HYZERO – HYdrogen internal combustion engine with ZERO carbon emission in heavy duty fleet

In heavy-duty long-range vehicles, both from a CO2 equivalent and total cost point of view, hydrogen powertrains represent a rapid measure for achieving CO2-free mobility, especially in the short and medium terms.

Hydrogen is the energy vector of the future and EU has plans to increase the share of hydrogen in its energy mix to 13-14% by 2050. Given the high cost of hydrogen, fuel economy and high efficiency are important aspects in developing H2 ICE. The spark ignition H2 ICE has relatively low efficiency.

Therefore, the focus of this proposal is on direct injection compression ignition (DICI) engine with the potential of delivering high power output with high efficiency.

To understand the fundamental of this concept and to address its challenges, this study aims to develop CFD tools capable of predicting hydrogen combustion in an ICE environment and to develop pure hydrogen DICI (HyZero) concept by replacing the diesel pilot with a hydrogen jet flame.