In the quest for clean burning cars that can run on renewable fuels, Volvo has released information about their 5 fuel vehicle. Designed to run on hythane, biomethane, natural gas, bioethanol E85 and gasoline. Hythane is a blend of 10% hydrogen and 90% methane and is the optimal fuel for this engine.
Volvo press release after the break
| As part of their aim at finding different ways to sustainable mobility, Volvo Car Corporation has developed a system for a multitude of fuels. The Volvo Multi-Fuel is a prototype car, optimized for running on five different fuel types; hythane, biomethane, natural gas, bioethanol E85 and petrol. Hythane consists of 10 percent hydrogen and 90 percent methane, a blend that has tested most effective for this system.Optimised for five different fuels The Volvo Multi-Fuel is a five-cylinder, 2.0-litre prototype car (200 bhp) that runs on five different fuels; hythane (10% hydrogen and 90% methane), biomethane, natural gas (CNG), bioethanol E85 (85% bioethanol and 15% petrol) and petrol. The new concept is introduced at the Michelin Challenge Bibendum 2006 and is one of its kind.”The whole car is optimized for high performance, driving on any of the five different fuels,” said Mats Morén, Project Leader Engine at Volvo Car Corporation. The Multi-Fuel is just as safe as all Volvo vehicles, with the added bonus of being exceptionally clean. One of its benefits is that combustion of pure renewable fuels like hydrogen, biomethane and bioethanol gives negligible net contribution of fossil carbon dioxide. “It is a first step towards a hydrogen powered society,” said Morén. “Perhaps we can develop the system even further, to run on a higher blend in the future.” Independent of local infrastructure “The idea is to make use of the fuels that are produced locally,” said Morén. “This means that less fuel needs to be transported between continents, and you can fill up the car on the fuel that is available wherever you are.” Reinforced gaseous fuel tank “The small gaseous fuel tanks are made of steel, whereas the large tank has a durable, gas tight aluminum liner, reinforced with high performance carbon fibre composite and an exterior layer of hardened fibre-glass composite,” Morén said. The fuel tanks are fitted neatly under the luggage compartment floor, which means that full loading capacity is preserved. Two fuel fillers are used to fill up all five fuel types, one for gaseous and one for liquid fuels. The engine automatically adjusts itself to the right blend of gaseous or liquid fuels. To switch between fuel types, the driver simply presses a button. High performance on any fuel with maintained fuel-efficiency “The Multi-Fuel is turbo charged to achieve high performance on any of the five different fuel types, said Morén. “That makes it great fun to drive and we are very proud of its performance.” Low regulated and unregulated emissions “I love this concept,” Morén said, “It’s a turbo charged engine with high performance, low fuel consumption and low emissions. On top of that it has a brilliant tank installation and can be run on a multitude of fuels – all wrapped in one beautiful car. |
[...] Those folks at Ford sure are hard at work trying to build cleaner vehicles to make Mother Nature happy. Following this weekend’s news about the 5 fuel Volvo, now they have actually sold some 6.8 L, supercharged V-10 engines that will be used in Florida shuttle buses. [...]