Bredenoord Takes a New Path: Methanol Engine as a Sustainable Alternative

Bredenoord has been supplying mobile power solutions for years and has been focusing on alternative fuels for some time. While hydrogen is often the first to come to mind, Bredenoord is now taking a different approach: focusing on developing a methanol engine. This innovation is moving quickly, and a working prototype will be presented at the upcoming Bauma trade fair. Kasper Keukens, Product Manager Alternative Fuels at Bredenoord, recently gave an interview to the Dutch trade magazine BouwMachines about this latest development: the Methanol Power generator.

“We are looking ahead at what the future holds for our industry,” Keukens begins. “Within my product group, we are committed to zero emissions as much as possible. Biogas is already a great step in terms of CO₂ reduction and NOx emissions. You don’t need after-treatment for your system. Another major advantage is that with conventional technology and biogas, you can operate almost anywhere. But there is more. In the past, we have worked a lot with hydrogen. We started with a fuel cell back in 2008. Since then, we’ve built another system, and in 2020, we developed yet another one. But we see many challenges. Everyone talks about hydrogen, but in terms of logistics… the supply chain is not yet functioning well enough.”

Putting Hydrogen on Hold
Working with hydrogen comes with even more challenges. “It is supplied in pressurized cylinders, which makes logistics difficult. From a regulatory standpoint, it’s a challenge, and in terms of cost, hydrogen is not yet competitive,” Keukens continues. “That’s why we decided to put hydrogen on hold for now. We understand the technology, whether it’s used in a fuel cell or an engine. When the hydrogen economy takes off, we can quickly adapt. But for now, we are looking further ahead.”

Methanol
That next step, according to Bredenoord, is methanol. In the shipping industry, it is already considered an accepted solution, says Keukens. “Major shipping companies are already working with dual-fuel engines that run on diesel combined with methanol. We see that it works, and it is accepted there. For non-road mobile machinery (NRMM, such as construction equipment), we see methanol as a great solution. However, we run into obstacles with Brussels and local governments. They are primarily pushing for two solutions: either battery-electric or hydrogen-electric. Since the supply chain is not yet complete and we need to move away from natural gas, the heavy industry will be the first to transition to the hydrogen network. That will create conflicts around 2030, 2035, or 2050. That’s why we believe that a methanol solution could be a very good alternative.”

Simple and Efficient
Methanol is chemically a simple substance, and transportation is also straightforward, says Keukens. “It is a liquid, and what is easier to transport than a liquid? What we do face in the development process is the lack of regulations. That makes it complicated, but also very exciting. We are truly pioneering in this area. It is a challenge because we must convince everyone that the system we’ve built meets all safety requirements. Fortunately, we are not doing this alone; we have partners supporting us.”

Once the product is ready, Bredenoord plans to ask the classification society DNV to review the concept. The globally operating company conducts extensive research on methanol and, according to Keukens, is well-versed in existing maritime regulations. “We are also trying to get the Dutch government to closely examine these regulations. And we are not doing this alone: within Bovag, there is also an NRMM department and an expert group. We want to get the government on board and wake them up: guys, with the current situation, we are not going to make it.”

Fuel Cell or Engine?
Bredenoord already has some experience with methanol. “In 2019 and 2020, we built a fuel cell and conducted some field tests. We are now building a new system that uses more cells. With the fuel cell, provided we use biomethanol, we achieve true zero emissions. But if we want to scale up to higher power outputs—100 kilowatts or more—we won’t be able to rely solely on the fuel cell. The easiest route to achieving high power is a generator with an internal combustion engine running on methanol. We are now building this generator set in collaboration with Koninklijke Van Twist, which is developing the methanol engine. We will present this set at Bauma. It is not yet ready for production, and our customers won’t be able to rent it just yet.”

It will take some time before the Methanol Power, as Bredenoord calls this generator, can be found in the field. This is partly due to the absence of both European and national regulations. But that is no reason not to start, says Keukens. “We could all sit back and wait for other parties to solve all the problems for us, but we prefer to do it ourselves. That way, we develop technology ourselves and gain valuable experience. We might be ahead of the curve, but that is necessary. The name Bredenoord stands for reliability, and that’s what we want to offer our customers.”

Racing Technology
Methanol engines are not entirely new. They are already used in racing. But a racing engine cannot simply be transferred to construction equipment, according to Keukens. “The concept is completely different, and the entire engine block is specifically designed for racing. A racing engine is built to last for just one race, but that is not practical on a construction site. We want our engine to last at least 20,000 to 30,000 hours. Our base engine is a diesel engine that has been converted to run on methanol. It has a different cylinder head and an ignition system. We also explored a solution that wouldn’t require an ignition system. You can add additives so that the fuel ignites solely through compression, but that leads to extra emissions. Those emissions are still extremely low, but our goal is to achieve 100% zero emissions.”

“We believe we have a great concept. The generator set we are showcasing at Bauma works, and we know we can run it 100% on methanol. However, we still need to fine-tune it. Ideally, this engine should be comparable to or even better than a biogas engine. That would be a step forward in emissions reduction. An emissions test will have to confirm this. With that, we can prove that it works. It works in the shipping industry, and in our land-based applications, it can work too.”

This article was written by Michiel van Zaane and originally published on Bouwmachines.nl.