[nukkad] Big Auto links to chase H dream

["Gireesh Dixit" <>]

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Hi Guys,

What do you think for hydrogen car?

 

 

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1053065

Big Auto links to chase H dream

Sindhu Bhattacharya 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday, September 14, 2006  22:29 IST

Tata, Bajaj, M&M, Ashok Leyland will work on hydrogen fuel vehicles

NEW DELHI: It seems it's not just politics that makes strange bedfellows. The 
quest for cheaper, environment-friendly fuel, too, does. 

Four Indian automobile giants - Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto, Mahindra & Mahindra 
and Ashok Leyland - have joined hands under the aegis of Society of Indian 
Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). 

Their agenda? To find out how hydrogen can be used as an alternative fuel. 

As a first step, the companies will experiment with a blend of hydrogen and 
CNG, called hithane. 

Says K K Gandhi, executive director (technical), SIAM: "These four companies 
and the Indian Oil Corporation will conduct a pilot study on optimisation of 
hithane by blending 10-20% of hydrogen and CNG."

The use of hydrogen as an alternative fuel will help reduce dependence on 
foreign oil. Besides, it will also reduce NOX (nitrous oxide) emissions and 
help achieve better fuel efficiency. 

In a hydrogen engine, electricity generated from solar power is used to split 
water into hydrogen and oxygen. Oxygen is released into the atmosphere, while 
hydrogen is liquefied and stored at a very low temperature (-253 °C). During 
internal combustion, the hydrogen combines with oxygen. The
resulting energy powers the vehicle, while the hydrogen is returned to the 
environment as water. 

However, several issues have to be addressed before viable hydrogen engines can 
be developed indigenously. 

Explains Arun Jaura, senior V-P (R&D and product development), M&M: "The use of 
hydrogen in vehicles poses several challenges such as its availability, 
distribution, on-board storage and safety. The SIAM project is the first step 
towards looking for a viable use of hydrogen in automobiles in the
Indian context." 

M&M has already made a beginning with hydrogen - by showcasing a concept 
vehicle called HY-Alpha Champion in this year's Auto Expo. HY-Alpha is a 
sub-one tonne category three-wheeler, which runs on compressed hydrogen gas so 
that there is zero carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide emission and a much
cleaner tailpipe emission. Besides, it provides up to 25% better fuel 
efficiency compared with traditional fuels. 

Bajaj Auto already possesses an entire fleet of CNG vehicles - three-wheeler 
passenger carriers as well as goods carriers. Pradeep Shrivastava, V-P 
(Engineering), says the company is interested in any alternative that offers 
fuels with lower emissions of NOX (nitrous oxide). "Whatever is needed to
modify engines for trial purposes under this project will be done by Bajaj 
Auto," he says. 

Though all this is new in India, there has been attempts to develop hydrogen 
fuel cells and hydrogen engines in the United States and some parts of Europe. 

Yet, even in their home countries, such technologies are still being confined 
largely to institutional transport fleets. 

However, with German luxury car maker BMW having just declared its intention to 
roll in a vehicle which will run on liquid hydrogen, things sure look bright 
for the green brigade

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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