A hydrogen-powered internal combustion engine prototype was unveiled by AVL Racetech. It is powered by a 2-liter turbo engine and features clever water injection, according to the manufacturer, which allows it to operate at high performance levels.
The prototype is the first internal development and production of a racing engine by AVL Racetech. The new race engine from AVL achieves a performance level of about 150kW per liter with only a tiny lean burn.
AVL used water injection to give the engine its high specific performance. The charge density rises when more water is injected by an injector into the intake stream. Additionally, as the water evaporates, it significantly cools the combustion chamber. The company used its tried-and-true simulation models and 3D flow computations to precisely understand the behavior of the entire system with all air, fuel, and exhaust gas flows in order to construct the necessary injectors and valves, according to AVL.