Cool technology to power refrigerated trucks

Most refrigerated trucks and delivery vans rely on small diesel engines to keep their cargoes at the desired temperature. This power source is not environmentally friendly, but now, some test trucks are being fitted with clean technology fuel that creates electricity by driving chemical reactions using hydrogen and air. The only by-products of this technology are heat and water, the fuel cells are even silent.

Researchers at the US Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) are overseeing a test project in which four tractor trailers’ refrigeration units will be powered by fuel cells. The trucks will still have a main diesel engine to power the truck while the fuel cells will drive the refrigeration units.

“This is a great application for a fuel cell,” said Kriston Brooks, the PNNL researcher leading the project. “A trailer refrigeration unit traditionally is powered by a small diesel engine or electric motor that drives compressors to provide cooling to the cargo. A fuel cell can potentially provide a clean, quiet and efficient alternative by powering the electric motor.”

Two leading fuel cell manufacturers, Nuvera and Plug Power Inc, will each receive $650,000 from the DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. The companies will provide matching funds and labour of their own. A PNNL team led by Brooks will oversee and evaluate the two-year program.

Industry officials estimate that approximately 300,000 refrigerated trucks with auxiliary power units are on the road in the United States. By replacing the small diesel engines with the more efficient fuel cell, users will see fuel savings of approximately 38 L/day/unit, in addition to reduced emission of pollutants and significantly quieter operation.

“Accelerated fuel cell use in this application is also expected to create jobs in the energy sector, increase fuel cell manufacturing volume, decrease costs and catalyse a stronger domestic supplier base,” said Jamie Holladay, PNNL’s sector manager for fuel cell technologies.

Fuel cells are becoming more common as energy sources in buildings and in vehicles such as buses. While the devices are generally more expensive than traditional forms of energy generation, many scientists and product developers expect that as they become more widely adopted and production levels increase, their cost will come down, similar to what has happened to products like mobile phones.

“One of the goals is to accelerate fuel cell use in industry,” said Brooks. “In spite of their higher costs now, the higher efficiency and zero emissions from fuel cells are enough to convince many companies not to wait to implement this technology. Fuel cell products are already used widely in warehouses, and this project broadens their reach.”

In one project, Nuvera will work with Thermo King, a manufacturer of transport temperature control systems for a variety of mobile applications, to develop the refrigeration unit to keep the truck cool using Nuvera’s Orion fuel cell stack. That truck will make deliveries for a Sysco food distribution facility in Riverside, California, and for a Texan food distribution centre for the H-E-B grocery store chain.

In the other project, Plug Power will work with Carrier Transicold and Air Products to equip trucks making deliveries for a Sysco food distribution facility on Long Island. The trucks will be equipped with Plug Power’s GenDrive fuel cell product.

Both the Sysco and the H-E-B facilities already use forklifts powered by hydrogen fuel cells, part of a trend fostered by DOE to increase the use of the technology in industry. At both companies, the infrastructure to provide hydrogen for the fuel cells is already in place; the hydrogen is generated on site from natural gas and water using Nuvera’s PowerTap hydrogen generator and refuelling system. For the site using the Plug Power technology, the hydrogen will be supplied by Air Products using an outdoor hydrogen dispenser.

Each fuel-cell powered refrigerated trailer will run for at least 400 hours at each demonstration site, delivering goods from the distribution centres to stores or other outlets.