Manufacturers See Hydrogen Engine Use Cases, Advantages
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ANAHEIM, Calif. — Manufacturers said hydrogen internal combustion engines and hydrogen fuel cell technology both have a role to play in the alternative-fuels market, and commonalities among hydrogen, diesel and natural gas ICE could help get hydrogen in the hands of more fleets faster.
“These engines can be integrated into current OEM chassis with minimal modifications,” said Chad Fohne, fuel delivery system engineering and integration leader for Cummins. “Thanks to their shared architecture with diesel and natural gas engines, they utilize common cooling packages, aftertreatment systems and drive lines, and the onboard fuel system will resemble the existing CNG fuel delivery systems that we use today.”
Fohne along with other industry experts shared their insights while speaking here during the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo and Conference this week.
Mehdi Ferhan, senior vice president of powertrain engineering for Volvo Group, said hydrogen ICE presents a similar use case to diesel ICE. “The operating range for conditions, power and torque is the exact same as a diesel truck,” he explained.
Hydrogen ICE is already considered zero-emissions technology in the European market, and interest in the North American market is increasing. Brent Keppy, manager, engineering power solutions for Bosch, said regular diesel ICE emits around 700 grams per kilowatt hour of CO2 whereas a hydrogen ICE using a port fuel injection system (PFI) emits around 2 to 5 grams.
“Even the EPA themselves have indicated that we don’t really need to worry about the CO2 emissions, nor do we even need to test these engines, so long as they’re burning neat hydrogen. The NOx emissions and pm emissions are also very low,” Keppy said, adding that the engines don’t require rare earth metals or exotic materials.
Because hydrogen internal combustion engines are comparable to diesel, he noted, they can be produced using existing manufacturing capabilities and plants, and repair facilities will be able to adapt quickly to support the technology. “We already have experts in place. I believe this will result in a fast-to-market solution when the market is ready,” Keppy said.
Explaining there’s not a one-size-fits-all solution, Ferhan said hydrogen ICE will play an important role in situations where access to other sustainable fuels is limited.
“This is where the technology is specifically relevant to create a game-changing opportunity,” he said. “The ICE is a well-proven system with decades and decades of optimization.”
From natural gas to renewable diesel, alternative fuels for the traditional internal combustion engine are attracting a lot of attention at this year. — Seth Clevenger (@SethClevenger)
Speakers at ACT Expo expressed that hydrogen ICE is more than a bridge to hydrogen fuel cells and having multiple alternative fueling options will allow operators to choose the best technology for their needs based on the use cases, utilization and available fueling infrastructure.
“You may ask, why should we have two hydrogen solutions? The answer is, quite simply, there is a sweet spot and a different place for hydrogen engine technology versus fuel cell,” Keppy said.
Lars Stenqvist, chief technology officer for Volvo Group, said hydrogen ICE will be especially suitable over long distances, in certain regions and when there isn’t time to recharge.
“We believe in a platform that needs battery electric, fuel cell electric and the internal combustion engine running on natural gas or renewable fuels,” he said.
Volvo is testing green and blue hydrogen in combustion engines and plans to start low-volume hydrogen ICE production in Europe in the next few years.
Cespira, a joint venture between Volvo Group and Westport Fuel Systems, is developing high-pressure direct injection (HPDI) technology that enables internal combustion engines to run on hydrogen without significant modifications to existing powertrains.
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“It allows us to run like a diesel. That means that we typically don’t have to change or get rid of the cylinder liners. We don’t have to change the aftertreatment system or the turbocharger,” said David Mumford, senior director, commercial for Cespira.
Mehdi said HPDI lets manufacturers create 95-100% carbon abatement, and when hydrogen ICE engines use low-carbon ignition fuel, they are categorized as zero-emission trucks in Europe.
Bosch is working on a PFI and a direct injection system, and Keppy said there are advantages and challenges to each. “We think that the efficiency and power density of a direct injection system is going to outlast or outweigh the other technology,” he said. “However, there are definite advantages in terms of ease of integration, mixing, formation and so forth with PFI systems that being in the market for quite some time in the future.”
An additional benefit of hydrogen ICE is that the quality and purity of hydrogen isn’t an issue whereas fuel cell applications require a very specific fuel-cell-grade hydrogen. “We have perhaps an opportunity to use varying fuel qualities,” Keppy said.
For hydrogen ICE systems, fuel storage becomes the biggest change from diesel ICE. “We’ve been developing a compressor, and for LNG and potentially liquid hydrogen, we already have cryogenic pumps,” Mumford said. “We’re well placed with the systems and have all the building blocks in place.”
Fohne added that onboard hydrogen fuel storage for ICE applications is similar to fuel cells.
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The hydrogen fueling industry still faces some headwinds, particularly around cost and infrastructure. “For our customers to be able to use H2 ICE or hydrogen in general, the infrastructure needs to be there, and the hydrogen has to be at a price that makes sense to customers,” Fohne said. “I think the technology will be ready, but the infrastructure has to be ready to support it.”
William Zobel, senior director of hydrogen and infrastructure for Pilot Co., said the travel center chain, which operates 850 locations across the country, is looking to add alternative fuels to every location where customers want them.
“One of the things that we are all working towards as an industry is to try to make these trucks easier to get on the road,” Zobel said. “We all know that prices for hydrogen are still higher than we’d like them to be, but we think that these prices are going to come down over time. The total cost of ownership for the fleets is going to get better.”
