How Does Hydrogen Actually Work?

This is a beautifully shot video about a hydrogen truck made by Volvo in the Arctic, but begs the question, how does hydrogen actually work?

Like all of these new zero carbon technologies which look set to arrive on the truck making scene, there are a lot of nice pictures and not much detail about how the thing actually works.

Australia is a technology taker, we are not a big enough economy to drive global technological change. We have to take what the rest of the world is using and adapt it to the special conditions our trucks have to work in. 

The Australian trucking industry is used to a hands-on approach and wants to understand the kit it is using in the tough trucking conditions which we have to deal with. Anything new, especially when it is not developed in Australia is examined thoroughly to make sure the technology will be able to cope with the heat, dust and heavy masses which are normal on our roads.

Luckily, Cummins have made us a video to tell us about the basic principles behind the zero carbon solutions available using hydrogen, which may help us get our heads around the basics.

What does this mean for us in Australia?

PowerTorque caught up with James Foott, Chief Engineer OnHighway for Cummins Asia Pacific, last year, to get some more information about the hydrogen internal combustion engines (ICE) which will become available form the engine maker.

Using proven and existing engine platforms for the H2-ICE program, also means that Cummins will be able to use its existing engine production facilities and service support network reducing costs and improving efficiency. In addition. the company can also reduce vehicle and equipment re-development timelines, as many existing driveline components can be retained when paired with the hydrogen-fuelled engines.