Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Group recently informed that is strengthening efforts so as to develop a hydrogen engine based on its diesel and gas engines and make it available on the market.
It is known that Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Group has been working on the development of various products that will have zero CO2 emissions.
In light of the situation, a part of the group, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engine & Turbocharger, has conducted a combustion test of a hydrogen engine in a joint research project with Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology.
Under their collaboration, both sides designed and built the hydrogen engine using the knowledge of hydrogen combustion technology, industrial-use diesel engines and natural gas engines, studied the conditions for optimum combustion, and analyzed the test data.
As the company explained, a modified single cylinder gas engine (bore 170mm x stroke 220mm) based on MHIET’s 4-stroke reciprocating gas engine “GSR series” offered in 6 to 16 cylinders, was successfully installed at the AIST Fukushima Renewable Energy Institute (Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture).
Namely, the test was carried out to identify the conditions to achieve stable combustion of 100% hydrogen without emitting CO2.
“The test used MHIET’s existing lean-burn gas GSR series engine with additional modifications in fuel supply method, ignition method, timing of intake air valve closing, and excess air ratio etc. for optimum combustion to determine the conditions that ensure stable combustion with hydrogen-only firing and premixed firing.”
…MHIET added.
Converting the test results, the maximum output is estimated to be 340kW for 6-cylinder engine and 920kW for 16-cylinder engine. MHIET intends to accumulate more test data that will lead to the realization of multi-cylinder hydrogen engines and aims to make the engines available for the introduction of hydrogen economy in the 2030s.
Speaking of hydrogen projects, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) along with Shell, Vattenfall and Wärme Hamburg are planning to jointly produce hydrogen from wind and solar power at the Hamburg-Moorburg power plant site.
