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ect in conjunction with NAVSEA, blending small amounts of edly there will be impact to the physical machinery as dif- hydrogen in the combustion process with the intent of improv- ferent fuels impact different systems and components – fuel ing the combustion characteristics of the diesel. injectors, seals, cylinder liners – in ways that today might not “This isn’t a substitution,” Haasl clari? es, “this is trying to be well known when running for the pace and duration de- make diesel burn better. So if we can quantify the effects of manded.

combustion through this testing we’re doing now and show “The ? rst challenge with hydrogen is lighting the ? re to be- that on demand hydrogen production is scalable, it’s possible.” gin,” said Haasl. “There are viable options, and they all have

From the ORNL perspective, maintaining the broadest pos- unique challenges.” sible view is warranted at this stage. He said when you start “going down deeper into the en- “From my perspective, we’re interested in all of these fu- gine, hydrogen burns much quicker than diesel and pound for els of the new hydrogen economy,” said Szybist. “Hydrogen, pound at a relative loads, you see a real increase in BMEP in methanol and ammonia; they all have pros and cons. There the engine. So really looking at all the power components is will be a lot of factors that are application speci? c and a lot important.” of factors that are also outside the sphere of in? uence of the This is where the relationship with ORNL could really yield end user in terms of what does the rest of the economy decide dividends, as they house some of the best and brightest mate- in that locality as the best fuel. I think there’s a lot of value rial scientists in the world to drill down and help devise solu- and a lot of need to study all of these fuels and understand tions to maintain engine rating.

how could we accommodate each of these when the situation “Having access to people with those capabilities is going to arises.” be an important part of not just proving that hydrogen works, but proving that it’s effective and you can maintain the same

New Fuels, New Challenges mission readiness, the same type of lifecycle, and expect the

Whichever fuel emerges as the primary future fuel, undoubt- same performance.”

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