Hydrogen combustion enhancement for farm diesel.
Broadacre cropping, irrigation and livestock operations run diesel in long, repeatable blocks — seeding, spraying, harvest, pumping — which makes fuel burn genuinely measurable on farm. HydroHub PEM units fit tractors, headers, pump sets, farm trucks and standby gensets without recalibrating the ECU or touching an emissions component.
Can hydrogen combustion enhancement be used on farm machinery?
Yes. A PEM unit produces hydrogen and oxygen on demand from deionised water and introduces it into the engine's intake path, which applies to tractors, headers, irrigation pump engines, farm trucks and standby gensets. It runs from the machine's own 12 or 24 V DC supply, stores no gas, and leaves the fuel system, ECU calibration and emissions hardware untouched — so the retrofit is fully reversible before trade or sale. Measure fuel burn per hour on one repeatable operation before fitting more units.
- Suits tractors, headers, sprayers, pump sets, farm trucks and gensets
- D-900 for 7.0–16.0 L engines; H-Power up to 7.0 L; A-series for utes and small pumps
- 12 / 24 V DC from the machine — no mains supply at the pump site
- No ECU recalibration and no DPF, EGR or SCR changes
- Deionised water only — not tank, rain or bore water
- Reversible retrofit, which protects trade-in configuration
- Header / high-HP tractor
- HydroHub DH-Power
- Mid-size tractor
- HydroHub H-Power
- Supply
- 12 / 24 V DC
- Consumable
- Resin filter 6–9 mo
The evidence and sector pages this vertical builds on.
Hydrogen with biodiesel blends →
Per-study findings for hydrogen enrichment on biodiesel — directly relevant to on-farm blended fuel.
Remote-site fuel logistics cost →
On-farm bulk tank delivery pricing, and why distance from the terminal changes the arithmetic.
Idle & part-load duty cycles →
Irrigation pump sets and standby gensets sit in the duty band the literature reports most room on.
Unit selection by equipment class.
| Equipment class | Typical displacement | Recommended unit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Utes & side-by-sides | 2.0 – 3.0 L | HydroHub A-450 | Compact cabinet for tray or cab-chassis mounting. |
| Small tractors & pump engines | 3.0 – 4.5 L | HydroHub A-675 | Steady-load pump duty is the easiest thing on farm to measure. |
| Mid-size tractors & sprayers | 4.5 – 7.0 L | A-900 or H-Power | Choose H-Power where the machine works long continuous shifts. |
| Farm trucks & chaser tractors | 5 – 7 L | HydroHub H-Power | Heavy-duty cabinet, behind-cab mount, vibration isolated. |
| Headers & high-HP articulated tractors | 7 – 16 L | HydroHub DH-Power | 4 L reservoir for long harvest days between service stops. |
| Irrigation & standby gensets | 2.5 – 16 L | H-Power or D-900 | Fed from the engine's starting battery at 12 / 24 V DC. |
PEM units suited to this duty.
HydroHub™ DH-Power Heavy-Duty PEM Enhancement System
- Application
- Up to 16.0 L
- Output
- 900 ml/min max
- Voltage
- 12 / 24 V DC
- Power
- 160 W
Free worldwide delivery, DDP
Duties & taxes are included on most destinations. Select your country for the exact arrangement.
HydroHub™ H-Power Heavy-Duty PEM Enhancement System
- Application
- Up to 7.0 L
- Output
- 900 ml/min
- Voltage
- 12 / 24 V DC
- Power
- 160 W
Free worldwide delivery, DDP
Duties & taxes are included on most destinations. Select your country for the exact arrangement.
HydroHub™ A-900 PEM Engine Enhancement System
- Application
- 2.7 – 7.0 L
- Output
- 900 ml/min
- Voltage
- 12 – 24 V DC
- Power
- 170 W
Free worldwide delivery, DDP
Duties & taxes are included on most destinations. Select your country for the exact arrangement.
What this environment does to the hardware.
Seasonal idle periods
Nothing degrades while parked the way a caustic electrolyte does — a PEM cell holds deionised water only. Check water level and filter age before each season.
Water quality on farm
Tank, rain and bore water all foul the membrane. Deionised water only, through the onboard ion-exchange polisher, with the resin filter changed every 6–9 months.
Dust and chaff
Mount the cabinet clear of chaff accumulation and away from exhaust heat, and keep it in the same inspection routine as radiators and air cleaners at harvest.
Trade-in and resale
The retrofit is reversible with no ECU or emissions modification, so a machine can be returned to standard specification before sale and the unit moved to its replacement.
Remote from a dealer
Consumables are shed-stock items. There is no proprietary chemical to order in and no specialist service visit built into the maintenance interval.
Measuring across a season
Yield, soil and weather variation swamp small differences. Use hour-meter and fuel-log data on the same operation across comparable conditions rather than a single day's comparison.
Recommended trial sequence.
- 01Pick one machine on a repeatable operation — a pump set is ideal to start
- 02Log baseline litres per hour across several comparable days or paddocks
- 03Fit one unit and record the installation against the machine's hour meter
- 04Run the same operation and log fuel burn under comparable conditions
- 05Note smoke, load response under heavy draft and any operator-reported change
- 06Extend to further machines only once the measured result meets your threshold
Model your own numbers.
Enter your fuel burn, hours and the reduction you want to model. Scenario only — not a savings prediction.
Fuel Cost Scenario Calculator
Scenario modelling, not a savings prediction. You choose the assumed reduction — we never suggest a figure is typical or expected.
Remote diesel costs what it cost to deliver, not bowser price. Landed cost vs pump price →
Scenario modelling — pick a reduction to evaluate. Not a prediction.
Recommended: D-900 for this application. Payback is calculated against vehicles × system delivered price.
Results are illustrative only. Actual performance depends on engine condition, duty cycle, fuel quality, installation and operating conditions.
Field evaluation is required before any commercial decision. Fleet Trial Programme →
How we report performance.
No projected, typical or expected fuel-saving figure is published. Actual results vary materially with engine condition, duty cycle, load profile, fuel quality, installation and operating conditions. A controlled field evaluation on your own equipment, with baseline data captured before installation, is required before any commercial projection.
These are combustion-enhancement devices. No emissions-compliance or fuel-saving guarantee is expressed or implied. Professional installation and controlled field evaluation are recommended.
Free worldwide delivery. Duties & taxes included on most destinations; where pre-payment isn't permitted, the carrier collects them on arrival. 12-month manufacturer warranty. See Shipping & duties by country for the exact arrangement for your destination.
- · Remote-site fuel logistics cost — landed cost versus pump price, and why the same honest percentage moves more money.
- · Idle & part-load duty cycles — where the published literature reports the most room, and where it reports least.
- · Hydrogen with biodiesel blends — per-study findings on blended fuels, with the NOx trade-off disclosed.
- · Visible smoke reduction — smoke opacity findings per study.
Questions.
Which HydroHub unit suits a tractor or header?
- Displacement decides it. The HydroHub H-Power covers engines up to 7.0 litres, which suits mid-size tractors, sprayers and farm trucks. The HydroHub DH-Power covers 7.0 to 16.0 litres, which is where most modern headers, high-horsepower articulated tractors and large chaser-bin tractors sit. Utes, side-by-sides and small pump engines are covered by the compact HydroHub A-450, A-675 and A-900.
Will it interfere with the tractor's electronics or emissions system?
- No. Gas is introduced into the intake path; the ECU is not recalibrated, the fuel system is not modified, and no emissions component — DPF, EGR or SCR — is removed or altered. The installation is fully reversible, which matters for equipment that will be traded or sold.
Does seasonal use cause a problem when the machine sits idle?
- Farm equipment often sits between seasons. Because a PEM cell holds only deionised water and no caustic electrolyte, there is nothing to degrade the way an alkaline solution does when parked. Before a season, check the water level, replace the resin filter if it is due at the 6-to-9-month interval, and confirm the unit reaches normal output before heading to the paddock.
Can it be fitted to a stationary irrigation pump engine?
- Yes, and pump sets are among the easiest applications to measure because they run at steady load for long hours. The unit is powered from the engine's own 12 or 24 V DC charging circuit, so no mains supply or inverter is needed at the pump site.
What water does it need, and can I use tank or bore water?
- Deionised water only. Rainwater, tank water and bore water all carry dissolved minerals that foul the membrane. Units include an onboard ion-exchange polisher and the replacement resin filter is a consumable changed every 6 to 9 months. Keeping a drum of deionised water and a spare filter in the shed is the whole maintenance story.
How should a farm business measure whether it is worth it?
- Pick one machine on a repeatable job — a pump set, a tractor on a known paddock operation, or a header on a consistent crop and yield — and log litres per hour before and after over comparable conditions. Seasonal, soil and yield variation is large enough that a single side-by-side day is not evidence; use hour-meter and fuel-log data across the same operation instead.
Continue reading.
Hydrogen combustion enhancement
What it is, how PEM gas reaches the cylinder, and what it does not do.
Engine performance improvement
Flame speed, burn completeness and load response on diesel engines.
Fuel efficiency
How to baseline and measure litres per 100 km or litres per hour.
Emissions reduction
Soot, particulate and unburnt-fuel behaviour, and how to test it.
Visible smoke reduction
Smoke opacity findings per study, with the NOx trade-off disclosed.
Remote-site fuel logistics cost
Landed cost versus pump price, and why the same percentage moves more money.
Generator-set classes
Camp, prime, standby, rental, telecom, irrigation and ship's service sets compared.
Idle & part-load duty cycles
Reefers, camp gensets and high-idle plant — where the literature reports most room.
Hydrogen with biodiesel blends
Per-study findings for hydrogen enrichment on biodiesel, NOx disclosed.
Installation guide
Nine-step fitting sequence: mounting, wiring, gas line, commissioning.
Safety & compliance
On-demand gas, no storage, alarms, shutdowns and reversibility.
Troubleshooting
Alarms, low gas output, water quality and no-start diagnostics.
Case studies & field results
Published operator data and trial methodology.
Compare PEM systems
A-450 to DH-Power side by side: displacement, output, current draw.
Does it actually work? Evidence review
The published literature, the FTC/EPA history and the ACL context.
How it works
Gas path and established physics, explained with diagrams.
PEM vs alkaline
Membrane on water versus caustic KOH: servicing, purity, cost.
Sizing combined gas
Why PEM and alkaline gas-volume benchmarks are not interchangeable for ICE sizing.
Four hydrogen technologies
Enhancement vs H2ICE vs fuel cell vs chemical generation.
Compared with Hydrogen Fuel Systems
Honest comparison with the Perth-based Gen alkaline range.
Compared with H2i Technology
Hardware, pricing and evidence transparency versus the Victorian supplier.
Compared with dynaCERT HydraGEN
PEM versus alkaline, published price versus dealer quote, Verra versus ACCU.
Compared with HYDI
The South Australian manufacturer: UniSA testing, field history and quote path.
AU installation, warranty & safety
VSB 14 and VSB 6, ACL guarantees and documentation to keep.
Mining fleets
Haul trucks, dozers, drill rigs and site gensets: unit selection and dust.
Marine
Workboats, charter, fishing and ship's service gensets — no gas stored aboard.
FAQ
Answers on fitment, water, warranty, freight and duty cycles.