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Deutz places order for Mahle hydrogen engine parts

Mahle has received a series order from engine manufacturer Deutz for the development and delivery of components for hydrogen engines. These are so-called power cell units. In other words, units made up of pistons, piston rings and piston pins, which Deutz intends to install in stationary hydrogen engines for the first time from the end of 2024. Further applications in the off-highway sector, such as agricultural and construction machinery, are planned. 

These new engines can be operated in a climate-neutral manner with regeneratively produced hydrogen, since no CO2 is produced when the hydrogen is burned. Mahle has been working on engine systems for hydrogen and other climate-neutral fuels for years. The Stuttgart technology group brings this know-how to the Deutz project. "We see hydrogen as an important building block for sustainable mobility, especially in the commercial vehicle sector. This project with Deutz is a milestone with a beacon effect, because it shows that there are other technological levers to achieve climate neutrality in addition to electrification," said Arnd Franz, Chairman of the Mahle Group Management and CEO.

“To keep the world moving, we need different technological options. What a climate-neutral excavator or combine harvester will look like is still an open question. Several options are possible for engines that are constantly in use and move large loads. One of them is the hydrogen engine. Our successful pilot projects show the potential in the commercial vehicle sector. With Mahle, we now have a strong partner who will help us to start series production of our hydrogen engines at the end of 2024," said Dr Sebastian C. Schulte, CEO of Deutz.

For use in the hydrogen engine, MAHLE has adapted and further developed the aluminium piston and the piston ring package from classic diesel technology. A major challenge in hydrogen combustion is finding the optimum between the gas mixture that is pressed into the crankcase during the combustion process and the oil consumption. The technology group has already extensively demonstrated the reliability of the hydrogen components in a wide variety of engine classes.

"In order to achieve the climate protection goals, we have to use the potential of all available drive technologies," said Franz. Mahle is therefore committed to technological diversity as part of its corporate strategy: In addition to electromobility including fuel cells and the associated thermal management, the climate-neutral green combustion engine, the operated with non-fossil fuels such as hydrogen, among the future technologies for a sustainable drive mix.

In March 2021, the technology group put a new test centre for hydrogen applications into operation on an area of ​​1,400 square meters at the Stuttgart location.

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