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 Penn State Team Wins “Shell Eco-marathon Americas”™A team of ten Penn State University Mechanical Engineering capstone course students competed in the annual Shell Eco-marathon Americas™ competition in April at the California Speedway, just east of Los Angeles. The team took 1st place in the Hydrogen fuel cell division and 7th overall among the various other divisions. The challenge Shell Oil laid down to its participants during the competition’s inception in 1939 was simple: to see which vehicle could go the farthest distance on the least amount of fuel.  The Penn State team used a hydrogen powered fuel cell to propel their car. The vehicle powered with a Ballard Hydrogen fuel cell provided the current to drive the electric motor. Regardless of the fuel or energy type used, the efficiency ranking was determined from the equivalent consumption of unleaded 95 octane gasoline. This calculation was performed using the net calorific value (NCV), which represents the quantity of energy released per unit mass or volume of fuel during complete combustion yielding steam and carbon dioxide. Don’t expect to see this Penn State designed car on the road anytime soon. Even though the car attained an eye-popping equivalent of 1,668 miles per gallon, it only weighs approximately 120 pounds and does not have a lot of creature comforts. However, the vehicle was required to have a safety cage and other vehicle safety equipment as well as driver safety equipment. |
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News & Notes is a quarterly publication of the National Hydrogen Association.
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