Ford Model U (engine)

[andytk]

Bit of a strange one this. Not the fact that the engine runs on hydrogen or the fact that the car itself is pig ugly, but the intercooler.
(link : www.ford.com/en/innovation/engineFuelTechnology/hydrogenInternalCombustion.htm)

When I.C engines are run on hydrogen they are typically run very lean to deacrease NOX emissions, so to claw back lost power, the engines are often boosted.

In the model U's case it uses a supercharger with two stage intercooling. First stage is air to air cooling but the second stage is air to air-conditioned air.
Ie. a air conditioner is used to further reduce the temperature.
This is a bit bizarre as the air con unit will draw power from the alternator. So whats the point?

Would they not just be better off reducing the comp ratio in the engine to reduce the risk of pre ignition?

Other than that its a good idea as I don't see fuel cells becoming affordable anytime soon.
Running I.C. engines on hydrogen may be just what we need to beat the tree huggers over the head with to allow us to continue running monster V8s long into the future.

Andy

[andytk]

So I take it that its one of these positive gain things, like superchargers.
Ie. you need to put power in but you get more power out (at the expense of fuel economy)

Andy