Orbital Infinity

Hydrogen Engines: A Replacement to ICEs

What are ICEs ? Standing for Internal Combustion Engines, they are used in today’s time to run our vehicles. They use purified crude oils like Petrol and Diesel as fuels. This petrol or diesel undergoes combustion reaction in the presence of oxygen. Cool right ?? The technique we used to run our vehicles is truly nothing shy of cool.

But, the by-products released during combustion of petrol and diesel are lethal, and have the ability to damage our environment severely. We must remember that not always does the fuel used in our vehicle always undergo complete combustion. Various lethal greenhouse gases like CO (carbon monoxide), incomplete combustion can also mix with air and abundance of Nitrogen in our atmosphere results in formation of another greenhouse gas like N2O. As a result of an increasing trend in using vehicles all over the world, it results in the formation of more greenhouse gases than everbefore.

What are Hydrogen Engines ?

It’s not rocket science to understand what it actually is. In the most simple words it means that the way our vehicles use petrol and diesel as fuels, hydrogen engines use hydrogen. It is in scientific language called Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engine Vehicle (HICEV). Very similar to modern day’s concept, HICEV plans to burn hydrogen in replacement of fuels like petrol and diesel. It aims to reduce the environmental damage by using hydrogen. The fun fact is, if you can do basic Chemistry, a quick check can tell you that the oxide of Hydrogen, which is water, will be the by-product formed. Highly intriguing right ? From releasing poisonous fumes of CO, we are coming down to a by-product which is water !!

Advantages of Hydrogen Engines:–

Let’s get a look at the advantages of Hydrogen Engines. The very first one which was discussed above is one of the best advantages which it holds over its predecessors. Also, high energy density, referring to the presence of energy in a certain volume of hydrogen as compared to other fuels, is found to be the greatest. Meaning, it can run for longer periods of time when filled with the same volume of fuel. As our scientists go deeper into developing hydrogen fuelled engines, they are trying to make it even more
accessible to people like today’s gasoline. The result of it will be such that, hydrogen vehicles will take less time to charge, as compared to Electric Operated Vehicles. The renewability of hydrogen makes it an even stronger candidate than before for a perfect fuel.

Disadvantages of Hydrogen Engines:-

Advantages and Disadvantages of are the two sides of the same coin. You can never get a single side. So, let’s take a look at where Hydrogen as a fuel can be or will be a disadvantage.
Would anyone like their fuel to be more expensive than the one which is being used ? Well, obviously, No, so that’s our first problem. Hydrogen production cost is very expensive currently, if we start to sell it to consumers, it will be difficult for them to afford its fuel.
A very new idea, with no available infrastructure is like starting to draw a brilliant piece of art from scratch. We don’t have any available infrastructures for hydrogen fuels, making it a liability rather than an asset.
To add oil to a burning fire, when taken almost literally, increases the disadvantage of hydrogen engines. Hydrogen is a highly flammable gas, where even a small flame can result in a huge explosion and damage to property and life.
Hydrogen Engines also have capability to produce NOx type gases due to abundance of Nitrogen in our atmosphere.

Despite all the numerous disadvantages of Hydrogen Engines, I personally believe that they have a potential to reduce many of our problems. A little more research and tests here and there, and BOOM !! We might just create the perfect fuel available to us modern humans until something more miraculous comes our way….