Buckeye Bullet 2 sets new FIA fuel cell vehicle land speed record - report 9 from Salt Flats

Friends of the Buckeye Bullet:
This is the ninth of a series of reports describing the progress of the Buckeye Bullet 2 at The Bonneville World Finals. The BB2 is a hydrogen fuel cell land speed vehicle designed to break the speed record for electric vehicles at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. It is designed and built by Ohio State University students out of the Center for Automotive Research in Columbus, Ohio. More details may be found at:

http://www.buckeyebullet.com/

Dedicated BB2 fans may also enjoy the daily blog:

http://buckeyebullet.blogspot.com/

More information on the Salt Flats may be found on the official website:

http://www.utah.com/playgrounds/bonneville_salt.htm

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October 11th, 2007, 6 am

Never a dull moment at the Salt Flats... As of yesterday the BB2 was the only team left, after one of the other record seekers had already set a record, and the other two had blown their engines while attempting to set their records.

With the BB2 as the lone survivor, it became clear the Wednesday would be the last day of the meet. Again, no pressure. On this subject, I take the liberty to quote the very nice message of our friend, alumnus and sponsor Ralph Rockow, who has evidently experienced similar situations... Thank you Ralph for everything you have done for us over the years!!

Sure you love life at the Salt Flats…………just like I loved those all night sessions baby sitting the Apollo LEM descent engine test firings with one delay after another!!!

Ralph A. Rockow
President
Exodyne, Inc.
www.exodyne.com <http://www.exodyne.com>

Given the limited time available the Bullet set out to attempt the hydrogen fuel cell LSR. The attempt began around 1pm local time. In order to qualify for a record, the vehicle would have to complete two runs in opposite directions within 60 minutes. The BB2 started at the far end of the track, with a plan to refuel at the south end, where the pit area is located, and the restart in the outbound direction within one hour. The timed mile for the “flying mile” record is in the middle of the 11-mile course.

One more time, the BB2 had a strong start on both legs of the record runs, but had an automatic shut down once it reached full power, in spite of all the work done during the preceding 24 hours to rectify the hydrogen flow problems. Thus, on both runs the Bullet coasted through the flying mile without any power. Fortunately, coasting is a relative concept, and BB2 was able to average approximately 130 mph along the timed mile, resetting the fuel cell vehicle record in class 3 (unlimited weight) by nearly 50 mph. I will send images of the certificate and other details of the run as soon as I have them in digital form.

I want to make it clear that we shall investigate the history of FIA records, as I believe this to be the first time ever that a vehicle has actually set a FIA record with ZERO TRACTIVE POWER.

In summary, during the past two weeks the Bullet2 has recorded the fastest ever speed for a hydrogen fueled and fuel cell powered vehicle at around 224 mph, and has set the official FIA world record for Group XIV-class 3 (fuel cell engine, unlimited weight) at around 130 mph. (Subject to FIA (or ASN) recognition)

We are proud of the accomplishments of the OSU student team, and we look forward to reaching even higher goals next August. The team will be returning to Columbus late today.

Go Bucks! Go Fast (or coast, as you prefer)!

Giorgio Rizzoni

P.S.: the last communication I had with the team was from the truck weighing station at the border of Utah with Nevada. Those who have been to Bonneville will know exactly where it is. Weighing the vehicle is a required FIA procedure for certification, and the BB2 has to PROVE that it weighs more than 1000 kg, thus belonging to class 3. Now, those who have seen this monster know that it must weigh the better part of 2.5 tons, so you would think the weigh-in would not be needed. Alas, it was required and the truck scales were shorter than the wheelbase of the BB2, thus requiring that the trailer be weighed with and without the BB2 in it. That provided some humor, as well as a lot of work...

Buckeye Bullet 2 will be attempting FIA records - report 7 from Salt Flats

Friends of the Buckeye Bullet:
This is the seventh of a series of reports describing the progress of the Buckeye Bullet 2 at The Bonneville World Finals.  The BB2 is a hydrogen fuel cell land speed vehicle designed to break the speed record for electric vehicles at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. It is designed and built by Ohio State University students out of the Center for Automotive Research in Columbus, Ohio.  More details may be found at:

http://www.buckeyebullet.com/

Dedicated BB2 fans may also enjoy the daily blog:

http://buckeyebullet.blogspot.com/

More information on the Salt Flats may be found on the official website:

http://www.utah.com/playgrounds/bonneville_salt.htm

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October 10th, 2007, 7 am

Yesterday the BB2 continued its preparation and attempted a run in the morning.
Once again, the vehicle responded well to the initial acceleration, pulling away very well under power, until it reached a speed of around 230 mph, then the power system shut down again.  This time it was clear that the inverter was performing well, and it became apparent that the problem is a hydrogen leak that, appropriately, causes a shut down.  We are very pleased about the safety systems in the vehicle!
This is a problem that the testing at TRC and the early run at the World Finals last week could not have detected, as it appears only at speeds above 200 mph (double what we can achieve at TRC) and at full power.
Yesterday afternoon the team opened the stacks and set on the painstaking task of checking all of the fittings in the H2 paths in the stacks.  As of yesterday evening, the team was upbeat and working hard to isolate the leakage.  We believe that this is the last unsolved problem, and if the repairs are completed successfully, BB2 might be ready for high speed runs later today.  Two days left.  No pressure.
We love life at the Salt Flats...

Go Bucks! Go Fast!

Giorgio Rizzoni

Buckeye Bullet 2 will be attempting FIA records - report 7 from Salt Flats

Friends of the Buckeye Bullet:
This is the seventh of a series of reports describing the progress of the Buckeye Bullet 2 at The Bonneville World Finals.  The BB2 is a hydrogen fuel cell land speed vehicle designed to break the speed record for electric vehicles at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. It is designed and built by Ohio State University students out of the Center for Automotive Research in Columbus, Ohio.  More details may be found at:

http://www.buckeyebullet.com/

Dedicated BB2 fans may also enjoy the daily blog:

http://buckeyebullet.blogspot.com/

More information on the Salt Flats may be found on the official website:

http://www.utah.com/playgrounds/bonneville_salt.htm

______________________________________________________________________________

October 9th, 2007, 8 am

The Bullet 2 has been preparing and testing.  Yesterday afternoon the first run on the 11-mile course was completed.  This was intended to be a test run to evaluate all the changes made in the fuel cell system and vehicle control software over the weekend.  The fuel cell system performed as intended, but the inverter reached a limitation that caused the run to be terminated around 200 mph.  When I received a phone update the team had just spoken with Tony Davis of Saminco, the sponsor who has provided the inverter used in both Bullet vehicles.  I understand that the appropriate changes in the calibration have been implemented, and the vehicle will be ready for another test run this morning.  If this run is successful, the next run may be a record attempt.  I hope to have an update at the end of the day.

Go Bucks! Go Fast!

Giorgio Rizzoni

Buckeye Bullet 2 will be attempting FIA records - report 6 from Salt Flats

Friends of the Buckeye Bullet:
This is the sixth of a series of reports describing the progress of the Buckeye Bullet 2 at The Bonneville World Finals.  The BB2 is a hydrogen fuel cell land speed vehicle designed to break the speed record for electric vehicles at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. It is designed and built by Ohio State University students out of the Center for Automotive Research in Columbus, Ohio.  More details may be found at:

http://www.buckeyebullet.com/

Dedicated BB2 fans may also enjoy the daily blog:

http://buckeyebullet.blogspot.com/

More information on the Salt Flats may be found on the official website:

http://www.utah.com/playgrounds/bonneville_salt.htm

______________________________________________________________________________

October 8th, 2007, 6 am

World Finals are over, but the adventure continues. Over the weekend the Bullet2 team has been able to make arrangements to stay at Bonneville through October 12th, together with a small number of other teams that will be attempting FIA sanctioned records.  This extended stay is possible through the continued support of the OSU college of engineering, Ballard, Ford, and Cowen Truck Lines.  We are grateful to all our sponsors, too numerous to mention here.  Approximately half of the team returned to Columbus last night, and 7 veterans (all with Bullet1 experience) have remained on the Salt.  

This is the first time that any Bullet team has had the opportunity to set FIA records.  The attachment summarizes the existing FIA records.  The Bullet 2 is eligible for records in the following categories:

Group VIII – electrical engine, class 3
Group XIV – fuel cell engine, class 3

The record that will be attempted is the flying mile, and in that category the Group VIII record stands at 245.524 (White Lightning, 1999), while the Group XIV record is 83.484 (Opel Zafira).

Yesterday, Sunday, the team set up its pits alongside the other teams at the south end of the Salt Flats (immediately north of I-80).
Time trials should start today, and the weather is expected to cooperate.

Go Bucks! Go Fast!

Giorgio Rizzoni

The greatest test track on earth

Well it has been a little while since I last updated, but I wanted to make sure that we had solidified our plans before I told everyone what our plans are. The last 2 days of the World Finals meet were canceled because of weather, mostly wind and a little bit of rain. As it turns out, there is a private meet being held this week, which if we wanted to be a part of, we could. After talking through the pros and cons of staying another week to run, we have decided that we will stay and continue to run the car. Those of us who would be able to work it into our course schedules will be staying, and the others will be with us in spirit.

Interestingly, this meet will be observed by the FIA, the record-holding body for international records. Unlike the U.S. records, there is in fact a class dedicated to fuel cell powered vehicles. The current record for this class currently sits at approximately 83 mph. While this record would be nice to set, our goal is still to go faster than the Buckeye Bullet 1, which set a U.S. record at 314.9 mph.

So, we will continue to update this week to keep everyone informed of our progress, and I'm hoping to keep up, as long as internet access is available. We hope to make a test run this afternoon, which will be made on the track set up for World Finals.