TUPY S, Westport Fuel Systems Inc. and AVL List have announced a collaboration to develop highly efficient hydrogen (H2) internal combustion engine (ICE) for heavy goods transportation. The partnership aims at combining advanced material and casting technologies with the latest H2 ICE technology using high-pressure direct injection (HPDITM).
Hydrogen is a promising energy carrier for carbon-neutral heavy-duty transportation applications. It has the potential for fast refuelling and can be used to power fuel cells or ICEs. Unlike fuel cell technology, hydrogen ICEs enable carbon-neutral transportation utilizing existing base engine technology. Powertrain efficiency will be a crucial success factor to ensure affordable hydrogen truck and bus solutions.
To increase efficiency and improve fuel consumption of current spark ignited hydrogen ICEs, TUPY, Westport and AVL will jointly work on developing an HPDI H2-ICE. Superior materials, casting and machining technologies are required to deal with high peak firing pressures. AVL completed the AVL Hydrogen Engine development in collaboration with Graz University of Technology earlier this year. At the same time, Westport has also previously demonstrated successful startup and trials of heavy-duty ICEs running on H2 using HPDI. The first testbed results of this new joint development program with AVL, TUPY and Westport are expected by early 2022.
“We believe our technical expertise and collaboration with customers and universities enable us to play an important role in decarbonization. We are studying new materials, geometries and machining that can improve the performance of new alternative, low carbon, fuels. It is very rewarding to partner up with AVL and Westport in this search for a carbon-free, cost efficient transport solution” says Fernando de Rizzo, CEO of TUPY.
“Hydrogen HPDI offers OEMs a fast, cost-efficient pathway to carbon-neutral technology, without sacrificing performance,” said David M. Johnson, CEO of Westport Fuel Systems. “Our collaboration with AVL and TUPY aims to further demonstrate that an H2 HPDI solution can meet the performance and efficiency requirements demanded by the market, while leveraging billions of dollars of existing manufacturing and engine expertise developed over the past century. HPDI is already successfully powering thousands of trucks today, reducing and/or nearly eliminating greenhouse gases on a proven technology platform.”
“Our experts are very actively working on CO2-neutral solutions which can enter the market by 2025 – among them is the hydrogen ICE. The fast introduction of this technology will help accelerate the buildup of hydrogen fueling infrastructure. With our expertise in latest ICE technology, TUPY’s material and casting know-how and Westport’s superior gaseous fuel system technologies, we expect to achieve outstanding levels of power density, efficiency with competitive total cost of ownership,” concludes Rolf Dreisbach, EVP Truck and Bus of AVL.
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