Alternative Fuel Systems Inc. (‘AFS’) announced today that in an effort to make a contribution to the dramatic reduction in the effects of engine pollution around the world, it is undertaking a research program to develop a new internal combustion engine hydrogen fuel management system, which will allow internal combustion (I.C.) engines to run efficiently using hydrogen as a fuel. AFS has incorporated a new company, H2 Fuel Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of AFS, to capitalize the new development effort. AFS has achieved zero to extremely low levels of NO(x) and hydrocarbons operating a 6-cylinder inline 11-litre diesel engine on 100% hydrogen and on a combination of hydrogen mixed with natural gas. These emissions were achieved using a specialized proprietary developmental system
developed by AFS and these emissions are considerably below the most
restrictive engine emissions requirements scheduled to go into effect
anywhere in the world. The goal of the new company research is to
develop a low cost hydrogen fuel system, which, like the AFS Sparrow
Multi-Port Sequential Injection Natural Gas System, can be adapted to a variety of internal combustion engine platforms. The impetus of the
research is the growing worldwide investment for infrastructure for the provisioning of hydrogen in both gaseous and liquid forms as a primary fuel. AFS will provide initial funding for this research from its recently completed financing.
John C. Anderson, President and Chief Executive Officer of AFS,
commented, “When low cost hydrogen fuel is available, accelerated
efforts will be made to implement and reduce the emissions of the over 800 million existing internal combustion engines using gasoline and diesel fuel worldwide. It is not an issue of ‘can’ hydrogen be used but ‘when’, and the primary challenge is low cost hydrogen production, vehicle storage and advanced engine control methods to achieve acceptable vehicle range and efficiency. However, AFS does not anticipate entering, into hydrogen production technology directly at this time.”
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Anderson went on to explain that AFS’ research aims to develop an I.C. engine hydrogen fuel system, which will provide zero or near zero emissions, improved engine efficiency, power and torque over the
complete engine range while maintaining cost effectiveness. The idea of running an I.C. engine on hydrogen, while not “new”, provides a number of technical challenges. “AFS has a rich history of innovation, which has been amply demonstrated and confirmed with hundreds of vehicles around the world using natural gas and AFS’ fuel management technology. AFS will bring to this effort creative methods of hydrogen fuel injection and engine mixture control strategies to create a high efficiency hydrogen based internal combustion engine fuel management technology,” explained Anderson.
Anderson says, “It stands to reason that with the mature cost of
production of internal combustion engines of approximately $20 per
kilowatt and the huge number of existing engines in use around the world and its global supporting infrastructure, coupled with the accelerating worldwide demands for cleaner emissions, surely necessitates future use of a zero to ultra low emission based fuel in combustion engines. Hydrogen, with its unique flammability characteristics, is a clear winner for a non-carbon based fuel. For this reason, ultimate low cost hydrogen fuel, when widely available, can be adapted to conventional automobiles and diesel engine vehicles. This will enable us to scale back the destructive effects of engine pollution on people and the natural environment”, said Anderson.
Commenting also, Professor Ghazi Karim of the University of Calgary, a member of AFS’ scientific advisory Board, and a distinguished expert on hydrogen and diesel engine research said, “I am enthused with AFS’ plans for the use of hydrogen as an engine fuel and with AFS’ intention of developing a hydrogen fuel system. I concur that, with increasing climactic pressures and the enormous number of I.C. engines running in the world, it behooves us to find a solution to harmful emissions using hydrogen. There are a number of technical hurdles to overcome in the use of hydrogen as a fuel. However, AFS has demonstrated the ability to develop sophisticated fuel management systems and this is needed to bring a concept like this to product commercialization.”
Alternative Fuel Systems Inc. is an environmental technology company
providing innovative solutions to the global engine exhaust emissions
problem. AFS has developed and commercialized electronic engine
management technologies that enable diesel and gasoline engines to
operate using natural gas, and is at the forefront of research into
exhaust aftertreatment technology. AFS is headquartered in Calgary,
Canada and trades on the CDNX as ATF.
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