Hydrogen for the farm
ONE OF THE EARLY APPLICATIONS FOR THE hydrogen fuelled version of the Cummins 15-litre engine family currently under development, is expected to be powering future Versatile tractors.
Cummins and tractor manufacturer Buhler Industries have signed a letter of intent and plan to integrate the Cummins 15-litre hydrogen engines in Versatile’s equipment to lead the decarbonisation of the agriculture market.
“Versatile is a longstanding manufacturer in the agriculture space with a reputation for excellence in tractors,” said Ann Schmelzer, General Manager Cummins Global Agriculture Business.
“Our companies share a commitment to technology, quality and dependability for our customers. Cummins is excited to be working with Versatile as we leverage our respective strengths to create new opportunities for both companies.”
Since 1967, Versatile has used Cummins engines exclusively in all fourwheel drive tractors. For decades, both Versatile and Cummins have been leaders in technology innovation and delivering reliable performance to farmers across the globe. Each company is uniquely positioned to build on their exceptional histories in agriculture as they step forward into new powertrain technologies.
“While diesel engines continue to be the flexible power of choice for the foreseeable future in agriculture, such a collaboration enables both companies to develop low and zero carbon solutions that are ideally suited to farming,” said Adam Reid, Versatile’s Vice-president of Sales and Marketing.
The 15-litre, six-cylinder hydrogen combustion engine is built on Cummins’ new fuel-agnostic platform, where below the head gasket each fuel type’s engine has largely similar components, and above the head gasket, each has different components for different fuel types (diesel, natural gas and hydrogen). Full production of the hydrogen version is expected to begin in 2027.
“Cummins has recently announced its plan to leverage existing platforms and expertise in spark ignited technology to build hydrogen engines. The high commonality among engine components between diesel and hydrogen leverages scale advantages for OEMS, while delivering the reliability that farmers need,” says Schmelzer.
Cummins says hydrogen combustion engines will provide a cost effective zero-carbon fuelled solution for high load factor and high utilisation applications.
Key benefits of using this technology include enabling a more-timely solution to reduce carbon emissions without sacrificing productivity. It minimises the impact on the machine design for manufacturers, allowing common parts and components across platforms to drive scale advantages, reducing costs. When integrated in farm equipment, farmers will have a solution that is dependable, as well as easy to service and maintain
T&D
The Cummins M15H hydrogen engine is based on the popular X15 diesel unit.