Recently, a 300kW hydrogen internal combustion engine generator set developed with the participation of Yuchai was put into operation in Yunmeng, Hubei. This is not only China's first hydrogen internal combustion engine generator set to achieve commercial operation, but also the hydrogen internal combustion power with the largest actual operating power in China, marking an important breakthrough in China's hydrogen energy application field and providing original technology and solutions for solving the dual problems of "emission waste" and "high utilization cost" of industrial by-product hydrogen.

The hydrogen internal combustion engine generator set was jointly developed by Yuchai, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and Hydrogen Green Power. Its Yuchai YCK15H hydrogen internal combustion engine is developed based on Yuchai's mature flexible fuel platform and adopts advanced technologies such as ultra-lean combustion, exhaust gas turbocharging, and intake port multi-point injection, achieving a thermal efficiency of 44%, a figure that is the first of its kind in the field of high-power hydrogen internal combustion engines. In addition, what is even more revolutionary is its ability to "consume locally" industrial by-product hydrogen. Industrial by-product hydrogen mainly comes from industrial tail gases such as coke oven gas, refinery gas, and chlor-alkali chemical tail gas. As an important source of hydrogen energy, it has been wasted in large quantities for years due to bottlenecks in storage and transportation technology. Data show that in industries such as propane dehydrogenation and chlor-alkali alone, more than 30 billion cubic meters of by-product hydrogen are directly discharged each year, equivalent to "releasing" a huge amount of clean energy.

It is reported that industrial waste hydrogen needs expensive purification before it can be used for power generation, but this generator set, through original technology, can directly use industrial by-product hydrogen that has not undergone deep purification to generate electricity. This breakthrough not only saves 40% of the purification cost but also avoids the loss of waste hydrogen being burned in vain, with power generation efficiency stable at above 42%.

In practical application in a chemical industrial park in Yunmeng, Hubei, the generator set has demonstrated significant benefits: it consumes 500,000 standard cubic meters of waste hydrogen annually, converting it into 8 million kWh of clean electricity. Such a huge amount of electricity can meet the annual electricity demand of 7,000 households and at the same time support the heating of 200,000 square meters of buildings. Based on a single 300kW unit operating 6,000 hours per year, it can consume 1.4 million standard cubic meters of hydrogen annually and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 1,362 tons, equivalent to the annual carbon sequestration of 74,000 mature trees.

The successful application of the hydrogen internal combustion engine generator set not only turns industrial by-product hydrogen from waste into energy, but also, through the closed-loop model of "local consumption—clean power generation—emission reduction and carbon sequestration," provides practical and feasible technical support for the realization of the national "dual carbon" goals. In the future, with further promotion of the technology, more than 30 billion cubic meters of industrial by-product hydrogen per year is expected to be transformed from an "emission burden" into an "energy treasure."