Volvo Penta to add dual-fuel hydrogen-diesel tech to future engines
Engines that run on hydrogen or fossil fuels firm up as part of Volvo Penta’s future powertrain plansVolvo Penta has stepped up its efforts to wean its marine engines off fossil fuels, announcing a five-year trial of dual-fuel engines burning hydrogen and diesel is ready for real-world testing.
Since 2017, the Swedish marine engine maker and hydrogen fuel specialist CMB.TECH have collaborated on developing marine engines that can swap between using hydrogen and diesel to power them, using a conversion kit developed by CMB.TECH.
The deepening of the relationship between the two companies will eventually result in Volvo Penta introducing dual-fuel engine technology to its products as a half-step until its goal of going entirely fossil-free becomes viable.
Under the partnership, Volvo Penta and CMB.TECH will develop a pilot project using a small-scale hydrogen fuel system “for selected customers”.
“The whole Volvo Group is working intensively to explore solutions to reduce – and ultimately eliminate – greenhouse gas emissions,” CMB.TECH said.
“Volvo Penta strives to team up with suppliers, partners, and customers to accelerate the journey into fossil-free fuels for both on land and at sea applications.”
Volvo Penta president Heléne Mellquist said hydrogen fuel technology was developing fast, creating an opportunity to be a part of the change.
“I believe that this dual-fuel approach will appeal to many of our customers by its ease of installation, maintenance, and use,” Mellquist said.
“In addition, it will help accelerate our customers’ transition to more sustainable operations.”
As part of the development process, Volvo Penta will send engines to CMB.TECH’s British technology and development centre where they will be optimised to inject either diesel or hydrogen into the cylinders.
While burning diesel produces harmful emissions, burning hydrogen produces only water vapour as a byproduct of the combustion process.
According to CMB.TECH chief technology officer Roy Campe, the simplicity of the dual-fuel technology made it quick to add to conventional engines.
“The potential to decarbonise with green hydrogen is huge, but many applications require a fallback scenario of traditional fuel to maintain a viable business,” Campe said.
“With the dual-fuel technology, your asset is futureproofed, even without a full coverage of a reliable hydrogen infrastructure today.”
However, while the dual-fuel push is moving to the next stage, Volvo Penta is also working on a number of other technologies to meet its zero-emisisons goals and provide boat owners with a range of options to power their vessels.
These include hybridization, electric drivelines, fuel cells and alternative fuels.
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