Transportation Alicia Kettler, Dana Sweatlock, Elizabeth De Smet

History 3 types of engines – Gas – Diesel Daimler, Benz – Steam Patented by Savery Improved by Watt

Gas, Diesel, & Steam Gas – Diesel Steam –

Efficiency The efficiency of engines whether gasoline, diesel, or steam are important factors in pollution and resource consumption

Combustion There are two forms of combustion in engines – Internal Where fuel is burned inside the engine – External Where fuel is burned outside the engine Steam engines utilize external combustion Diesel and gasoline engines use internal combustion

Steam Engines Steam engines are only about 1-3% efficient This is due to a loss of heat to the atmosphere A condenser can be added with the potential of higher efficiency but the difference is small wan_2774.jpg

Gasoline Engines Only 15% of the energy from fuel goes to moving the car That does not take into consideration that there is inefficiency in gas production Overall the engine is about 25% efficient

Diesel Engines About % efficient concerning the energy that goes to movement content/uploads/2007/01/efficiency _comparison.jpg

New Technologies In recent years, there have been many new advancements in transportation technologies. Some of these advancements include: – Natural Gas Vehicles – Electric Vehicles – Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles

Natural Gas Vehicles (NGV’s) 110,000 NGV’s on the road today – 11 million worldwide – 1,100 fueling stations in the US – half open to public At the pump, natural gas costs about half as much as a gallon of gasoline. Natural Gas is sold in gasoline gallon equivalents (GGE). A GGE has the same energy content as a gallon of unleaded gasoline without ethanol (125,000 Btu)

Natural Gas Vehicles Cont… Benefits – Less dependent on foreign oil 98% of natural gas used is produced in North America – Reduced emissions Carbon monoxide by 70-90% Non-methane organic gas by 50-75% Nitrogen oxides by 75-95% Carbon dioxide by 20-30% – Natural gas has less carbon than any other fossil fuel

Natural Gas Vehicles Cont… Benefits – Safety Natural gas dissipates into the atmosphere in the event of an accident – No pools on the ground, like gasoline, that could create a fire hazard Fuel storage cylinders for natural gas are stronger than those used for gasoline. Natural gas has a higher ignition temperature than gasoline and a narrow range of flammability. Natural gas is not toxic or corrosive – will not contaminate ground water

Natural Gas Vehicles Cont… Target audience – Lack of infrastructure – Fleets Fleets usually refuel in a central location and don’t need a widespread infrastructure Many fleets are already beginning to use NGV’s – Taxi cabs – Transit buses – School buses – Delivery vehicles – Street sweepers

Electric Vehicles Electric vehicles are propelled by an electric motor powered by rechargeable battery pack. There are several advantages over internal combustion engines, as well as several significant disadvantages

Electric Vehicles cont… Advantages – Energy efficient- 75% of chemical energy from battery goes to power the wheels Internal combustion engines only convert about 20% – Environmentally friendly – no tailpipe pollution BUT not emission free if a fossil fuel power plant generates the electricity to charge the vehicle – Performance benefits – quiet smooth operation

Electric Vehicles cont… Disadvantages – Driving Range – EV’s can only go miles before needing to be recharged Gasoline vehicles on average can go about 300 miles – Recharge time – full charge- 4-8 hours, “quick charge” of 80% battery- 30 minutes. – Battery cost – expensive and need to be replaced more often than a battery in a gasoline car – Bulk & Weight – battery packs are heavy and large

Electric Vehicles Coming The Nissan LeafThe Mini Cooper Electric Ford Focus Electric

Hydrogen Charged plates conduct hydrogen – The electrons released create a current – s/Physics_Illustr_2.htm s/Physics_Illustr_2.htm Water is released as a byproduct

Hydrogen Fuel Cell Efficiency A fuel cell’s efficiency is dependant on the fuel that it is charged with A cell powered by pure hydrogen can be 80% efficient

Conversion The energy taken from the hydrogen would be converted to electrical energy and then to mechanical work The electric motor and inverter perform this process This step is about 80% efficient making the cell only about 64% efficient under ideal circumstances

Fuel If the fuel does not come from pure hydrogen the vehicle requires the use of a transformer, which will turn hydrocarbon and alcohol fuels into hydrogen The heat given off in this process lowers the efficiency of the system

Efficiency in Practice Fuel cell vehicles are only about 40% efficient The losses that come from the production (“power-plant-to- wheel”) lowers the efficiency to 22% for gaseous hydrogen and 17% for liquefied hydrogen /media/2006/11/slides-for-sam.jpg

Benefits of Fuel Cells Fewer emissions/pollutants – Tailpipe emits only heat and water – Only pollutants and greenhouse gasses that are emitted come from the fossil fuels used to produce hydrogen Reduce oil dependence – Hydrogen can be derived from domestic sources Fuel cells can store enough hydrogen to travel about as far as a gasoline engine.

Challenges of Fuel Cells Onboard Hydrogen Storage – systems are large, heavy, and expensive Vehicle cost- too expensive to compete with hybrids and gasoline/diesel vehicles Fuel Cell durability/reliability- not as durable as internal combustion engines Lack of infrastructure – There is currently no infrastructure in place to deliver hydrogen to consumers. New facilities need to be made for producing, transporting, and dispensing hydrogen to consumers Safety/Public Acceptance – public does not now how to handle hydrogen – new fuel storage – Fuel cell technology needs to be embraced by consumers before it is economically viable.

The Future of Hydrogen Fuel Cells Many car manufacturers are currently working on hydrogen fuel cell vehicles – BMW – CleanEnergy Education Program – Chrystler – ecoVoyager concept vehicle – Ford – fuel cell vehicles – GM – Chevy Equinox fuel cell vehicle – Honda – FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle – Nissan – X-Trail fuel cell vehicle

Chevy Equinox Fuel Cell Honda FCX Fuel Cell BMW CleanEnergy Fuel Cell Nissan X-Trail Fuel Cell