I’m missing Bonneville……

I have been thinking about Bonneville the last several months, it will be 3 years this coming September since we were last there. As I mentioned in my last post, I have retired from driving but that should not negate us from continuing to participate, and enjoying the “Bonneville experience”. The car is in storage, along with the trailer and equipment in Nevada. When we last loaded it we were planning on racing that summer/fall but the weather did not cooperate and the racing surface was not conducive to high speeds.

So, what I am considering is converting the engine to run on hydrogen, H2. I have pondered that possibility for several years but just never was properly motivated. It seems since we have been running a gaseous fuel, CNG that maybe the conversion would not be too difficult. There are certainly issues to be considered that could complicate the matter, or it might be relatively easy process. The biggest issue is H2’s tendency in internal combustion engines to backfire when converting from gasoline to H2. The solution is to provide direct injection and a change to the camshaft timing specs. However the current camshaft is specific for CNG (a gaseous fuel) so it may not need changing. We currently run a port injection configuration and converting to direct injection would be a major undertaking and I am not sure the heads would accommodate the modification necessary. I have contacted several folks with experience with H2 in a ICE and have asked for their advice on these two issues.

There are some other considerations that will need attention. The on board fuel tanks and regulators will need to be changed. H2 fuel is stored at 10,000 psi, geeze! However suitable tanks and regulators are available commercially. We also will need to find a fuel supply. There are no H2 retail refueling stations anywhere close to Bonneville. But there are suppliers that could deliver a cascade storage supply to the salt. Fuel lines would need to be upgraded to rigid stainless steel and some sort of safety/leak detection system would need to be installed. Finally, the Motec engine controller would need to modification for it’s setup parameters. Not of this stuff would be deal breakers.

I am not yet certain we will proceed down this H2 path but giving it serious consideration. I have discussed the matter with the crew and they all like the idea and are wiling to continue offering their help and expertise. As far as a driver, if we proceed I will start an search for a qualified (younger) driver.

Depending up the complexity of the conversation, it is possible we could got back to Bonneville this coming fall. If for some reason that is not possible, then 2025 would certainly work.

One of my frustrations with running CNG is that the FIA does not recognize it as a fuel category when certifying world records. However they do recognize H2 internal combustion engines as a category. There are a number of specific classes, however there is only one record in the books. BMW set a class record of 189 MPH in 2004. After doing some calculations and running a computer simulation for the car, it is reasonable to expect we could run approximately 225 MPH with only 375 HP, 750 HP would get us 300+ MPH. Currently, the CNG setup is producing 1600-1700 HP. Seems like we would heave a go0d shot at setting the H2-ICE world record.

As I mentioned, not yet certain we will head down thus path but certainly giving it some serious consideration.

More later….