性能号称媲美柴油机 美国研究院展示新型氢能发动机Performance Claimed on Par with Diesel: US Institute Unveils a New Hydrogen Engine

According to Green Fuel International Business Network, the US Southwest Research Institute recently unveiled a prototype hydrogen internal combustion engine for medium-duty commercial trucks. Unlike hydrogen fuel cells, this model is an internal combustion engine that burns hydrogen to do work, and in laboratory tests its power and torque performance can match diesel engines of the same class, providing a new technology route for the zero-carbonization of heavy trucks.

This engine uses spark plug ignition to burn hydrogen and relies on a turbocharger to strengthen intake air, solving the traditional shortcoming of hydrogen internal combustion engines - insufficient torque at low speed - and achieving torque output close to that of diesel engines, adapting to the working conditions of heavy-load truck starts. The R&D team started with a single-cylinder prototype and focused on overcoming industry challenges such as hydrogen pre-ignition and unstable combustion, redesigning the intake port, enlarging the intake valve, pairing it with a dedicated hydrogen injector, and relying on an electronic control system to precisely manage injection timing, ignition, boost pressure and air-fuel ratio to ensure combustion efficiency and operating stability.

In terms of emissions, burning hydrogen produces almost no carbon dioxide, with the main emission being only nitrogen oxides; combined with aftertreatment devices, the exhaust can meet US ultra-low nitrogen oxide emission regulations and is far below current EPA limits. Compared with hydrogen fuel cells, the greatest advantage of the hydrogen internal combustion engine is that it can reuse a large part of the existing internal combustion engine industrial supply chain, with lower overall retrofit costs and no reliance on expensive stack materials, meaning a lower technology migration threshold for commercial vehicle enterprises.

However, the technology still has clear shortcomings: the overall thermal efficiency of the hydrogen internal combustion engine remains slightly lower than that of mainstream diesel engines and hydrogen fuel cells; hydrogen storage and refueling infrastructure remain practical obstacles; and the cost of components for high-pressure hydrogen injection and pre-ignition resistance remains relatively high. At present, this model is only at the laboratory prototype stage and has not yet entered mass production or vehicle installation, with a relatively long cycle before true commercial deployment. Industry insiders believe it will not completely replace fuel cells, but will rather serve as an alternative for heavy truck decarbonization, suitable for commercial vehicle scenarios that value the continuity of the existing industrial system, with future performance depending on subsequent real-vehicle road tests and the progress in building out the hydrogen energy industry chain.