Trucking in North America vs around the world

Leaving The Netherlands



One for North America, one for Europe



First loaded tests in The Netherlands



2nd truck, first fill with Hydrogen




686 bar (about 10,000 psi). Highest fill so far was at 816 bar (almost 12,000 psi)

 

So this trucks has no fuel cell but an internal combustion engine for the H2?

 

Yes, internal combustion.

These trucks started life as regular production LNG Volvo's.
The LNG tanks and hydraulics for the LNG pump were removed and hydrogen tanks installed.
Engine hardware is same as the LNG trucks. But software changes because of different combustion characteristics of hydrogen.

Hydrogen is injected directly into the cylinders through a combined diesel/gas injector. A small shot of diesel, or carbon neutral HVO, ignites the hydrogen.

 

When looking at the tanks between the steer and drive axles I can't help but think about safety during a side impact crash. Are the hydrogen bottles sturdy enough to withstand such an impact, or how has the hazard been mitigated?

 

I've seen the middle one on hwy 12.

 

what happens if tank is ruptured? Boom ?

 

Isn’t hydrogen what was in that Nazi zeppelin thing that blew up in NJ ? Or was it helium…..

 

Not different from CNG LNG or diesel tanks.
Biggest difference is that LNG CNG and Hydrogen tanks have undergone much more stringent tests compared to diesel tanks.
Crash tests, drop-tests, bonfire tests, burst tests, etc, etc.
These tanks are much much stronger than a diesel tank, not only because of the high pressure, but also for safety reasons.

And these tanks have all sorts of safety system installed, to prevent the tanks from going BOOM (as Cat sdp mentioned)
If the (full or part-full) tanks end up in a fire, safety valves prevent the pressue inside the tank to get too high, or to get too hot.
These valves will release the gas (Hydrogen or natural gas) in a controlled way. This may result in massive flames, but these will be directed away up into the air.

Current legislation is not very clear, and still under development, but I expect that there will be regulations that require side impact protection systems.
It is probably a good idea, even without the regulations or legislation.
First truck was a bit of a rush project, but the trucks did get side impact protection later on.

Of course if the impact is strong enough the tanks will deform, if it they are hit with a sharp object with enough force, it will penetrate the tank and may cause a leak.
The nature of the fuels (LNG, CNG, Hydrogen and diesel) is very different and it will behave differently.

Hydrogen needs very little energy for ignition, but so does diesel when in the right (or wrong) conditions.
Keep in mind that these engines use diesel to ignite the hydrogen. Why? Because it is much easier to ignite.

Natural gas is much more difficult to ignite.

Hydrogen also has a very wide flammabilty range (percentage of hydrogen in air) compared to natural gas.

So yes, if there is a big cloud of hydrogen and an ignition source, combined with air/oxygen, there may be a big flash.
Same with natural gas but the gas/air mixture has to be in a much narrower range, and it takes a stronger ignition source.

But hydrogen is also very much lighter than air. In case of a leak hydrogen goes up to the sky much faster than natural gas (or diesel)
This reduces the risk of large concentrations of hydrogen, it just disappears much faster.
Natural gas (CNG) is also lighter than air, but nowhere near as light as hydrogen.

Diesel, we all know, it may spill on the ground in an accident, and just stay there. And if there is an ignition source, it may light up as well, and spread all over the place, and it may continue to burn for long time.


Not saying that everything is just fine, and nothing will ever happen. It is dangerous stuff and should be handled with respect.
There will be accidents, with hydrogen, just like there are accidents with diesel.

I guess it will be different, more violent with hydrogen, but for much shorter time, less violent with diesel, but it will go on for longer time.
Never experienced either, hope it stays that way.

Another option is battery power, but what happens when a battery electric vehcile (spontaneously) gets on fire?
Just google fremantle highway.......


It seems that (according to the people who make the laws, certainly in europe, not sure if north america is very different) there are only 2 ways forward.
Electric or hydrogen, because these have zero CO2 emissions. But to use these on a large scale for road transport, there is still a very long way to go.

They only look at tail-pipe emissions, not the whole picture well-to-wheel.

And they all seem to forget other options to drastically reduce CO2-emissions are available, right here right now.
How about bio-cng which may even have a negative carbon intensity? This can be used in CNG or LNG trucks.
The trucks are available, the fuel is available.
What about HVO, this can be used without any modification in diesel trucks. For example made of used McDonalds frying oil.

 

Hydrogen sure seems more viable than electric to me. It seems the fires caused by burning batteries are the most dangerous as they are very difficult to extinguish.