Bauma debut for advanced Kubota 3.8L hydrogen engine

One of the star attractions on the Kubota stand will be the unveiling of the company’s new hydrogen-powered engine which is attracting worldwide interest and is making its Bauma debut. The 3.8 L, 85 kW engine does not produce carbon dioxide and Kubota is one of the few global engine-makers at the forefront of industrial hydrogen engine development. 

Kubota has already built up lengthy, detailed expertise in hydrogen engine technology through intensive research and development into the use of the zero-carbon energy source.

Indeed, Japan-headquartered Denyo Corporation, one of the largest generator manufacturers in the world, and Kubota are developing a dedicated, portable generator equipped with a Kubota hydrogen engine. The hydrogen engine underlines Kubota’s positioning of social, environmental and governance best practice at the core of its operations to tackle the challenge of offering more carbon-neutral products and solutions. “Kubota has already built up more than three years of hydrogen engine development expertise and has worked closely in collaboration with Denyo,” said Daniel Grant, Manager, Marketing Intelligence, Business Unit Engines Europe.

He added: “Working closely with partners to develop a sustainable carbon-neutral future is at the heart of our activities. “It is part of our goal to improve the efficiency of engines for industrial machinery and we are proceeding with research into the application of various decarbonised fuels including hydrogen, biofuels and synthetic fuels without compromising performance.

“The use of hydrogen to provide clean power for engines in a variety of equipment applications offers a multitude of advantages for operators and the wider environment.” Kubota’s hydrogen engine is based on the company’s WG3800 engine with the same size and footprint. The position of the power take-off for the hydrogen engine is the same as the WG3800 ensuring a straightforward, simplified changeover option for operators.

All Kubota diesel engines, including Stage V models, can use paraffin-based fuels that comply with European standard EN 15940. The newly approved fuels include Gas to Liquid (GTL) and Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO). The use of HVO has also been approved for Kubota diesel engines globally.

Other leading-edge engines on the Kubota stand include the D902-K and D1105-K, Kubota’s first-ever electronically controlled diesel engines below 19 kW. 

Both the D902-K and 1105-K engines feature Kubota’s newly designed common rail system developed exclusively for small engines and called TVCR (three vortex common rail).