Improved liquid hydrogen-powered Corolla and GR86 (carbon-neutral fuel) to participate in Super Taikyu at Autopolis

Toyota Motor Company will enter the ENEOS Tremendous Taikyu Collection 2023 Supported by Bridgestone Spherical 4 Tremendous Taikyu Race (5h x 1 race), to be held from 29-30 July on the Autopolis worldwide racing course in Oita Prefecture, with the #32 ORC ROOKIE GR Corolla H2 Idea, which runs on liquid hydrogen (earlier post), and the #28 ORC ROOKIE GR86 CNF Idea operating on carbon-neutral gasoline (earlier post).

The hydrogen-powered Corolla, cellular liquid hydrogen stations, and carbon impartial gasoline have developed within the two months for the reason that Spherical 2 NAPAC Fuji SUPER TEC 24 Hours Race from 26-28 Could.

For the hydrogen-powered Corolla, the sturdiness of the liquid hydrogen pump, which was a difficulty within the Fuji 24 Hours Race, has been improved, leading to 30% enhanced sturdiness below comparable circumstances. Lubricating oil is often utilized in pumps to scale back stress by way of much less friction within the pump; nevertheless, lubricating oil can’t be utilized in liquid hydrogen pumps because it contaminates the hydrogen. For this race, a buffer construction will likely be used to scale back stress on the pump gear drive unit, aiming to permit it to complete the race while not having to get replaced.

As well as, numerous liquid hydrogen programs, together with security valves and piping, have been optimized primarily based on analyses of information collected in earlier checks and races. As well as, pump stress has been lowered by optimizing gasoline stress, resulting in a weight discount for the pump drive motor battery. Consequently, the car now weighs 1,910 kg—40 kg lighter than the 1,950 kg it weighed throughout the Fuji 24 Hours Race in Could.

Toyota has additionally succeeded in lowering the load of joints and versatile hoses for the cellular liquid hydrogen station that was developed collectively by Iwatani Company and Toyota. For the reason that joint and versatile hose weight places a burden on the employees who fill automobiles with hydrogen, lowering their measurement and weight is essential in getting ready for future commercialization.

Toyota lowered the load of the filling joint from 8.4 kg to six.0 kg and the return joint from 16.0 kg to 12.5 kg by eliminating the connection cowl and altering the elements that don’t come into contact with hydrogen from iron to aluminum. The versatile hose on the return joint facet has additionally been modified to a thinner hose, lowering the load from roughly 4 kg to 1 kg, to scale back the burden on employees and enhance workability throughout filling operations.

Joints used throughout the Fuji 24 Hours Race (high) and the improved joint (backside). Filling joints are on the left; return joints (joints that returns vaporized hydrogen to the filling station) are on the best.

Till now, all hydrogen filling operations for the hydrogen-powered Corolla, similar to opening and shutting the filling valve and stopping filling when the hydrogen reaches full capability, have been carried out manually. For this race, Toyota automated these operations by way of digital management. Automating hydrogen filling will allow it to be carried out effectively and error-free in a predictable time-frame.

Return joint is in the back of the picture; the filling joint is on the entrance.

Additional, a high-flow-rate filling-side cease valve developed by Fujikin Integrated will likely be put in ranging from this race. The filling-side cease valve is put in onto the filling port of the liquid hydrogen tank. Valve sizes enhance because the movement charge will increase to hurry up the filling course of, making sealing harder. Nonetheless, Fujikin’s valve has succeeded in balancing each of those elements. Consequently, hydrogen filling time has been lowered to roughly 1 minute, down from 1 minute 40 seconds on the Fuji 24 Hours Race.

Excessive-flow-rate filling-side cease valves developed by Fujikin Integrated (Left is pre-improvement, proper is post-improvement)

A gasoline cell generator has been put in within the pit to energy the cellular liquid hydrogen station for the hydrogen-powered Corolla. Three sorts of Kyushu-produced gaseous hydrogen are getting used: geothermal-derived hydrogen from Obayashi Company, solar-generated hydrogen from Toyota Motor Kyushu, and sewage biogas-derived hydrogen from Fukuoka Metropolis.

Carbon-neutral gasoline. The CNF GR86 has been racing with the newly improved carbon-neutral gasoline for the reason that Spherical 3 SUGO Tremendous Taikyu 3 Hours Race held from 8-9 July.

The issue with conventional carbon-neutral gasoline is that it tends to dilute the engine oil, stopping the engine oil from performing because it ought to. Along with Subaru Company, which additionally makes use of carbon-neutral gasoline in its races, and gasoline producers, Toyota adjusted the composition of the gasoline to make it simpler to vaporize and burn. This reduces engine oil dilution and improves reliability and exhaust efficiency by lowering the burden on the engine.