Series order
Mahle supplies Deutz with components for hydrogen engines
Mahle has received a series order from engine manufacturer Deutz for the development of components for hydrogen engines. The order is for power cell units, which Deutz plans to install in stationary hydrogen engines from the end of 2024.
Further applications in the off-highway sector, such as agricultural and construction machinery, are planned. The new engines can be operated in a climate-neutral manner with regeneratively produced hydrogen, as no CO2 is produced during the combustion of the hydrogen. Mahle has been working for years on engine systems for hydrogen and other climate-neutral fuels. The Stuttgart-based technology group is contributing this know-how to the Deutz project.
For use in the hydrogen engine, Mahle has adapted and further developed the aluminium piston and the piston ring package from classic diesel technology. In hydrogen combustion, a major challenge is to find the optimum between the gas mixture that is forced into the crankcase during the combustion process and the oil consumption. The technology group has already comprehensively demonstrated the reliability of hydrogen components in a wide range of engine classes.
»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,« says Arnd Franz, Chairman of the Mahle Group Management Board and CEO.
»To keep the world moving, we need different technological options. What a climate-neutral excavator or combine harvester will look like is still open. For engines that are constantly in use and move large loads, several options are possible. One of them is the hydrogen engine,« emphasises Dr Sebastian C. Schulte, Chairman of the Executive Board of Deutz. »With Mahle, we now have a strong partner who will help us to enter series production of our hydrogen engines at the end of 2024.«
The technology group has already commissioned a new test centre for hydrogen applications on 1,400 square metres of space at its Stuttgart site in March 2021.
