chance of establishing themselves than electrified ones. Hydrogen fuel cell produces zero emissions.
Recently, an option has emerged that is not completely emissions-free, but is cheaper and easier to implement: water engines, called hydrogen thermal engines.
In this type of thermal engine, hydrogen is burned instead of gasoline or diesel, which generates some pollution, but very little.
There are already some car manufacturers working on this type of technology, in which Toyota has become one of those devoting the most time and investment to it, where they have a series of prototypes who participate the longest in competitions with this class of engines.
The Korean group Hyundai-Kia Motor Company is working there with the KIMM (Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials), which has come to develop a two-liter engine with direct hydrogen injection, which works only with this type of fuel.
Learn more about the water engine
This engine is based on a block that the Korean brand already had in the models it sells, but they have made a series of changes to be able to burn hydrogenat which a pressure greater than thirty bars is directly injected into the combustion chamber.
The research team used a turbo that allows better engine performance, maintaining high and stable thermal efficiency in the stages of engine operation, from its start to its operation at the upper limit of its own load.
This Hyundai brand water engine manages to work because, unlike other thermal engines that run on hydrogen, it will not be injected first into a port where it mixes with air, due to the gaseous state of hydrogen which cannot enter in sufficient quantity and becomes a lean mixture with less energy efficiency.
What happens is that it is injected directly into the same cylinder, which makes it much more efficient.
When we talk about the emissions themselves we must also be aware that compared to a gasoline engine CO2 emissions are reduced by 99%as well as 90% of particles, where the NOX emission is only 15 ppm.
Young Choithe lead researcher of the project, told the media: “The new hydrogen engine technology is an instant and cost-effective technology that can help replace fossil fuels, which are currently used as the main source of energy for vehicles. carbon-free hydrogen fuels. “Through our collaboration with HMC, we will verify the durability of the engine and also expand the application of this technology not only to passenger vehicles, but also to commercial vehicles and power generation units.”
A promising alternative
We are faced with a most interesting option, although it is also true that the most prudent thing is to see how the market evolves, because from one day to the next new advancesbut it is true that the hydraulic motor constitutes an excellent alternative for automobile mobility in the near future.
The truth is that the market offers us more and more alternatives, although it is true that this leads many users to feel uncertain about purchasing this or that vehicle, thinking about the options for it. future.
At the moment it seems that this water engine promises to be the most interesting option that can be put the electrification industry in serious difficulty in mobility across the world, although ultimately everything will depend on the decisions that are made.
