4 ms·
The first issue is that you have to make a trade-off between power and producing nitrogen oxides if you're using air. You can get around that with a cat, but th
by AlotOfReading 5y ago
The first issue is that you have to make a trade-off between power and producing nitrogen oxides if you're using air. You can get around that with a cat, but then you're back to using expensive catalysts. The engines also can't be as reliable long term as conventional ICEs because hydrogen embrittles and corrodes all metals given enough time. The best you can do is delay things a bit with good alloys and engine design. Knocking/predetonation is also a much difficult problem to solve.
- specialist 5y agoDecades ago, there was some effort to use ceramics for ICE. Fill the forms, sinter it, machine finish the details. It'd be neat to revisit some of those ideas.
- jeffreyrogers 5y agoCatalytic converters last longer than the catalysts used in fuel cells (fuel cell catalyst is a powder so it is harder to contain). Hydrogen does embrittle most metals, but it does not affect aluminum at moderate temperatures and pressures. Obviously a piston and cylinder head experience high temperatures and pressures but it would in theory be possible to develop ceramic pistons and heads that can mitigate the embrittlement problem, as a sibling comment mentioned.