Using a hydrogen-based powertrain system fueled by LOHCs and developed at MIT
Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carriers (LOHCs) are organic liquids that can be reversibly hydrogenated and dehydrogenated to store and release hydrogen as needed.
LOHCs possess many benefits as fuel. They are liquid at room temperature, non-flammable, and have no additional safety concerns. These characteristics make LOHCs compatible with existing fuelling infrastructure and, therefore, requires very little infrastructure expenses to adopt. They are also commercially reproduced, ensuring that they can be scaled and used today.
Our powertrain system uses LOHC as fuel and features an on-board dehydrogenation system that feeds hydrogen gas into a hydrogen-powered internal combustion engine. This allows us to utilize the heat generated by the engine's exhaust to power the dehydrogenation process. Our system can also generate hydrogen at necessary fuel injection pressures eliminating the need for compressing hydrogen gas. These design features allow us to have a hydrogen delivery efficiency that's more than double the efficiency of current systems on the market. Not to mention, our LOHC fuel can reach cost-parity with diesel without any subsidies or tax credits assuming we use hydrogen that costs $1.60/kg (which is around the current market price of blue hydrogen). This is revolutionary in an industry driven by low margins, as it signficantly lowers our technology's barrier to adoption and allows us to make an impact today.
Sayandeep Biswas and Alexis Huynh seek to commercialize MIT Tech to replace diesel with hydrogen in tomorrow's trucks.
MIT researchers work to transform truck powertrain design, with support from the MIT Cllimate and Sustainability Consortium.
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