German tier 1 supplier Mahle has received a series order from engine manufacturer Deutz for the development and supply of components for hydrogen engines.
These so-called power cell units, consisting of the piston, the piston ring pack and the piston pin, which Deutz plans to use in stationary hydrogen engines for the first time by end-2024. Further applications in the off-highway sector, such as agricultural and construction machinery, are also planned.
These new engines can be operated in a climate-neutral manner using hydrogen produced from renewable sources since no CO2 is produced when the hydrogen is burned. Mahle says it has been working for years on engine systems for hydrogen and other climate-neutral fuels.
Arnd Franz, Chairman of the MAHLE Management Board and CEO said, “We see hydrogen as an important building block for sustainable mobility, especially in the commercial vehicle sector. This project with Deutz is a milestone with a lighthouse effect because it shows that there are other technological levers besides electrification to achieve climate-neutrality.”
Dr. Sebastian C. Schulte, Chairman of the Management Board of Deutz said, “To keep the world moving, we need different technology options. What a climate-neutral excavator or combine harvester will look like remains to be seen. For engines that are constantly in use and move large loads, several options are possible. One of them is the hydrogen engine. Our successful pilot projects demonstrate the potential in the commercial vehicle sector. With Mahle, we now have a strong partner to help us enter series production of our hydrogen engines at the end of 2024.”
For use in the hydrogen engine, Mahle says it has adapted and further developed the aluminium piston and piston ring pack from classical diesel technology. In hydrogen combustion, a key challenge is to find the optimum between the gas mixture that is forced into the crankcase during the combustion process and the oil consumption. It has already verified the reliability of the hydrogen components in a wide variety of engine classes.
“To achieve the climate protection goals, we must exploit the potential of all available powertrain technologies,” said Franz.
As early as March 2021, the technology group opened a new test centre for hydrogen applications on 1,400 square meters of space at its Stuttgart location.
