Driving on diesel and hydrogen, you can too!
Hydrogen trucks are available from the brands Hyundai, Hyzon and Nikola. Mercedes-Benz, Volvo and DAF are also working on initial versions. Almost all of them are electric-powered trucks powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. However, the price of such trucks is high.
More affordable alternative
Belgium-based CMB.TECH has a more affordable alternative: converting diesel engines in trucks to hydrogen. That is, they then run on a mixture of 20% diesel and 80% hydrogen. Pollutant emissions are 80% lower and, above all, the conversion company claims lower consumption thanks to this specific blend.
Transformation diesel to hydrogen?
The transformation from a diesel combustion engine to hydrogen is relatively simple. The modifications include the installation of hydrogen tanks, a loop on the engine block for hydrogen gas injection and the necessary control electronics. The rotating parts of the diesel engine do not require modification. The costs are thus manageable.
Up to 20 trucks per month
CMB.TECH can convert 20 trucks per month in its workshop. The first trucks (from Volvo) will hit the road as early as March 2023. Transport company Van Moer Logistics and Haesaerts are the first customers and will use the hydrogen tractors for (tank) container transport.
More affordable over on hydrogen
Burning hydrogen in a converted diesel engine is admittedly less efficient than converting hydrogen to electricity in a fuel cell. On the other hand, carriers can switch faster and investment costs are lower. Moreover, these trucks can still run entirely on diesel. This comes in handy when a hydrogen refueling station cannot be found on the road in time.
For companies with ambitious sustainability performance
Especially for companies that want or need a high sustainability performance, this conversion is an interesting interim solution, is the thinking at CMB.TECH. “With the opening of the first dual fuel workshop, we can prove that the conversion process is a simple and scalable concept. We can convert a diesel truck with a relatively small operation to achieve big emissions savings today,” said Roy Campe, Chief Technical Officer at CMB.TECH.
‘Rolling out concept further’
Scaling up production is in the pen. Says CMB.TECH, “We are setting the trend of being able to move away from traditional fuel in an affordable way. After a trial period, we can further roll out this concept to other locations and for other heavy-duty applications.”