Several weeks ago I had blogged about how hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) would one day be fueling future cars and the fuel is, in fact, powering some types of vehicles today. From rockets to jetpacks to submarines, hydrogen peroxide has been used as a clean and powerful zero emissions fuel to propel vehicles from point A to point B.
Once seen as only rocket fuel or bleach, hydrogen peroxide is getting a second look as a transportation fuel of choice. The costs for manufacturing high-grade hydrogen peroxide has been coming down and more scientists and engineers are using hydrogen peroxide to power a wide range of vehicles.
For instance, besides the World War II German Messerschmitt 163B fighter plane that ran on hydrogen peroxide, there has been another experimental high flying vehicle built that also uses H2O2 as fuel. The New Shepard suborbital spacecraft built by Blue Origin uses 90-percent hydrogen peroxide and rocket grade kerosene for fuel.
Besides aircraft and spacecraft, there have also been several cars and go carts developed that run on hydrogen peroxide. The Chinese Habo Number 1 is one such automobile. In addition, there is also the Peroxide Thunder racecar built by Arnold Neracher and Andy Ochsner and the SwissRocketMan’s hydrogen peroxide go cart.
What has been blatantly missing from this hydrogen peroxide planes, trains and automobiles scenario however are the locomotives. The steam trains of old were powered by wood or coal heating water to create steam, which would then turn a turbine to power the vehicle. It would only make sense that using current technology that a steam turbine using hydrogen peroxide fuel could also be used.
So, where are the hydrogen peroxide trains? This is anyone’s guess. Consider this a call to action upon the developers and engineers of hydrogen peroxide locomotives to get in gear and develop some clean burning and powerful H2O2 trains with zero emissions and plenty of power. There will be many people steamed, in the future, if this doesn’t happen.
How about a micro-turbine using h2o2 and alcohol driving a dc generator
powering an electric car through dc drives ?
Using a tesla turbine (or other turbine design) to direct-drive a car or for hybrid-electric purposes should be feasible.
If I’m not mistaken, though, turbines have a much better efficiency profile than standard internal combustion engines so the losses in powering a generator, storing in batteries and driving an electric motor might actually be less efficient than direct drive from the turbine.
ICE engines benefit from hybridization because of the exceptionally narrow RPM range of maximum efficiency. Outside that range they are horribly inefficient. You can run a generator with an ICE engine at exactly the most efficient RPM without regard for the speed of the vehicle which improves the efficiency of the ICE engine enough to overcome the other losses.
how about combining engines combustion,turbine, and electric too in various parts of the drivetrain system. I’d also like to see experimentation of cryogenic steam, plus with liquid nitrogrn, maybe also with nickel titanium alloy machinery implemented or used somewhere therein?