ULEMCo delivers first hydrogen dual fuel road sweeper to Aberdeen City Council
22 March 2018
UK-based ULEMCo—a spin-out from Revolve Technologies focused on conversions of diesel vehicles to hydrogen dual fuel operation—has collaborated with Aberdeen City Council (ACC) to deliver the first hydrogen dual fuel road sweeper. The vehicles will use hydrogen fuel for around a third of the energy used to drive and operate the vehicles.
The cleaner sweeper has been adapted by retrofitting a standard EURO 6 DAF truck to run on both diesel and hydrogen fuel. Emission savings of around 30% are projected from the refitting of ULEMCo technology onto the DAF truck, and the partners believe this makes it best in class for both CO2 and air quality emissions for this type of vehicle.
ACC will be able to refuel the sweepers at the state of the art Aberdeen City Hydrogen Energy Storage (ACHES) hydrogen station, which makes hydrogen from renewable electricity, on a daily basis. This is designed to ensure that use of dual fuel is maximized throughout the day.
The work was delivered as part of project HyTIME, within the Low Emission Freight and Logistics Trial, funded by the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) in partnership with Innovate UK.
This latest initiative further demonstrates the potential for hydrogen dual fuel to make a significant impact on reducing diesel emissions from commercial vehicles. We have demonstrated how ULEMCo technology can be applied to many different vehicles, with practical and measurable benefits.
—Amanda Lyne, CEO of ULEMCo
In September 2017, ULEMCo reported completing the first hydrogen fuel conversion for a UK commercial waste company. Oxfordshire-based Grundon Waste Management selected ULEMCo to carry out the hydrogen diesel dual-fuel conversion for one of its waste disposal trucks. The project represents the first such conversion of a DAF vehicle.
That project featured a new modular approach to conversion by ULEMCo. It deployed a 10 kg hydrogen unit on the side of the truck—an approach that enables the company to reduce the costs of converting other vehicle types.
ULEMCo’s hydrogen conversion includes:
- 350 bar (5000 psi) storage tanks
- 350 bar refueling pressure nozzle
- 350 bar pressure pipework & regulators
- Injection system
- Dual Fuel switch and unique H2ICED engine control unit
- Wiring system and safety components
- Appropriate vehicle road use paperwork
- Data management system (where needed)
- 24/7 support & training
- Maintenance and service package
- 12 month free warranty
This does not seem to be the best idea ever. Take methane, reform it to hydrogen while generating CO2 (the heat value of the carbon is used to drive the reaction), then spend more energy to compress it and then burn it in a diesel engine. It would be easier and more efficient to just run the methane in the diesel engine. As it is stored at a lower pressure and contains more energy per unit volume, it would be easy to run all day on CNG.
Someone is sure to tell me that the hydrogen will be generated using electrolysis from surplus wind turbine energy. However, more than 50% of the UK energy comes from fossil fuels (natural gas and coal) and some of the supposed renewable energy comes from burning imported wood pellets. So if you are using wind turbine energy to provide electricity for electrolysis, it is at the coast of increasing the fossil fuel burn elsewhere.
Posted by: sd | 22 March 2018 at 12:55 PM
I don't buy the argument about power plant pollution being the result of using the power for clean energy generation; the type of load has nothing to do with the pollution at the power plant. If your wife used power from a coal plant to cook dinner, is she responsible for the pollution at source? The choice of fuel is made by the operators, who are directly to blame. The old argument that "Harry made me do it,' doesn't fly. I suspect this deflection argument was created by fossil fuel propaganda pundits. Don't fall for it. If this hydrogen is being generated by electrolysis, the decision should be commended. Remember; it just one more step from using the grid to using solar.
Posted by: Lad | 22 March 2018 at 05:34 PM
It is a good beginning. Hydrogen from solar wind can replace increasing amount of diesel.
Posted by: nirmalkumar | 22 March 2018 at 08:40 PM
I'm with SD on this, just use methane. If it biomethane, so much the better.
The main thing with urban vehicles like this should be to reduce local pollution (i.e. NOX, particulates etc.), rather then minimising CO2.
You would be better off using 90% methane than 30% hydrogen.
Then get it to work with "dirty" methane from biodigesters (or whatever) so it needs less processing and is cheaper.
Posted by: mahonj | 23 March 2018 at 01:20 AM