Dual-fuel vehicles using hydrogen technology are helping to create a greener transport network and save significant harmful emissions.
Dual-fuel specialists Luxfer Gas Cylinders and ULEMCo are collaborating to make vehicles hydrogen ready and harness the clean gas to deliver GHG emission savings. Projects have included hydrogen-powered trucks, LGVs, refuse trucks, road sweepers and even a prototype ambulance with many already in operation within the UK.
In one recent initiative a dual-fuel waste collection truck combines hydrogen with non-fossil fuel HVO (hydrotreated vegetable oil), opening up the opportunity for negative carbon vehicles. It is the first dual fuel refuse truck of its kind in the UK, and will make use of Aberdeen’s hydrogen refuelling hub.
The objective within the supply chain for ULEMCo is to offer options that will allow the transport industry to cost effectively decarbonise their operations by using existing engines in their vehicles, adapted for hydrogen fuel.
Luxfer’s liner-processing technology means its hydrogen cylinders are among the highest-capacity, fastest to refill and lightest Type 3 alternative fuel cylinders in the world. These G-Stor H2 cylinders are provided to be slotted into retrofitted designs of converted diesel engines.
Amanda Lyne, ULEMCo md, explains: “By using combustion technology that is widely understood the transport industry can start saving GHG emissions far quicker than waiting for the commercial viability of zero-emission options that are not widely available today. A key issue is to maximise the volume of hydrogen that can be fitted into a broad spectrum of vehicles, Luxfer’s range of cylinder sizes give that crucial flexibility.”
With diesel conversions offering an accessible way for operators to kickstart their hydrogen journey, the projects Luxfer and ULEMCo have worked on together are showing huge promise.
One of the nine-strong fleet of hydrogen dual fuel road sweepers in Aberdeen can displace 50 per cent of the diesel with hydrogen, including the auxiliary engine that powers the vacuum – an excellent demonstration of the potential for the technology. If this was applied to similarly-converted road sweepers across all UK Councils, it is estimated by ULEMCo that 10,000 tonnes of CO2 per year could be saved.
Jim Gregory, European business development manager at Luxfer Gas Cylinders, said: “The real issue for the transport industry is to shift from diesel cost effectively, and this is where dual fuel conversions come into their own. Of course, there remains the barrier of infrastructure and access to the green gas, which ULEMCo is helping its customers circumvent too – making hydrogen a sound proposition.”
