Bueno compañeros foreros, aqui les dejo algo , me disculo por la descortesia, esta en ingles y sinceramente me dio pereza ponerme a traducirlo, ademas podria aducir errores en la tradución por lo que lo dejo como esta originalmente, adicionalmente en el texto esta el link para ver un video donde conducen el automovil, y pues como les habia dicho no es un bmw serie 3 es un serie 7 como motor 12 cilindros y 6 litos de desplzazamiento pero es un comienzo quizas dentrop de un tiempo lo veamos en la serie 3 y en otros automoviles de otras marcas.
WILL FUEL HYDROGEN OUR FUTURE?
Authors:
Leno, Jay
Source:
Popular Mechanics; Jan2008, Vol. 185 Issue 1, p42-43, 2p, 2 color
Document Type:
Article
Subject Terms:
*MOTOR fuels
*AUTOMOBILES -- Motors
*GASOLINE
*HYDROGEN as fuel
*HIGH temperatures
BAYERISCHE Motoren Werke AG
Company/Entity:
BAYERISCHE Motoren Werke AG
Abstract:
The article focuses on the fuels used in Hydrogen 7 automobile
from Bayerische Motoren Werke AG. The Hydrogen 7, a standard 7 Series
sedan equipped with a 6 liter V12 engine, has been reportedly
engineered to use gasoline or hydrogen as a fuel. It ranks hydrogen as
a more efficient fuel than gasoline. The model is being equipped with
a new fuel injection system and pistons with cooling channels to
withstand high temperatures. It discusses pros and cons of using
hydrogen as a fuel in the model.
Full Text Word Count:
907
ISSN:
00324558
Accession Number:
30052451
Database:
Academic Search Complete
HTML Full Text
WILL FUEL HYDROGEN OUR FUTURE?
Section: JAY LENO'S GARAGE
JAY SPENDS 10 DAYS BEHIND THE WHEEL OF BMW'S HYDROGEN 7
WHEN I HEAR PEOPLE BLAMING the automobile for global warming, I have
to chuckle. At the turn of the previous century, the car was seen as a
savior. Back then, horses were the primary means of motive power,
pulling heavy carts and carrying people. Sadly, they would drop dead
in the streets from sheer exhaustion or abuse. And mounds of manure
befouled Chicago, New York and other big cities, spreading nasty
diseases like dysentery. Suddenly, the automobile came along and
people said, "Oh look, there's just a little blue smoke! How nice."
Soon, horses were no longer misused as draft animals and the amount of
droppings lyingaround was significantly reduced. Everyone was happy.
Today, the automobile is under attack from people who believe that
it's the major cause of all our environmental woes. But it's not the
car. It's the fuel. The residual gases, mainly CO2, produced from
burning fossil fuel in internal combustion engines are to blame.
Fortunately, many modern cars don't have to run on fossil fuels.
While most automakers are experimenting with potential solutions, such
as hybrids and electric cars, that would drastically change the
automotive landscape, BMW is pursuing a simpler solution: Use hydrogen
to power a good old internal-combustion engine.
Think about it. Modern IC engines run smoothly, they're powerful and,
if they're not 100 percent dependable, they're darn close to it. So
why push this technology to the side and start over again with, say, a
hybrid or electric car?
I recently spent 10 days driving around in BMW's Hydrogen 7, a
standard 7 Series sedan equipped with a 6.0-liter V12 engine that's
been modified to run on either gasoline or hydrogen. Unlike a fuel
cell vehicle that converts H2 to electricity, the 7 actually burns it
just like gasoline. The hydrogen is stored as a supercooled liquid in
an insulated tank located behind the rear passenger seats. (The tank
is so well-insulated that if you put a scalding cup of coffee in there
in mid-September, it would still burn your lips at Thanksgiving
dinner!) All that insulation keeps most of the hydrogen at a chilly
minus 423 F. But a small amount of H2 is constantly "boiling off," or
vaporizing. When the car is not running, the excess gas is mixed with
oxygen and vented into the atmosphere. When the car is running, that
excess vapor is forced into the vehicle's intake manifold, where it's
mixed with air and injected into the engine's cylinders to be burned.
Re-engineering the stock 7 Series engine to handle the combustion
characteristics of hydrogen, which burns faster, hotter and more
aggressively than gasoline, didn't require extraordinary retrofitting.
In addition to a new fuel injection system, the automaker designed
special pistons with cooling channels to withstand high temperatures.
It also modified the valve seats to deal with the fact that hydrogen
gas, unlike gasoline, doesn't contain carbon, which typically helps to
lubricate the valves. The Bimmer also senses when it's under hydrogen
power and modifies ignition and valve timing. In gas mode, everything
returns to normal. So if you handed the keys to someone who had no car
knowledge, they'd have no idea they were driving something unique.
Now, that's truly a flex-fuel application.
One of the main benefits of using hydrogen is easy to explain. A few
years ago, I was asked to give an automotive talk at Paramount
Studios. First, I drove a hydrogen-powered car onto the stage, placed
an empty glass under the tailpipe and let the car idle. As I spoke,
the glass filled with water, the byproduct of burning this fuel. When
I finished, I picked up the glass and drank the liquid. It wasn't the
best-tasting water, but there was nothing wrong with it. And that's
the point: What came out of the car was harmless.
Of course, there are disadvantages to hydrogen. For one thing, there's
that venting issue. If the car is a daily rider, there's no problem.
But if you fill it with hydrogen and go away for a couple of weeks,
your tank will probably be empty upon your return. Availability is
also an issue. The infrastructure just isn't there to support a mass
rollout right now. Where would the cars refuel? BMW sent people to my
garage to fill the tank for me.
We're at the same crossroads today as in 1907: What fuel should we go
with? One hundred years ago, there was steam, gasoline, diesel,
electricity and even ethanol. The ************SPAM/BANNEAR************ fuel we didn't have was
hydrogen. Obviously, gasoline won out.
These days, steam is not taken seriously as a power source, gasoline
is in question, diesel and ethanol are making a comeback, electric
power is being considered and now we have hydrogen in the mix. Which
fuel will emerge victorious? Probably the one that comes with a mass
marketing plan, and gets to the people fastest and cheapest.
ON THE WEB /// Take a video test drive of BMW's Hydrogen 7 at
popularmechanics.com/gohydro.
PHOTO (COLOR): The Hydrogen 7 can run about 125 miles on a tank of H2.
A special filler port, located in the C-pillar, lets the car
communicate with the filling station during the fueling process to
ensure that the transfer goes smoothly.