Pictured is Alstom’s iLint, the world’s first hydrogen fuel cell train.

By 2022, Cummins Inc. officials expect the company to be a leader in fuel cells for trains globally.

Cummins has long produced train engines, including its QSK95, the largest diesel engine Cummins manufactures built at the company’s engine plant in Seymour, Ind. In addition to the rail market, the 16-cylinder engine, rated at between 4,000 and 4,400-horsepower, is operating in the marine and power generation markets and is available for other industrial applications.

In 2015, Hydrogenics — now part of Cummins — was selected as a key partner by Alstom to develop and implement hydrogen fuel cell systems for Alstom’s iLint, the world’s first hydrogen fuel cell train. The train was first previewed at the Innotrans exhibition in Berlin in 2016, with the first test drive taking place in Germany the following year. With a range of up to 1000 kilometers per each hydrogen tank fueling, the fuel cell train matches the miles per fueling performance of conventional regional trains, with lower environmental impact and lower noise levels while having a top speed of 140 kilometers per hour.

Tom Linebarger, Cummins president and CEO, recently told investor analysts that in addition its work in creating electric battery powertrains for its truck, bus and terminal tractor products, the company is positioned to power trains well into the future as well.

Cummins fuel cells recently completed an 18-month trial in Europe powering two trains that traveled more than 180,000 kilometers combined. Trains aren’t the only thing Cummins is trying to power with its fuel cell technology.

“By 2022, there will be 41 of these types of trains powered by Cummins fuel cells running in Europe, making Cummins the leading provider of fuel cells for trains globally,” Linebarger said. “We are in active conversations with OEMs and end users about how to utilize, both our PEM and solid oxide fuel cells in a variety applications, including trains, ships, data centers and on highway vehicles. We have fuel cell powered trucks running to date in both Europe and North America.

A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel (often hydrogen) and an oxidizing agent (often oxygen) into electricity through a pair of reactions. Fuel cells are different from most batteries because fuel cells require a continuous source of fuel and oxygen to sustain the chemical reaction, but they can produce electricity continuously for as long as fuel and oxygen are supplied. By placing the cells in a series, or stacking them, it is possible to create sufficient voltage to meet an application’s requirements

“One thing about trains is of course they’re much lower volume than trucks, but they take a lot more fuel cells are a lot more stacks,” Linebarger said. “So we will be delivering in those trains pretty high volumes of fuel cells that will allow us to move to more cost effective manufacturing technology, as well as other supporting components being able to buy those at a lower cost. So there’s clearly scale opportunities and there’s also some application specific work necessary in controls and other areas to make it work in specific applications.”

ELECTROLYZER INVESTMENTS

In addition to the opportunities Cummins is pursuing in fuel cells, the company is also building a portfolio of both alkaline and PEM electrolyzers that company officials see being a part of the infrastructure to support the hydrogen economy.

According to the Fuel Cell & Hydrogen Energy Association, an electrolyzer uses a process called electrolysis, using electricity to split water into its component parts of hydrogen and oxygen. That hydrogen can then be stored for later use as fuel in a fuel cell vehicle, to power a stationary fuel cell system, or for power-to-gas applications. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, renewable hydrogen produced from electrolysis is projected to grow rapidly, citing a current growth trend from megawatt to gigawatt scale in Europe.

Cummins’ portfolio of electrolyzers are being used in a variety of applications, Linebarger said, including on-site hydrogen production for fueling stations, industrial applications and more recently in larger scale power to gas applications. In the second half of 2020 Cummins will complete the largest PEM hydrogen electrolysis plant in the world with Air Liquide. The 20 megawatt facility in Becancour, Canada, will be capable of producing 3,000 tons of hydrogen annually.

“With a leading product portfolio and a presence in Europe, North America and China, our hydrogen business is well positioned to grow as investments in hydrogen production and fuel cells increase around the world,” Linebarger said. “To more fully discuss how he expect these markets to grow and how Cummins will participate in this rapidly developing industry, we will be holding Cummins Hydrogen Day for investors and analysts, the morning of November 16.”

A DUAL-TRACK APPROACH

Cummins is a recent entrant into the electrolyzer business, in part because company officials realized Cummins needed electrolyzers in order to make sure there was fueling available for its fuel cells. Cummins has partnered with Air Liduide and NPROXX as Cummins works to grow its fuel cell and electrolyzer business.It’s not known yet, Linebarger said, to know how much of Cummins’ future business will focus on electrolyzers or fuel cells.

“I really don’t know, to be honest, because part of the challenge is how big a range of electrolyzers will we participate in and then also fuel cells, it depends on what percentage of the truck market they eventually win and that sort of thing,’ the Cummins president and CEO said. “But definitely it’s a wider field. Let’s just agree that. It’s a wider field. So, we participate in every parts of generating hydrogen, it would be larger, no question about it, because we can serve everyone else’s fuel cells as well. But our feeling is that both represent significant opportunities, but the electrolyzer opportunity is in front of the truck opportunity for fuel cells. So it’s — meaning earlier in time. So that’s why we are pursuing electrolyzers opportunity with more effort to get more products on the market sooner.”