RANKINE-CYCLE ENGINES FOR UTILIZATION OF LH2 CAR FUEL AS A LOW-TEMPERATURE SOURCE

The hydrogen fueled engine developed at Musashi Institute of Technology has a system consisting of a LH-2 tank, a LH-2 pump and equipment for high-pressure fuel supply by hydrogen injection into the engine. It seems feasible to obtain supplementary power by means of a Rankine cycle engine with the LH-2 utilized as a heat sink and with the atmosphere or exhaust gas as the heat source if an appropriate working fluid is selected. Thermodynamic calculations on this Rankine cycle engine were carried out to determine the optimum working fluid and to choose the thermodynamic state of the cycle for its maximum output power. As a result, it was found that the output generated by this engine could be several percent of the main engine power. The aforementioned Rankine cycle engine was prepared for experimental study. Experimental results with the engine show the feasibility of a system with the Rankine cycle engine.