Revolutionizing the Rolls Royce mtu engine to run on 100% hydrogen
Rolls-Royce is enabling its mtu gas engine lineup for power generation and cogeneration, converting them to run on hydrogen fuel. They are moving with the times and has chosen hydrogen as the fuel to focus on out of the clean energy options available.
Rolls-Royce already has gensets in operation that are powered by mtu Series 500 and 4000 gas engines with a blend of 10% hydrogen. In the future, the technology will have advanced enough to make this 100%. Perry Kuiper from the Rolls-Royce Power Systems division outlined their plan:
“After intensive tests on test benches and pilot installations at customers, Rolls-Royce will continuously market new mtu Series 500 and Series 4000 gas engines for use with up to 100 percent hydrogen, and on a design-to-order basis conversion kits to allow already installed gas engines in the field to run on 100 percent hydrogen.”
Rolls-Royce’s plan to achieve energy transition through hydrogen fuel
Green hydrogen technology is vital to the future of renewable energy in all spheres but particularly in the transport industry, and Rolls-Royce is taking its development of hydrogen to the next level with a fuel cell demonstration unit set up at the Power Systems division in Friedrichshafen that has the capacity to deliver 250 kW of power. The unit will demonstrate how energy systems can operate without producing carbon dioxide emissions.
In the bigger context, Rolls-Royce is also strengthening its hydrogen production and supply systems and planning more intensive, state-of-the-art testing facilities.
Net Zero at Power Systems
Net Zero at Power Systems is Rolls-Royce’s climate protection program and its focus is on developing new fuels and technologies to meet lower emissions policies. The company has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions produced by its vehicles and production processes by 35% by 2030. This medium-term time frame is the first step towards the target of carbon neutrality by 2050.
Rolls-Royce is working towards getting its mtu engines certified to run on clean fuel alternatives such as e-diesel and second-generation biofuels. Andreas Görtz of Rolls-Royce Power Systems explained:
“The decarbonisation of power generation requires reliable, flexible, but also climate-neutral, power plants to supplement the fluctuating generation from wind and sun. We assume that natural gas will initially be the primary fuel in the development of the hydrogen ecosystem, but we see hydrogen as technically and economically possible. That is why we continue to develop our gas engines for use with green hydrogen – whether as a ten or 25 percent admixture or for 100 percent.”
Rolls-Royce commits to sustainable energy
Hydrogen will play a key role in future energy strategies, and Rolls-Royce wants to ensure that it keeps up in the race to cut CO₂ emissions from fuel systems. But it also has two plans for electrical energy, namely contributing leftover industrial energy to the public grid, and using leftover heat from manufacturing and production to generate energy to power airconditioning.
Gas engine systems that generate heat and energy simultaneously to maximize energy efficiency are also on the agenda, and development is already underway at the Rolls-Royce Solutions facility in Augsburg.
Rolls-Royce is doing more than just holding their own in a super-competitive green fuel industry; they’re carving out a unique, multi-faceted plan to remain on top of the game in more than just automobiles.