Liquid-Hydrogen Automotive Onboard Storage and Servicing System Project: A Progress Report

Under Department of Energy sponsorship, the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory is presently road testing a U.S. intermediate sized automobile adapted to liquid-hydrogen fuel. The overall project objective is to document a general experience base as a point of departure for future development. A semiautomatic fueling station developed by the Deutsche Forschungs- und Versuchsanstalt für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DFVLR) of the Federal Republic of Germany is being used to service (refuel) the experimental vehicle. The DFVLR also provided the 150-ℓ (39.6-gal.) cryogenic liquid-hydrogen storage tank mounted in the trunk compartment and the dashboard fuel gauging system. The V-6 turbocharged engine was converted to hydrogen operation by the Billings Energy Corporation. Both the container and the engine modifications represented state-of-the-art technology when the program began.