Edmonton International Airport (YEG) will explore converting two runway snow sweepers to dual-fuel hydrogen technology.
The Canadian airport has partnered with Diesel Tech Industries (DTI) to look at using the firm’s technology that can be retrofitted to existing diesel engines to use hydrogen as a supplementary fuel.
The DTI Guardian Hydrogen Diesel System is hoped to reduce diesel consumption and emissions, while providing data tracking for fleet management.
Conversion of the vehicles is expected to begin this spring, with the partners estimating a one-year timeline for completion.
Adopting a dual fuel approach, the conversion could steadily increase hydrogen demand without requiring large fuel volumes or extensive infrastructure upgrades.
YEG and DTI say the project will need to address the snow sweepers’ demanding, high-load operational cycle and the complexity of the dual-fuel engine configuration.
“Reducing emissions from airport ground fleets, especially runway snow sweeps that are designed to operate in demanding winter climates, is a crucial step toward sustainability,” said Peter Agnew, YEG Vice-President, Infrastructure, Facilities & Airside Operations.
DTI Chief Operating Officer, Rebecca Goldsack, added that the success of the trial could showcase how hydrogen could “transform” off-road mobility operations.
This comes as YEG’s latest hydrogen mobility development as it looks to use the airport’s hub and spoke nature to catalyse hydrogen use.
As part of the Edmonton Region Hydrogen Hub, YEG has been supporting plans to deploy 5,000 hydrogen vehicles in the region.
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