| Summary: | Hydrogen powered vehicles can potentially reduce American demand for oil, and reduce America's carbon footprint. Research is being conducted on the limitations of hydrogen powered vehicles. Advantages of hydrogen would be its high octane rating, high energy content, and theoretical zero tailpipe emissions. The Automotive Engineering Technology Department at Minnesota State University, Mankato is currently researching advantages, and limitations of hydrogen powered vehicles. Students have successfully converted a 2015 Arctic Cat Prowler 700 HDX to run on both gasoline and hydrogen gas. The project has two goals, the first being to examine if hydrogen's drawbacks can be offset through turbocharging, and determining if hydrogen fuel is a viable option for consumers. Previous testing of the vehicle showed a severe power deficiency under hydrogen operation. On gasoline, the Prowler makes 45 horsepower from the factory. Computer simulations on hydrogen show that the Prowler currently makes 17 horsepower, a 60% decrease in power. For hydrogen to be a viable option for the consumer, this power deficiency must be corrected. This power reduction stems from the poor volumetric efficiency properties of hydrogen gas. Volumetric efficiency is the volume of fresh air entering the cylinder divided by the total volume of the cylinder. To combat this, a turbocharger was installed. To verify the turbochargers effect on performance, acceleration tests were performed, as well as an EPA tier 2 emissions test, to establish baseline emissions and performance. Once the custom turbocharger system was completed, the exact same tests were repeated and compared to the baselines.
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