Ford Hydrogen Engine Laboratory Testing Facility 2002-01-0241

For future hydrogen fueled ground vehicle research, Ford Motor Company has installed the first hydrogen fueling station in North America with gaseous and cryogenic hydrogen and two dedicated hydrogen fueled engine laboratory dynamometer test cells.

Hydrogen, as a fuel for internal combustion engines (ICE), requires unique approaches to assure safety and accuracy in an engine-testing lab because of hydrogen's molecular size, compressibility, and reactivity. Ford Scientific Research Lab has accumulated useful experiences during the P2000 hydrogen internal combustion engine and vehicle development program. This paper presents the safety measures used in the hydrogen lab, including gas leakage sensing and warning system, hydrogen flame detecting device, cell fresh air ventilation conventions, and hydrogen fueling and purging system. It discusses hydrogen engine test related measuring requirements, such as gaseous fuel measurement equipment, the measuring of concentration of unburned hydrogen, water content and H2O2 emission in engine exhaust. It also evaluates the accuracy of several different methods of measuring the fuel/air equivalence ratio. Finally, the paper introduces the main principles of the hydrogen engine test lab standard operating procedure that was developed during the hydrogen ICE dynamometer testing program.