Advancing Hydrogen Compression

    Ariel And Hoerbiger Partnership Targets Hydrogen Compression Development

    Hoerbiger opened its expanded Hydrogen Research Center in Vienna earlier this year.

    As the hydrogen economy continues to grow, so does the demand for high-volume, high-pressure hydrogen fueling technology for heavy-duty vehicles such as trucks, trains, buses, and ships. Two heavyweights of compression have teamed up to focus on the development and commercialization of large compression equipment for hydrogen fuel stations and hydrogen trailer filling applications. Ariel and Hoerbiger have entered into an agreement to provide non-lube compressor solutions targeting the hydrogen compression requirements of hydrogen mobility markets.

    “This partnership is driven by society demanding solutions for zero-emissions mobility in which hydrogen plays a key role,” said Jürgen Brenner, head of hydrogen mobility and senior vice president of the Compression Division at Hoerbiger. “A future hydrogen value chain will require high-pressure compression as a key technology to enable the market to grow, specifically for hydrogen refueling applications. We expect a steep growth of hydrogen-driven vehicles over the next decade with a focus on heavy-duty vehicles. Today’s compression equipment is sized for small fuel stations and shorter run times. Looking ahead, the requirements will change toward larger equipment that can handle larger mass flows. Such equipment is not yet available with the cost, flexibility, and reliability that customers require. This is where we see an opportunity to support the industry to establish an economically feasible hydrogen infrastructure.”

    For Hoerbiger, the partnership enables it to provide packaged compressor solutions as a component to high-volume/high-pressure fueling facilities using any source of hydrogen.

    “There is a high dedication at Hoerbiger to contribute to the growth of hydrogen mobility,” said Brenner. “At the very beginning, when we did our market analysis to better understand how we can be of support to the industry, we identified that the compression needs of the hydrogen industry are very specific and the applications are very challenging. While our heritage is with compressor components and services, we soon realized that if we want to make a significant contribution, we needed to think outside of our established playing field. This is where Ariel comes into the game. Two companies with the same desire joined forces and competencies to develop a solution that can make a difference to the industry.”

    For Ariel, this partnership improves the company’s position as a supplier to the hydrogen economy and enables Ariel to leverage technical advancements to expand non-lube product offerings to core markets. “Ariel and Hoerbiger enjoy a long-standing relationship in providing reliable, cost effective, and innovative products to the gas compression industry,” said Robert Drews, director of marketing at Ariel. “This partnership enables Ariel to provide the necessary reciprocating compression equipment to realize the use of compressed hydrogen to store, transport, and provide cleaner, greener energy to society at the required scale.”

    Customers will benefit from this partnership with purpose-built solutions that are tailormade to the very specific requirements of the hydrogen industry. “The hydrogen value chain will require a significant amount of compression equipment,” said Brenner. “At the same time there is a tremendous cost pressure on all players. That means that while this industry offers great opportunities, we are all tasked to further improve efficiency and reliability of the solutions. Our joint effort is to make the hydrogen value chain commercially viable.”

    Prior to this announcement, Ariel and Hoerbiger have worked together, leveraging the combined research, development, design, material science, manufacturing, and assembly capabilities to provide compressor solutions required by many of the high-volume/high-pressure vehicle fueling projects in planning or realization stages around the world. “If you look at Hoerbiger’s overall business strategy, within the next five to 10 years, you will find two main objectives beside growing our core business: avoidance of emissions and playing an active role in the hydrogen value chain,” said Brenner. “This partnership is key to executing our strategy. While investments in oil and gas will remain a backbone for the industry, in the coming years it can be expected that investments will shift toward renewable energies. And a hydrogen value chain — as of today — will require a significant amount of compression in a short period of years, which only Ariel and Hoerbiger have the ‘current’ capacity to supply.”