An Imperial postdoc shows off his zero-emission car in a temporary exhibition at the Science Museum.
Matt Brown
If you want a fast car without ruining your green credentials, speak to Greg Offer. He’s in pole position at Imperial Racing Green, a project to develop zero-emission racing cars at Imperial College London.
Offer, also a postdoc in the university’s Faculty of Engineering, is showcasing one of the project’s fuel-cell-powered carts at the Science Museum this week. Nature Network London asked him about the challenges of building a green machine that can outpace a Porsche.
_Image from Imperial College London. _
My Science
What’s the background to Imperial Racing Green?
It was set up about a year ago in response to a competition called Formula Zero. It had been a dream of mine for a while to apply the knowledge gained in fundamental research to actually build a fuel-cell-powered vehicle, so when the invitation came along it didn’t take us long to respond. The project is run by my colleague Ralph Clague and I with the help of a management team. Ralph used to work in Formula One, and this project is just as much his baby as mine. The project quickly grew to become a huge undergraduate teaching project spanning six departments.
What kind of performance can the car you’re demonstrating at the Science Museum achieve?
The car runs on hydrogen, which powers a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). The hydrogen for competitions will be made from environmentally friendly sources such as wind and solar energy, so the vehicle will be truly zero emission from wind farm to wheel.
The vehicle only carries enough hydrogen for about 15 minutes; that is just long enough to get us around the race, but we don’t really care about range or distance, just speed. The most power that we can push through the electric motors is about 48kW which works out at roughly 65 horse power, about what you would expect from a 1.3 litre petrol engine. All this is packed in a small go-cart and so it is extremely overpowered. To be honest, we are all scared about driving it.
The vehicle is an all-electric hybrid with the power coming from either the fuel cell or the batteries so we can access all our power all the time. This is unlike an internal combustion engine where you only have full power in a narrow range, and at much lower efficiencies. From standing the cart can produce about 540 Nm torque at the rear wheels for 10 mins continuously, and double that for very brief periods. Depending upon gear ratios, this means we should be able to accelerate from standing faster than a Porsche.
What advantages does a fuel cell offer over hydrogen, and other alternative fuels?
A fuel cell is most comfortable running on hydrogen, but can operate on many fuels, and the most sensible way to use any primary energy conversion device (engine/fuel cell) is to hybridise it with some form of storage device such as a battery. The current trend towards hybrids is one of the best things that happened for fuel cells as they mean automotive manufacturers are basically now finding themselves in a position where they are making half electric cars. With a fuel cell you can remove the mechanical engine and move over to fully electric which simplifies things considerably, and enables you to do loads of really exciting things with the vehicle design, performance and handling.
Are there any examples of real innovation coming out of the project, or is it more about combining existing technologies in an optimal way?
The project has just completed its first year at Imperial. Over the next year the project will become fully embedded in the Faculty of Engineering’s undergraduate teaching programme and the pace will be really picking up. We expect at least some of the projects to deliver examples of real innovation, and we hope to get undergraduates working on projects which could eventually deliver real technology advancements.
In particular it is not just about fuel cells. As part of Imperial Racing Green we will be running projects, to name a few, to develop the next generation of electric motors, lightweight composite chassis materials, including some which can actually also be used as charge storage devices, novel vehicle designs with distributed functionality, and individually controlled traction ‘real powered steering’, etc.
What’s the bigger picture/long-term goal here?
The automotive industry is changing, and as mentioned above that change is a general trend towards electric vehicles via hybrids. In the future the industry is going to start demanding significant numbers of students who have experience in designing and building vehicles and systems for electric vehicles, and we will be in a position to provide these. We will also be building up significant capability and knowledge in how to build very fast and powerful fuel cell hybrid electric vehicles, and each year we will make a bigger and better vehicle.
We are also working very closely with Formula Student, a competition run by the Institute of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE). Most excitingly we will be aiming to compete directly against internal combustion engines and other alternative technologies in the summer of 2009.
What are the biggest hurdles that need to be overcome before vehicles such as this become common on the road?
Mostly cost and fuel supply network. But by focusing on the high performance end of vehicles, and in particular motor sport, we can ignore the first one. And, the benefits in performance and speed from doing this are so great that the extra cost is well worth it to those speed freaks out there. It is also a model that we know works, as motor sport is supposed to drive innovation and technology development and then to filter that down to the consumer market, so by following that model we expect to be able to overcome or side-step some of the other hurdles. The fuel supply network is pretty limited outside gasoline and diesel in the UK. This really could be addressed with more plug in points for electric cars (currently there are only 20), and a commitment to a range of alternative fuel filling stations by the government.
My web
How is the web changing your field?
The biggest change I have seen is the availability of journal papers on the internet. In the past I would have had to go to the library and look up papers in person and then photocopy them. Now I can run searches online and download 100 journal papers in an hour. It still takes me just as long to read them.
Do you ever read scientific blogs? If so, which ones?
No, but I keep one.
My London
Where in London would you celebrate getting a paper on the cover of Nature?
Probably in the Queens Arms, the pub just round the corner from Imperial College. It is where we regularly hang out.
Do you have a favourite of London’s 30 or so scientifically themed museums, or an exhibit that you find particularly striking?
The science museum. I have spent the most time there, and love both the regular features and the constantly changing showcases.
Where in London would you advise a visiting scientist to while away a free afternoon?
Start at the Houses of Parliament, and go on the London Eye; it really gives you a good idea of the city. Then maybe walk along the South Bank, with a short diversion over the Millennium Bridge to St Paul’s Cathedral, finishing at Tower Bridge. You get to see all the major attractions that way.
Who would you nominate as the greatest scientist to have worked in London?
Sir William Henry Perkin. He practically invented the modern chemical industry. He was also baptized in the Church which I attend each week, St Paul’s Shadwell in the East End of London.
The Renewable Racing event is on at the Science Museum until Thursday 29 August.
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