The two companies will partner to develop a non-lube high-pressure hydrogen compressor with Burckhardt constructing a new test facility in Winterthur, Switzerland, to explore heavy-duty refuelling technologies.
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In developing these refuelling solutions for hydrogen vehicles, it is expected to support both exportation and refuelling with the compressor capable of refuelling at 900 bar.
Burckhardt said that the solution will utilise piston compressors mainly due to their high reliability, low total cost of ownership and ability to compress high volumes of hydrogen in a single compressor.
The test facility is expected to be operational in late 2022 or early 2023 with testing expected to take place through the end of the same year.
Shell Hydrogen exclusive: We have to throw absolutely everything at it
For some determined detractors, an inherent cynicism is often directed at heavyweight energy companies like Royal Dutch Shell. It has held back in the pursuit of clean energies for years, some might say; it’s still far too rooted in oil and gas; it‘s only making blue-chip statements about clean fuels now that the topic is trending in the public eye.
Over-analysis of group financial disclosures can furnish any argument about Shell’s level of spend in clean energies. Likewise, anyone can lazily criticise the company for a perceived unwavering commitment to fossil fuels; they are of course the axes upon which the global economy currently turns, and those same energy companies have a demand to fill. But when you scratch the surface of both criticisms, when you open up that metaphorical shell and see what’s inside, it’s clear there’s much more to this energy major’s clean fuel ambitions than might first meet the eye. One might even say there’s a wind of change blowing through a company like Shell.
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