Fuel cells for auxiliary power

OEM and supplier researchers explore the benefits of utilizing solid-oxide fuel-cell APUs to help meet heavy-duty truck anti-idling requirements.

Idling of heavy-duty truck engines causes significant costs and emissions, yet electrical energy for driver comfort functions such as climate control and personal-use electronics is required. Fuel-cell auxiliary power units (APUs) will bring significant advantages by reducing idling costs, according to researchers from AVL List, Eberspächer Climate Control Systems, Topsoe Fuel Cell, Volvo, and Forschungszentrum Jülich. The companies are collaborating for the European Commission-funded DESTA project that is exploring solid-oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology for such applications.

The idling time of Class 8 trucks in the U.S. is in the range of 1500 to 2500 h per year, resulting in fuel costs of $5000 to $9000 per year. Using the SOFC APUs developed in DESTA, fuel consumption can be reduced by about 85%. Compared to commercially available, diesel-driven APUs with an internal-combustion engine (ICE), fuel consumption can be reduced by about 45%. Hence, SOFC APUs promise a very convincing business case to truck owners and operators with very short amortization periods (around 1 to 1.5 years).