Introduction
We can all see that the United States is suffering from an energy crisis due to the usage and regulation of natural resources. These resources are precious and less available every day. Basic economics tells us that the harder a given resource is to supply, the more expensive it becomes to buy. This is very evident in the oil addiction that Americans have succumbed to. This fuel source is used by the millions of barrels on a daily basis and will eventually be used up.
The University of Tennessee is taking on a project which will break the addiction of oil and help bridge the gap from conventional fuels to a cleaner and more efficient source of energy. This project will take an ordinary gasoline conventional engine and make it run on hydrogen. To do this, UTC has brought in two engineering professors, Dr. James Bailey PhD and Dr. Phil Kazemersky PhD, and nine mechanical engineering students. This group of students and teachers is called H.I.C.E. Dynamics (Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engine Dynamics). UTC has also acquired a 2005 Saturn Vue via a donation from General Motors. This vehicle was previously converted to run on ethanol a year prior to this project. The project was a success, but now H.I.C.E. Dynamics is ready to take the next step to successfully get the Saturn to run on hydrogen. To complete this task, team H.I.C.E will need to use nearly all available resources to make sure that this project is a great success.
One resource will be the Tennessee Valley Authority test track which was made available to UTC via TVA. This is where we will do most of our testing once the vehicle is fully operational. The purpose of this project is to help bring hydrogen to Chattanooga. Hopefully, this project will shine the light on hydrogen use as an energy source and we can eventually reduce emissions, help the economy, and get a hydrogen powered vehicle in every Chattanoogan’s driveway.
