Heres a couple of interesting scenarios:
Ford announced in 2006 that from 2007 all their UK Ford Transit diesels would have engines of the common rail design
This is the type of diesel engine that Bi Fuel were given a contract by ITM in Feb 2008 to collect data on hydrogen /diesel combustion
The initial feedback from these tests on 31 July 2008 said that hydrogen energy could be substituted for diesel energy in the ratio of 20% to 30 % with sufficient reduced emissions to satisfy local pollution restrictions and without significant
or costly modifications to the existing engine
This strongly suggests that the burning of hydrogen in the 20%:30% range satisfies the emissions regulations for the London congestion charge
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The Transit van sketch on the ITM website has two cylindrical hydrogen tanks slung under the chassis
When you look at the dimensions of the 2007 range of Transits, the chassis is long enough to accommodate two cylindrical tanks holding a total of 90 litres of hydrogen which weighs 6.0 kg at 75 bar
Which is quite an interesting number since:
The Ford Transit with an 80% full 80 litre tank needs exactly 6.0 kg of hydrogen for a 20%:80% hydrogen/diesel mixture
So the first scenario the Bi fuel test results suggests is this :
All NEW diesel Transits can be converted to a hydrogen /diesel hybrid without significant or costly modifications to the existing engine
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And
If ITM could get to 112.5 bar the Transit could carry 9kg of H2 This is equivalent to 24 litres of diesel
It would provide a 20%:80% hydrogen/diesel mixture for the mileage equivalent of a 120 litre diesel tank
ie 50% more mileage between each full tank of diesel
So the second scenario the BI Fuel test results suggests is this:
For an improvement in hydrogen pressure of 37.5 bar from 75bar to 112bar
The Ford Transit does what no other hybrid has done and that is to extend the range of the vehicle by 50% while concurrently reducing ongoing emissions
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Also
If the transit storage tanks have a 10 Kw onboard electrolyser inside each storage tank
The storage tanks could easily be refuelled with hydrogen at a rate of 3 kg/night over 7hrs
Which would support around 36 litres of diesel at the 20%:80% rate
Enough for an average daily mileage of over 250mls
So its most unlikely that the Transit wil ever run out of hydrogen if it starts off from the beginning with a full tank of 6kg or 9kg depending on whether it is stored at 75 bar or 112.5 bar
