Methane power promise put into production reality
9th August 2021
From a promise, to a principle, to putting its plans into practice, New Holland has carried through the commitment it made in 2006 to becoming the tractor sector’s Clean Energy Leader. But how did the path to today’s final pre-production methane-powered tractors pan out? Retracing some key steps reveals how the brand came to today’s cusp of full-scale manufacturing.
Fifteen years ago, New Holland declared its intention to be the ‘Clean Energy Leader’ in tractor power. Just three years later it outlined the Energy Independent Farm concept of fuelling vehicles that work on the land from the land, and unveiled its first methane-powered prototype in 2013 underlining its commitment to the clean energy cause.
Today, a number of pre-production prototypes of the methane-powered T6.180 tractor, the first model planned for manufacture, are at work across Europe. With industries across the globe committed to reducing their CO2 footprint and developing more sustainable energy systems, New Holland is leading the way in agricultural equipment as it prepares to turn its prototype promise into production reality, via a fuel created from plants and natural waste products.
It was in 2006 that New Holland launched its Clean Energy Leader strategy, introducing biodiesel-compatible powerplants across its product range the following year. In 2009, the brand unveiled its first alternative-fuel tractor prototype, the hydrogen-powered NH2, alongside the Energy Independent Farm principle. Further research into the potential for a ‘circular’ system, though, in which a farm would potentially be able to produce its own fuel, led to the development in 2013 of a methane-fuelled engine in a more conventional-looking T6 tractor, produced at the Basildon plant where the project is based.
A second-generation development was unveiled just two years later, and by 2017 the design had been further refined, introducing the T6.180 Methane Power, utilising a re-engineered six-cylinder FPT NEF engine that produces 179hp like its diesel-fuelled equivalent.
Given an official launch at Agritechnica 2019, the tractor was the inaugural winner of the ‘Sustainable’ class in the Tractor of the Year 2020 awards. Now the machine is in its final development stages, with a commitment to production of the world’s first 100% methane-powered production tractor for 2022.
“Much of this tractor is unchanged from its conventional counterpart,” points out New Holland’s David Redman.
“The key visible differences are the fuel tanks and – under the bonnet – the top half of the engine. This is a gas-only rather than a dual-fuel machine – although it can also run on liquid natural or compressed natural gas should biologically-produced methane be unavailable.
“FPT, our sister company within CNH Industrial that’s focused on engine development, is the European leader in alternative fuel-powered engines, having produced 50,000 to date, so it’s clear they are serious about the business. And the T6.180 is not the only methane tractor we have in development – one Italian wine producer is testing a methane-powered New Holland TK crawler.”
The engine in detail
While the structural block remains unchanged from the six-cylinder, 6.75-litre unit used in a conventional diesel-powered T6.180, and the engine service intervals remain at 600 hours, the cylinder head is very different, with gas injectors and spark plugs in place of the diesel injector, explains David. The gas is injected into each cylinder, resulting in constant, clean, maximised combustion.
“This is primarily why we are able to use a much simpler after-treatment system than on a conventional diesel-engined tractor, and do away with the selective catalytic reduction system that normally resides under the exhaust on the right side of the cab, replacing it with a simple-three-way catalyst tucked neatly under the bonnet.”
Compared to the limits allowed under EU Stage V emissions rules, carbon monoxide emissions from the methane-powered T6.180 are 75% lower, while the level of non-methane hydrocarbons is reduced by 90%. Particulate matter is down by 98%, nitrous oxide by 62%, and CO2 by 11%.
“When New Holland set out to develop a methane-powered tractor, a key criteria was that we would not compromise performance over a comparative diesel-powered model. Despite those lower emissions figures the T6.180 Methane Power has the same 175hp maximum power output with boost as its conventional cousin, and produces maximum torque of 740Nm. And this all comes with the benefit of running costs that are up to 30% lower, plus other bonuses such as a five decibel noise reduction and less vibration.”
In the cab there’s little to differentiate the T6.180 Methane Power from its diesel-powered counterpart. The transmission is New Holland’s familiar ElectroCommand semi-powershift, which offers eight powershift steps in each of two ranges. An additional direct drive 17th gear can be specified that allows either a 50kph transport speed or 40kph travel at reduced engine speed.
Plenty of gas capacity
The tractor’s conventional diesel tanks have been removed and replaced with a combination of ten smaller and larger gas tanks designed to maintain the pressure equilibrium as the gas is consumed, and arranged around the centre of the chassis. The front-mounted ‘range extender’ unit that also acts as ballast, weighing in at 850kg, can be replaced with a front linkage and PTO if required, or removed for loader work. Fuel filling is via a valve near the left-hand cab steps, using an NGV1 ‘gun’ which will be familiar to most natural gas vehicle owners, and filling takes around five minutes. With 453 litres of gas capacity which equates to 79kgs, the tractor holds sufficient fuel for around eight hours of road haulage or PTO work using maximum boosted power, rising to 14 hours for operating something like a cattle feeder.
“As a rule we don’t see the T6.180 Methane Power being used as a heavy tillage machine – for now this is where diesel retains a place,” says David
“It is ideally suited, though, to road and field work on a farm with its own AD plant/biodigester that can be used as a fuel source, providing the opportunity to refill as required at very low fuel costs.”
The mechanicals of the tractor are therefore a combination of well-proven existing componentry and innovative newer technology, But what of production of the fuel itself? New Holland believes the farm of the very near future may well produce its own.
“Biogas producers cleanse their fuel of impurities to levels of 95% before it is injected into the gas grid network,” David points out.
“But 83% and above cleansed gas can be used without issue in the T6.180 methane tractor.”
The T6.180 Methane Power fits with the NH Energy Independent Farm Concept, a closed loop system using energy/fuel crops and waste to produce methane gas fuel, and is at the heart of the New Holland Clean Energy Leader strategy.
“Biomethane is most commonly produced from energy crops and waste to power a static gas engine that then produces electricity. With biomethane plants sometimes not at full capacity and excess gas having to be flared off, there is potential here for this to be tapped and stored for vehicle fuel.
“We see the farmer of the future as being not only a food producer, but a producer of energy – of gas, electricity and fuel. There are farmers currently who have anaerobic digesters in good locations potentially suited to supplying road vehicles. And of course there are municipal users already operating gas-powered vehicles.
“But there are other biomethane access options. These include a virtual pipeline – an HGV lorry trailer containing gas-filled pipes delivered to your location. Here you connect the hose and the pressure difference fills the tractor, and because it’s a wheeled unit there are no installation issues. There is also potential for co-operatives to do this, or perhaps for a digester on one farm perhaps serving others.
“As an alternative, across the UK there is a massive gas grid network, maintained and run by four key companies. Each can tap into the gas grid to allow creation of individual filling stations.
“While the UK is a little way behind some other countries in Europe in adoption of gas vehicle power, it is undoubtedly growing here, and while our role is as tractor designers and manufacturers, we have developed strong relationships across the gas industry, and can point potential methane tractor purchasers to the right people to talk to for infrastructure support.
“The T6.180 Methane tractor is really gaining momentum now, and with production at Basildon, the home of T6 and T7 tractors, now imminent, we are ahead of the curve in helping meet net zero. We believe in achieving this by giving customers a range of power choices, and the diesel engine will retain its place for some time for certain applications. But methane power has massive potential. New Holland has the only production tractor able to take advantage – and it will be built in our Basildon plant, where we have over half a century of tractor manufacturing experience.”
A pre-production user viewpoint
Ben Sell, who is based close to the New Holland factory at Basildon and runs a farming and contracting operation with his family, has been one of a small group of tractor users testing the pre-production T6.180 Methane Power tractor. The location of the Sell Farming business and the fact it is widely diversified – including South Devon beef cattle, sheep, arable land, contract work and an electricity-generating 0.5MW anaerobic digestion plant – means it has been an ideal partner for providing factory feedback in the final stages of the tractor’s development.
“We’ve been New Holland users since 2016, when we started to switch our tractors from another make, and our main models are three T7.210 AutoCommands,” explains Ben.
“More recently, as we’ve become established New Holland users and are close to the factory, New Holland asked if we would consider helping provide user feedback for tractor developments. We were happy to do so, but didn’t expect our first test machine to be methane-powered! We were interested to see what the differences and similarities would be between a diesel and methane-powered tractor.
“The T6.180 Methane Power test tractor, which arrived on-farm in February, looked largely the same as a conventional machine, apart from the additional front fuel tank, and that wasn’t a big issue as we are used to working with equipment mounted up front. We first put it to work on haulage and on PTO jobs such as straw chopping for cattle bedding, and its performance was impressive. We worked closely with the engineers on software development to help fine-tune the torque curve. Mechanically, though, it has proved problem-free.
“As we have a gas-to-electricity rather than gas-to-grid AD plant, and the gas we currently produce is only 70-75% methane, we are using the virtual pipeline system from an HGV lorry trailer to fuel the tractor. In future, though, it may be feasible to produce the quality of gas the machine requires. Filling is simple; it’s a very clean and odourless operation, taking around five minutes to complete.”
The Sells’ two successive methane tractors have performed a range of tasks, working with a Keenan feeder wagon, topping grassland, rolling spring cereals and operating a 16,000-litre Marshall slurry tanker to apply AD plant digestate back to the land.
“We’ve also done some maize drilling, and some subsoiling with a twin-leg Keeble subsoiler at 12-14 inches, plus a lot of trailer work and operating a 9m rake for silage, whilst after removal of the front supplementary methane tank we were also able to fit a loader, using it to help clamp silage, and to load the feedstock into the AD plant, completing the circle in terms of farming for fuel.
“It’s notably quieter than a diesel equivalent. We also paired it with a 3m Lemken Zirkon power harrow, and at 2,000 engine rpm there’s considerably less in-cab noise.”
As expected, fuel efficiency is best on low-torque, non-draft work, and on tasks requiring 1,500 engine rpm and under – loader work, fertiliser spreading, feeder wagon operation, with a full fuel load easily lasting eight hours on these tasks, comments Ben, and only an hour or so less on a job like raking.
“We’ve done a little draft work with it, but those sorts of jobs represent a relatively small portion of many mid-range tractors’ workloads, and the Methane Power tractor’s biggest benefits lie in top and road work, where its fuel efficiency is optimal and its lower noise levels are a big benefit. We’ve been able to give all our drivers a chance to operate it, and all have really enjoyed the experience.
“The idea of producing our own fuel is appealing, and not just from a financial point of view – if the world is to achieve net zero carbon by 2050, then farming will have to play its part. We’re already producing natural fuel for our digester – maize, wholecrop silages and grass silage – and adding waste manure from our own livestock and local dairy and chicken farms. While that’s currently used to power a gas engine and generate electricity, I’m really excited by the prospect of potentially using gas from it to power our own machines.”
