A mixture of gas and hydrogen for the fuel of the future?

The Clean Gas project, carried out within the AUTO21 Network Center of Excellence, could soon run our engines on gas and hydrogen.

CLEAN GAS, in reference to its English name: Combustion of Low-Emission Automotive-tailored Natural GAS, is led by Dr. Steven Rogak, associate professor of mechanical engineering at the University of British Columbia and holder of a chair of clean energy systems research.

Among the most promising fuels for vehicles, hydrogen does well, yet its production costs do not make it attractive enough to be used as a sole source of energy. On the contrary, natural gas is much more abundant, but it is not completely clean, so its exhaust gases would require the same treatment as that applied to conventional fuels.

On the other hand, a mixture of natural gas and hydrogen could well be a winning combination that would rival what we find today in a gas station. Initial tests have shown that by mixing hydrogen with natural gas, in a proportion of about eight percent by energy content, it is possible to reduce hydrocarbon and particulate emissions by about half.

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