The Missing Piece in Hydrogen–Diesel Blending: A True Testing Partner, ESSNA™
Hydrogen–diesel blending is quickly becoming one of the most practical, pathways for reducing fuel consumption and lowering carbon intensity in heavy-duty diesel engines. Research consistently shows diesel/hydrogen blending provides diesel reduction, cleaner combustion, reduced soot formation, and less stress on after-treatment systems—all without redesigning the core engine platform.
For OEMs under pressure to demonstrate credible decarbonization progress while managing long development cycles, hydrogen–diesel blending offers a realistic entry point into hydrogen. It is testable now, deployable now, and measurable now.
Yet most OEM programs hit a bottleneck long before meaningful results emerge. The challenge isn’t the hydrogen—it’s the testing. Blending requires precision, consistent supply, safety integration, and engineering-grade performance data. These are not capabilities a standard hydrogen supplier can provide. They’re the capabilities of a testing partner.
Why OEMs Need a Dedicated Hydrogen–Diesel Blending Testing Partner
Hydrogen blending cannot be validated effectively using cylinders, improvised kits, or inconsistent delivery schedules. OEMs need controlled conditions, reliable hydrogen availability, and complete insight into how hydrogen interacts with diesel combustion across multiple duty cycles.
ESSNA™ fills this role by providing a comprehensive testing environment designed specifically around OEM R&D and validation requirements. Rather than simply supplying hydrogen, ESSNA™ brings the infrastructure, modelling, safety systems, and technical expertise needed to execute reliable, repeatable hydrogen–diesel blending programs.
On-Site Hydrogen Generation for Reliable OEM Test Programs
Delivery-based hydrogen supply is one of the biggest obstacles OEM test facilities face. Variability in pressure, delivery timing, and volume can disrupt emissions testing, shorten test cycles, or invalidate entire datasets.
ESSNA™ addresses this with on-site hydrogen generation placed directly at the testing location. This ensures stable pressure and flow, unlimited runtime for long-duration tests, and total independence from delivery schedules. For durability validation, emissions mapping, or duty-cycle analysis, this level of reliability is essential.
Engineered Blending Systems With Real-Time Data Insight
Evaluating hydrogen–diesel blending requires understanding how hydrogen affects combustion efficiency, fuel displacement, carbon intensity, soot formation, and after-treatment behavior. ESSNA™’s engineered injection and dosing systems provide precise control over hydrogen flow and substitution levels, enabling repeatable experimental conditions.
Integrated data capture and ESSNA’s Energy Modelling and Advanced Planning™ (EMAP™) platform give OEMs detailed insight into fuel savings, CI reduction, and performance across varying load profiles. This moves hydrogen blending from “experimental” to “engineerable.”
Hydrogen Safety and Test-Cell Integration
Integrating hydrogen alongside diesel within an OEM test cell introduces safety considerations that many engineering teams are not equipped to manage. Ventilation, shutdown systems, intake interactions, and hydrogen handling protocols must all be addressed.
ESSNA™ provides compliant safety systems, engineered interlocks, and operational procedures tailored for test-cell environments. This reduces risk and allows OEM teams to focus on validation rather than infrastructure.
Real-World Data for Future Hydrogen Platform Development
OEMs increasingly require field data—not just lab results. Duty cycles in long-haul, vocational, mining, construction, and stationary applications vary dramatically from controlled testing environments.
ESSNA™ enables blending systems to be deployed into customer fleets, proving grounds, and pilot environments. This delivers real-world insight into maintenance patterns, DPF regeneration intervals, seasonal variability, and actual diesel/hydrogen blending under real load conditions. Such data is invaluable for regulatory planning, product strategy, and long-term hydrogen engine development.
Looking Ahead
Hydrogen–diesel blending gives OEMs a practical, measurable pathway to decarbonization using existing engine platforms. But success requires more than hydrogen—it requires a partner who provides the supply, the systems, the safety, modelling and the engineering discipline needed to test and validate the technology properly.
ESSNA™ provides exactly that.
If you’d like to stay informed about the latest advancements—including next-generation blending systems, the shift from old technology to new, and how EMAP™ quantifies savings.
Contact ESSNA™ to explore Hydrogen-Diesel Blending for your operation
