Could a flux capacitor advance hydrogen-powered trucking?

The garbage-eating Mr. Fusion in “Back to the Future” was completely fictional, but the flux capacitor powering Doc Brown’s flying DeLorean was real. NASA did it. The space agency licenses this. Hydrogen-powered trucks could also benefit from this.

A license like no other

“I actually have a license for flux capacitor. How many people can say that?” Michael Kramer, founder of startup Novadev, told me. “So far the only person who has made a lot of money from this program is my patent attorney. He was paid a lot of money to write a license document with the words flux capacitor on it.”

NASA is commercializing its own fuel cell, as it did 58 years ago when it shared Apollo fuel cell technology with General Motors for use in the experimental fuel cell-powered Electrovan in 1966. Cryogenic Flux Capacitor Learning from others what can be applied to space travel.

Searching for a better way to store hydrogen

The chemistry-based technology, which Novadev calls FLUXpac, literally turns skittish, free-floating hydrogen molecules sticky.

“Draw a picture of the frost on the sponge,” Kramer said. “There is gas in the areas between the walls of the sponge. In other words, there is always gas under pressure in the system. If you want to create more gas, you put in some heat and this causes the molecules to pop out and jump out as gas. The more heat you put in, the faster it goes.

A FLUXpac is fueled with rapidly absorbed liquid hydrogen under moderate pressure, approximately 116 pounds per square inch.

“It’s not like cryocompression, where you’re under really high pressure and potentially spewing out liquid or gaseous hydrogen if something goes wrong,” he said.

When the FLUXpac is opened, nothing comes out because the liquid is sucked in and held in place until it is released by a heat exchanger that uses waste heat from part of the vehicle, such as the fuel cell. Because fuel cells operate at 170 F or higher, they are difficult to cool.

A second venture funded by the first

Novadev is Kramer’s second venture. He sold his first company, a manufacturer of structural composite parts for aircraft, and transferred the proceeds to Novadev, initially thinking that it would also supply the aircraft industry. However, it later focused its efforts on ground transportation, specifically Class 8 trucks.

Hydrogen is difficult to transport, whether used to power a fuel cell or to fuel an internal combustion engine. Huge high-pressure tanks either sit on the side of a truck chassis or are stacked behind the cab.

Novadev’s idea, which has not yet been tried in a truck, is to place FLUXpac in the space between the front and rear wheels of the 72-inch sleeper cab, where the system will plug and play with existing powertrain components.

“I have been building structures and systems for transportation for a long time,” Kramer said. “We’re taking things we’ve developed over the years and saying: ‘How do you integrate hydrogen storage into a vehicle (truck, plane or boat)?’”

Asking what truckers want

With little knowledge of trucking, Kramer and vice president of business development Rick Bartz asked Paccar Inc. what it would need to adopt hydrogen, along with near-term plans to equip the Kenworth T680 and Peterbilt Model 579 with fuel cells made by Toyota. .

Answer: A fueling system equivalent to 220 gallons of diesel that can travel 1,400 miles on a single fill-up.

“Mike and his team of engineers worked on the design of this fully integrated system with pumps, valves, and whatever else would fit into that space of the 72-inch crossmember,” Bartz said.

A long-distance application is the sweet spot. Nikola and Hyundai have more hydrogen fuel cell trucks (with all-day cabs) than all OEMs combined. They travel 400 to 500 miles between fill-ups. Some battery electric trucks come close to that. Tesla Semi is already there.

“There are a lot of people saying they will give truck operators 300 or 500 miles (of hydrogen driving range). We went to the dealers. They said they couldn’t give away such a short-range truck,” Kramer said.

“There are a lot of hydrogen people telling truckers what they can live on; This is great until the truckers say it’s not what they want. Truckers say, ‘If you can live on this terrain, which is between the front wheel and the rear wheel, under the cab and above the ground, we love you.’ they said.

Only testing so far

Kramer is in no rush to launch FLUXpac. It can take up to 18 months just to get the Department of Transportation certificate.

“Stacking it on a truck is secondary to doing all the testing you really need to do to show that you can certify it,” he said. “I’m getting out of the plane (industry). “It’s never good to build the plane first and see how it goes.”

Verne produces first cryo-compressed hydrogen truck

Speaking of supercold and compressed hydrogen (referenced above) startup Verne Completed first heavy-duty Class 8 truck powered by cryo-compressed hydrogen (CcH2).

The CcH2 fuel storage system maximizes hydrogen storage density, increasing vehicle range while reducing vehicle weight and storage system cost. It is also a diesel-powered dual-fuel prototype.

The truck uses Diesel Tech Industries’ Guardian Hydrogen Diesel System, a revamped version of the traditional diesel engine, to enable the vehicle to run on a diesel-hydrogen mixture. Verne describes the system as a bridge technology for the trucking industry, allowing fleets to try and drive on hydrogen fuel without investing in a new fleet of trucks.

Verne said that driving tests of the truck with the participation of multiple commercial pilots will begin soon.

Briefly noted…

When all that’s left is investor anger TuSimple Co-founder Mo Chen is still in the US effectively the only voting voice The once leader in autonomous trucking.

Hyliion Holdings Shares are up 342% from a year ago, when the startup scrapped its natural gas-electric powertrain. fuel independent Karno stationary generator technology.

Mack Trucks offers virtual tours of truckswith dedicated product experts providing one-on-one service Mack Live Tour Touring truck models.

Achim Puchert will replace Karin Rådström as president Mercedes-Benz Trucks December 1. It will also lead the European and Latin American regions of the world Daimler Truck brand.

Hyzon reduced cash burn in the third quarter and started collecting money through a direct stock offering and an at-market stock sale program.

Truck Tech Part No. 91: Improving training to sell Volvo’s new Class 8 VNL flagship

That’s it for this week. Thanks for reading and watching. click Here To subscribe and have Truck Tech delivered to your email address on Fridays. You can watch the latest episodes and short videos of the Truck Tech podcast at www.trucktech.com. FreightWaves’ YouTube channel. Send your Truck Tech feedback to Alan Adler at [email protected].