Operation of a Snow-Plough-Sweeper-Blower

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Abstract

The scope of this project is to perform a feasibility study on use of hydrogen in heavy airport snow equipment. The project describes the baseline on current technology and operational use of existing snow-plough-sweeper-blowers (PSBs) in order to form the basis for the piloting of similar equipment with a hydrogen engine.
From a technical perspective, when considering only the winter operation, Øveraasen seems to be the most capable machine for snow-clearing as it has the highest sweeping capacity by a large margin. If versatility is the key requirement, then Boschung would be the correct choice since it can be equipped with several additional devices for runway maintenance. All in all, the cost of the machine would determine in the end what would be the optimum solution for different airports and unfortunately the purchase price was not available for any of the machines.
The analysis of current use of PSBs shows how on challenging days the PSBs are used almost around the clock. On such days, the daily driven distances can reach almost 400 km. Of course, this also means that fuel consumption is high. The average daily consumption was 3.7 GJ for propulsion and 7.7 GJ for auxiliary engine. Correspondingly, the maximum values were 15.4 GJ and 37.4 GJ. Regarding the coming pilot PSB with a hydrogen-powered auxiliary engine, the average daily energy consumption of 7.7 GJ would correspond with approximately 64 kg of hydrogen, while the maximum consumption of 37.4 GJ would correspond with approximately 312 kg of hydrogen.
Regarding the KPIs for the pilot PSB the writers of this report would like to stress the importance of practicality, reliability and their relation to working efficiency and energy consumption. Reliable operation of a work machine is paramount as unscheduled but unavoidable maintenance breaks can easily disturb the operation of a whole team of machines. Energy consumption of a PSB on the other hand varies greatly depending on the weather conditions and the hardest working days of the winter season are sure to exceed the energy storage capacity of the pilot PSB’s hydrogen tanks.
Original languageEnglish
PublisherVTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
Number of pages30
Publication statusPublished - 13 Nov 2024
MoE publication typeD4 Published development or research report or study

Publication series

SeriesVTT Research Report
NumberVTT-R-00625-24

Keywords

  • Snow-Plough-Sweeper-Blower
  • PSB
  • operation

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