(Stuttgart / Guildford) – Ireland-based Linde plc and Daimler Truck AG want to develop a new refueling process for liquid hydrogen. This achieves a higher storage density, a greater range, faster refueling and higher energy efficiency.
Simplify gas station concept
The technology called “sLH2” (“subcooled liquid hydrogen”) enables simpler gas station concepts. The companies are planning the first refueling of a prototype truck at a pilot station in Germany in 2023. Linde and Daimler Truck want to make the jointly developed technology so transparent that “as many more companies as possible can develop their own refueling and vehicle technologies using the new liquid hydrogen Develop standards.” The aim is to “establish a global mass market for the new process”.
Refueling procedure for the “GenH2” truck
In September 2020, Daimler presented the “GenH2” concept truck. With the technology tested here, heavy fuel cell trucks should be able to “drive flexible and demanding long-distance transport operations with ranges of 1.000 kilometers or more on one tank of fuel.”
Daimler Truck AG plans to begin customer testing of the GenH2 in 2023, with series production starting in the second half of the decade. Thanks to the use of liquid instead of gaseous hydrogen, the performance of the vehicle is said to be on a par with that of a comparable conventional diesel truck due to the significantly higher energy density. The new refueling process will be implemented in the production version of the GenH2 Truck.
Higher energy density
Daimler prefers liquid hydrogen because the energy source in this aggregate state has a significantly higher energy density in relation to volume, in contrast to gaseous hydrogen. This enables a higher hydrogen mass in the tank. This means that a truck filled with liquid hydrogen needs significantly smaller and, due to the lower pressure, also significantly lighter tanks. This allows for larger loading space and a higher payload weight.
At the same time, more hydrogen can be filled with fuel, which significantly increases the range. This means that the series GenH2 truck, like conventional diesel trucks, is suitable for long-distance transport lasting several days where the daily energy throughput is high.
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Photos
Mercedes-Benz GenH2 Truck: Concept for a hydrogen-powered truck for long distances / © Daimler Truck AG
