Development project of a hydrogen fuelled internal combustion engine for heavy duty truck - outline and preliminary test

The hydrogen fuelled internal combustion engine represent a promising solution to the issues of global warming, fossil fuel break point and environmental protection. The development of a hydrogen fuelled internal combustion engine for heavy-duty truck has been being carried out at Hydrogen Energy Research Centre (HERC) of Musashi Institute of Technology and National Traffic Safety and Environment Laboratory (NTSEL) since FY 2005 in the Next-Generation, Low-Emission Vehicle Development - Practical Implementation Project (EFV21) of Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MLIT). As the most important key technology, the development of the common-rail type electronic high pressure hydrogen injectors is performed. Now the development of a hydrogen fuelled engine with 6 cylinders, the total displacement of 7.7 litters, direct injection and spark ignition is about to start. In this paper, the development concept, the characteristics of the injectors, some performance in the engine output power and the effects of nox reduction catalyst ever obtained experimentally by using a single cylinder engine are demonstrated.