Irapuato, Gto., April 22, 2017.- Searching new technologies for the automotive sector, the use of hydrogen as fuel has been proposed, which constitutes "the most practical, inexpensive and efficient from to polluting free transportation", according Dr. Salvador M. Aceves Saborío, who has collaborated researchers of the University of Guanajuato (UG) to find the ideal conditions for its use.

This project began at UG formally from the residency of Dr. Aceves in UG, Chief of the group of Energy Conversion and Storage in the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, US, who has focused his research in applied thermodynamics and heat transfer to solve problems related with transport and the use of alternate fuels for the same, specifically hydrogen.

On this line of research, Dr. Francisco Elizalde Blancas, ascribed to the Department of Mechanical Engineering in Campus Irapuato-Salamanca, explained that it works in hydrogen storage in cryogenic conditions to use it in vehicles that work with internal combustion motors.

The cryogenic storage tank contains hydrogen in an approximate temperature of -200°C, while the environment is approximately at 30°C. "That is a large difference in temperature, therefore, under normal conditions, you would expect a high transfer of heat towards the tank". This is not convenient, because when the hydrogen is heated, it raises its temperature and pressure in the tank and reaches point where it is necessary to release hydrogen to avoid a mechanical failure.

"Release hydrogen is the same as wasting fuel. So, we try to reduce the amount of energy transferred as heat towards the tank", explained Dr. Elizalde.

Several projects and students participated in the project, which allow them to amalyze the storage system from different views. The researchers who participated were: Dr. Salvador Aceves Saborío, Dr. Armando Gallegos Muñoz, Dr. Elías Ledesma Orozco, Dr. Juan Manuel Belman Flores, Dr. Eduardo Pérez Pantoja and Dr. Francisco Elizalde Blancas.

The participating students from both major and postgraduate degrees were: Juan Gregorio Hortelano Capetillo, Víctor Alcántar Camarena, César Octavio Romo de la Cruz, Luis David Celaya García, Julio César Moreno Blanco, César Cuellar Navarro, José Vázquez Ojeda, Sergio Pérez Cervantes &Adrián Pérez Briones.

One of the diverse studies made to the hydrogen storage tank consisted in the thermodynamic analysis of how to improve the storage process of hydrogen, so it releases the least amount. For that, it was researched, what happened to the hydrogen contained in the tank when the vehicle was parked by different periods of time, and it was driven in different distances and conditions.

After studying the variables, it determined that when the vehicle is not used, the probability to release hydrogen is higher. The next step was to look which are the conditions required to avoid fuel wastage, such as in what moment to fill the tank and which is the minimal distance that must be handled for an optimal use of hydrogen.

Dr. Francisco Elizalde explained that, although the project with Dr. Salvador Aceves officially concluded, they maintain a fruitful collaboration. Now, for example, there is a student working in the same research line, but with a focus towards aerospace applications. The intention is to present to US Army a prototype that diminishes the fuel waste in unmanned small aircraft.

Prof. Elizalde Blancas is a professor and researcher of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, member of the National Researchers System (SNI), Level I. His main research line are the fuel cells, especially those focused in numeric simulation.