- Nine records set at speeds of 300 km/h and above
- Hydrogen fuelled V12 combustion engine
- Aluminium chassis, carbon-fibre Formula 1 style body
- Production Hydrogen/Petrol engine to join 7 Series range
Hydrogen propulsion shifts from rockets to racers as BMW sets nine new speed
records, marking the start of the hydrogen age for automobiles.
“BMW technology has come a long way. Now, together with politicians and the
energy industry, we must turn our vision of sustained mobility into reality,"
says Professor Burkhard Goschel, Board Member of the BMW Group.
The records were set at the high-speed Miramas Proving Grounds in France,
with BMW Group proving that hydrogen is able to replace conventional fuel
without requiring the driver to make the slightest compromise in terms of
dynamic performance.
The single-seater H2R Record Car uses a 6.0-litre 12 cylinder power unit
producing in excess of 210 kW, that races to 100 km/h in just six seconds and
has a top speed of 302,4 km/h. The engine is based on the V12 unit powering
BMW’s flagship limousine, the 760Li. The hydrogen combustion engine boasts the
most advanced technologies such as BMW's fully variable VALVETRONIC valve train
control.
BMW will be launching a dual-mode version of the current 7 Series during the
production cycle of the present model, thus introducing the first car of its
kind able to run on both hydrogen and petrol.
The hydrogen-only powered H2R prototype set up the following records last
weekend:
| |
Time in sec |
speed in km/h |
| Flying-start kilometre: |
11.993 |
300.19 |
| Flying-start mile: |
19.912 |
290.962 |
| Standing-start 1/8 mile: |
9.921 |
72.997 |
| Standing-start ¼ mile: |
14.933 |
96.994 |
| Standing-start ½ km: |
17.269 |
104.233 |
| Standing-start mile: |
36.725 |
157.757 |
| Standing-start 10 miles: |
221.052 |
262.094 |
| Standing-start kilometre: |
26.557 |
135.557 |
| Standing-start 10 km: |
146.406 |
245.892 |
BMW's set these records to prove the power and performance of the hydrogen
engine as well as the reliability and durability of the technology.
BMW has developed the hydrogen engine to production standard because the
combustion power unit, given the sum total of all its features and
characteristics, still offers the largest number of advantages and benefits all
in one.
The BMW H2R was conceived, designed and developed by BMW Forschung und
Technik GmbH, the legendary subsidiary of BMW AG, in just 10 months.
The name “H2R” stands for “H two Race Car”, “Hydrogen Record Car” or
“Hydrogen Research Car”.
The H2R employs components carried over from a sophisticated, thoroughbred
BMW sports car. It features a monocoque aluminium spaceframe chassis and
suspension with an aluminium body skeleton covered with carbon fibre reinforced
plastic panels. Weighing in at 1560kg complete with full tanks and a driver at
the wheel, the racer is extremely light and strong.
BMW sets 9 records with Hydrogen Combustion Engine. Top Speed over 300
km/h
BMW Writes Automobile History and underlines Technological Leadership
Munich / Miramas. Hydrogen means top performance not only in rockets
travelling to outer space:
BMW has proven what the hydrogen car is able to offer, setting up 9 records
for hydrogen-drive cars with combustion engine. "Nine records marking the start
into the hydrogen age. BMW technology has already come a long way. Now, together
with politicians and the energy industry, we must turn our vision of sustained
mobility into reality", stated Professor Burkhard Goschel, Board Member of the
BMW Group, during the speed record trials in Miramas. Achieving this amazing
success at the high-speed Miramas Proving Grounds in France, the BMW Group has
clearly proven its conviction that hydrogen is able to replace conventional fuel
without requiring the driver to make the slightest compromise in terms of
dynamic, up-to-date performance.
Indeed, the specifications of the H2R Record Car clearly confirm this
superiority, the six-litre 12 cylinder power unit developing an output of more
than 210 kW or 285 bhp. This accelerates the BMW prototype to 100 km/h in
approximately 6 seconds and gives it a top speed of 302,4 km/h (185,52 mph).
Based on the gasoline power unit featured in the BMW 760i, BMW's hydrogen
combustion engine boasts the most advanced technologies such as BMW's fully
variable VALVETRONIC valve drive.
The main modifications to the engine involve the fuel injection system
adapted by BMW to the special features and requirements of hydrogen.
BMW's future hydrogen engine for the world's first premium saloon built for
dual-mode operation: BMW will be launching a dual-mode version of the current 7
Series during the production cycle of the present model, thus introducing the
first car of its kind able to run on both hydrogen and gasoline.
The H2R prototype set up the following records shown here in terms of times
measured and speed achieved:
|
|
time in sec |
speed in km/h |
| - |
Flying-start kilometre: |
11,993 |
300,190 |
| - |
Flying-start mile: |
19,912 |
290,962 |
| - |
Standing-start 1/8 mile: |
9,921 |
72,997 |
| - |
Standing-start ¼ mile: |
14,933 |
96,994 |
| - |
Standing-start ½ kilometre: |
17,269 |
104,233 |
| - |
Standing-start mile: |
36,725 |
157,757 |
| - |
Standing-start 10 miles: |
221,052 |
262,094 |
| - |
Standing-start kilometre: |
26,557 |
135,557 |
| - |
Standing-start 10 kilometres: |
146,406 |
245,892 |
BMW works drivers Alfred Hilger, Jorg Weidinger and Günther Weber took turns
at the wheel of the Record Car in their record-breaking session.
BMW's motive in setting up these records was not only to prove the power and
performance the hydrogen engine is able to offer. Rather, the reliability and
durability of the technology used clearly demonstrates the supremacy of BMW in
developing the hydrogen engine to production standard. In this process BMW is
concentrating on the combustion engine, simply because the combustion power
unit, given the sum total of all its features and characteristics, still offers
the largest number of advantages and benefits all in one.
The H2R Record Car: developed in just 10 months
The BMW H2R Record Car was conceived, designed and developed by BMW Forschung
und Technik GmbH, the legendary subsidiary of BMW AG. The name “H2R” stands for
“H two Race Car”, “Hydrogen Record Car” or “Hydrogen Research Car”.
"We had just 10 months to develop the H2R prototype", states Jürgen Kübler,
the H2R Project Manager. But a short time span like this is quite normal for the
creative engineers that make this Company so very special.
In the process the engineers and development specialists were of course
supported by three factors: First, the components featured in BMW's hydrogen
production car of the future have now reached a high degree of maturity allowing
their unproblematic and straightforward adaptation for the record car. Second,
the development specialists were able in the development process to use proven
BMW chassis and suspension systems naturally meeting the strictest requirements.
And third, consistent, far-reaching use of CAD technology allowed a clearly
oriented and time-saving development process.
The engine: series production 12 cylinder specially adapted for hydrogen
The "heart" of the H2R Record Car is based by and large on BMW's
top-of-the-range power unit, the Company's six-litre 12 cylinder. It is able to
run on hydrogen fuel through the adjustment of engine management as well as the
fuel/air mixture formation components.
The most significant differences in terms of the engine's structural
components are the hydrogen injection valve and the choice of materials for the
combustion chambers: Contrary to the production engine with fuel injected
directly into the combustion chambers themselves, the injection valves in the
hydrogen engine are integrated in the intake manifolds. And for the specific
speed record requirements to be fulfilled in this case, the hydrogen combustion
engine was designed and built for single-mode operation running exclusively on
hydrogen.
This allowed the engineers to set up and tune the engine specifically for
hydrogen requirements, for example by using special valve seat rings made of an
appropriate material. The reason for this necessity is that hydrogen does not
have the lubricating effect of a conventional gasoline/air mixture. And it is
worth noting in this context that this need to cope with a lower level of
lubrication already arose in the past when introducing unleaded gasoline,
production engines since then being built with even stronger and more resistant
materials.
Hydrogen providing enhanced efficiency
A fundamental consideration is that the combustion properties of hydrogen are
quite different from those of gasoline or diesel: While hydrogen burns faster
than conventional fuels under normal air pressure, the combustion temperature is
slightly lower than in the case of gasoline.
Inside the engine the high combustion speed of the hydrogen/air mixture
generates a higher temperature than in an engine running on gasoline. Engine
management of the BMW H2R Record Car has been modified accordingly, the
hydrogen/air mixture not being ignited until the piston reaches top dead centre,
thus ensuring maximum output. With a gasoline/air mixture burning relatively
slowly, by comparison, the mixture must be ignited at an increasingly early
point as a function of engine speed, the pressure peak thus being reached just
as the piston starts to move down.
A significant advantage of the higher combustion pressure of the hydrogen/air
mixture is that the generation of more power from the same amount of energy
means a higher degree of efficiency.
As desirable as the high standard of ignitability of hydrogen within the
engine may be, it naturally requires a great deal of attention outside of the
combustion chamber. To avoid misfiring, for example, BMW's engineers have
developed a specific gas cycle and injection strategy, with BMW's VANOS infinite
camshaft adjustment masterminding the share of residual gas according to
specific, on-demand requirements:
Before the hydrogen/air mixture is able to flow into the cylinders, the
combustion chambers are cooled by air to ensure that the fuel/air mixture is not
able to ignite in an undesired, uncontrolled process.
VALVETRONIC providing optimum conditions for hydrogen drive
Exclusive to BMW, VALVETRONIC technology serving as a standard feature to
mastermind the valves on the 12 cylinder gives the Company's engine development
specialists an ideal tool for controlling this demanding gas charge cycle.
VALVETRONIC controls not only the duration of valve movement, but also the
actual valve lift. This effect is provided by an intermediate lever between the
camshaft and the two intake valves on each cylinder infinitely modified in its
position relative to the camshaft by an additional eccentric shaft operated by
an electric motor. Depending on the position of this eccentric shaft, the lever
transforms the "hump" on the cams into a larger or smaller valve movement.
VALVETRONIC is based consistently on BMW's infinite camshaft adjustment
process. Already well-known under its trade name VANOS, this system is an
integral part of the VALVETRONIC concept. Incorporating a hydraulically
controlled adjuster unit in the camshaft drive, VANOS modifies the beginning and
end of the valve opening period, fully variable valve management serving to
adjust the gas charge cycle in the 12 cylinder power unit perfectly to the
requirements and characteristics of hydrogen drive.
Special injection valves for hydrogen power
With hydrogen being injected into the intake manifold as late as possible,
the injection valves have to meet very demanding requirements. Hence, the valves
are a trendsetting new development for BMW. And since gaseous hydrogen takes up
a larger volume per unit of energy than liquid gasoline, the hydrogen injection
valves are larger than conventional injection valve units.
A further point is that the valves have to cover a far wider range of
different features and requirements, operating under all kinds of system
pressure levels and with injection periods ranging from very short to relatively
long. One of the main objectives in developing the valves was to inject exactly
the right amount of hydrogen required into the intake manifold within a very
short time-frame at very high engine speeds and under full load.
A clean mixture formation process: less fuel consumption under part load,
extra power under full load
Under full load the 12 cylinder power unit runs on a fuel/air mixture of
lambda = 1. This is exactly the same mixture we also find on a state-of-the-art
gasoline engine, the mixture which, in principle, offers the highest and most
efficient power output in a combustion engine. Under part load - again a
significant benefit offered by hydrogen - the engine runs efficiently in the
lean burn mode with surplus air.
Under specific conditions, that is with a specific fuel/air mixture, the
combustion of hydrogen leads to the generation of nitric oxides. This mixture
"slot" starts slightly above lambda = 1 and extends to the range of lambda >
2.
The simple solution to this problem is to leave out this mixture "window"
altogether, since it is not required for running the engine. Hence, the fast
management system controlling the BMW hydrogen engine skips this operating range
completely, thus avoiding NOx emissions in the process. As a result, the H2R
Record Car is just as powerful as a conventional gasoline-engine car, while at
the same time its emissions are limited, for all practical purposes, to nothing
but steam.
Safety technology
The fuel system featured in the BMW H2R Record Car is based on a proven
series development concept. Fuel is filled into the tank of the H2R prototype at
a mobile hydrogen filling station through a manual tank coupling. The
vacuum-insulated, double-walled tank has a capacity of more than 11 kilos of
liquid hydrogen and is fitted next to the driver's seat. A total of three valves
ensures optimum safety, the operating valve on the tank opening at a pressure of
4.5 bar.
Two additional safety valves rule out any dangerous consequences of possible
leaks in the jacket around the tank serving to keep the hydrogen at the low
temperature required, opening up as soon as pressure within the tank exceeds the
limit of 5 bar. This double-redundant safety system guarantees optimum safety at
all times, ensuring that the hydrogen tank will not burst as a result of excess
pressure.
Heat exchanger instead of a gasoline pump
Gas pressure builds up in the fuel supply system simply because of the rising
temperature of the cryogenic, liquid hydrogen in the tank and is kept at an
operating pressure of approximately 3 bar by a tank pressure controller. Then
the coolant running within the 12 cylinder power unit warms up the hydrogen gas
in a heat exchanger to ambient temperature.
Valve technology
Additional valves monitor the pressure of gas in the fuel pipes leading to
the engine: Cold low-temperature valves inside the tank control the removal of
hydrogen from the tank itself. Should any of the pre-flow pipes develop a leak,
with supply pressure dropping below 0.4 bar, the fuel supply valves close
automatically, disconnecting and sealing the tank off from its surroundings. The
supply pipe can also be interrupted manually by an interruptor tap.
To maintain optimum supply pressure on the injection valves at all times –
especially as this pressure may vary as a function of driving conditions -
engine management reduces pressure in the supply pipe to approximately 1.2 bar
by means of a control valve fitted specifically for this purpose.
This comprehensive safety system featured in the H2R Record Car is supervised
additionally by a telemetric system of the same type as in Formula 1. Four
hydrogen sensors fitted at neuralgic points - for example in the tank itself and
around the tank coupling - recognise any leakage immediately and inform the
driver accordingly.
Chassis and suspension
Focusing on the structure and chassis of the BMW H2R Record Car, the
engineers and development specialists at BMW Forschung und Technik GmbH used
series components carried over from a sophisticated, thoroughbred BMW sports
car: the monocoque aluminium spaceframe as well as the entire chassis and
suspension system. High-strength aluminium structure panels using the advantages
of aluminium as a particularly light material resistant to corrosion fill in the
open spaces between the extra-large extrusion-pressed profiles giving the car
its stable "skeleton".
The result for the driver is an absolutely excellent, direct driving
experience without the slightest vibration or body "tremble".
The front suspension is based on a double-wishbone spring strut front axle
together with rack-and-pinion steering, aluminium track control arms, a tiebar,
and an anti-roll bar. The front axle subframe is formed by a welded aluminium
structure made up of extrusion-pressed profile bars and plates holding all front
axle components and bolted to the body at six points. The track control arm made
of forged aluminium comes complete with two ball joints in the interest of
precise wheel guidance and directional stability.
Wheel guidance and stability at the rear is provided by an integral
four-dimensional axle, a multi-arm principle patented by BMW and rounded off in
this case by an anti-roll bar. Optimum road contact and safety, finally, is
ensured by tyres measuring 245/40 x 19.
The bodyshell: outer skin made of carbon fibre
BMW's designers have also given the H2R Record Car a truly unique body:
Measuring 5.40 metres in length and 2 metres in width, the body of the car is
designed through and through for optimum streamlining. And to reach record
speeds, the frontal area measures just 1.85 square metres and the drag
coefficient is a mere 0.21. At the rear a 20-centimetre-long diffuser prevents
air swirl behind the car, which might potentially slow it down.
The side profile and sheer length of the H2R prototype also serve to ensure
stable driving characteristics at very high speeds. Like on a Formula 1 racing
car, the outer skin is made of carbon-fibre-reinforced plastic offering the
optimum combination of superior stiffness and low weight: Overall weight of the
H2R with a full tank and the driver at the wheel is 1560 kg or 3440 lb.
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