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Air Products expands hydrogen tube trailer fleet, upgrades station
NEWS
Air Products expands hydrogen tube trailer fleet, upgrades station
A
ir Products has introduced an additional SmartFuel® hydrogen high-pressure tube trailer to its UK fleet, which will deliver large volumes of hydrogen to its upgraded publicly accessible hydrogen refueling station at London Heathrow Airport. The developments are part of the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) Hydrogen Transport in European Cities (HyTEC) initiative, which is led by Air Products [FCB, November 2011, p7]. HyTEC aims to create two new European hydrogen passenger vehicle deployment centres, in London and Copenhagen. London expects to continue deployment of fuel cell electric vehicles under HyTEC in 2014, with a pair of Hyundai ix35 FCEVs for use in daily operations by Transport for London. London and Copenhagen are among five European cities that will demonstrate a total of 110 FCEVs through the HyFIVE project [FCB, April 2014, p1], with 75 of these vehicles coming from Korean automaker Hyundai. Air Products has commissioned and permanently located the SmartFuel station at Heathrow [FCB, May 2014, p6]. It now has 700 bar (10 000 psi) refueling capability, which is a vital specification for hydrogen vehicles expected to enter commercial operation in the next few years [see the Air Products feature in FCB, February 2013]. The station will take delivery of its hydrogen from the latest SmartFuel hydrogen highpressure tube trailer to enter the Air Products fleet [FCB, February 2014, p7]. These trailers feature specialised composite cylinders which enable them to deliver hydrogen to fueling stations at a pressure of 500 bar (7250 psi). This is a significant enhancement on the existing 200 bar (2900 psi) industrial hydrogen delivery models, and minimises the need for onsite compression, leading to higher reliability. Station operators see this benefit translated into lower capital investment in the station hardware, as well as a marked reduction in station operating costs. Air Products has demonstrated this firsthand at its SmartFuel bus refueling station at Lea Interchange, Stratford in east London, where on-stream levels are consistently in line with industry expectations. This station refuels the hydrogen fuel cell buses operating on the
August 2014
RV1 route between Covent Garden and Tower Gateway Station. The HyTEC project is a partnership between London in the UK and Copenhagen in Denmark (the 16 consortium members also represent Germany, Belgium, and Spain). Both cities have taken political decisions to be early adopters of hydrogen technology, and will work together in a pan-European partnership to implement this vision. Air Products, Hydrogen Energy: www.airproducts.com/h2energy HyTEC project: www.hy-tec.eu European Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking: www.fch-ju.eu
Report says more California forecourts can provide hydrogen
A
study by researchers at Sandia National Laboratories in California concludes that a number of existing regular filling stations in the state can also safely store and dispense hydrogen, suggesting a broader network of hydrogen fueling stations may be within reach. The report examined 70 commercial gasoline stations in California and sought to determine which, if any, could integrate hydrogen fuel, based on the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) hydrogen technologies code published in 2011. The study determined that 14 of the 70 stations considered could readily accept hydrogen fueling, and another 17 could possibly accept hydrogen with property expansions. Under previous NFPA code requirements from 2005, none of the existing gasoline stations could readily accept hydrogen. The current code, NFPA 2, provides fundamental safeguards for the generation, installation, storage, piping, use and handling of hydrogen in compressed gas or cryogenic (low-temperature) liquid form. ‘It turns out that the number of fueling stations able to carry hydrogen can be quantified,’ says report co-author Daniel Dedrick, Sandia’s hydrogen programme manager. ‘We now know that we can build more hydrogen fueling stations if we examine the safety issues within a sound, technical framework that focuses on the real behaviours of hydrogen.’ The study focuses on California, the state with the most hydrogen stations. A key factor in the codes that Sandia examined was the separation distances required for fueling
infrastructure, including fuel dispensers, air intakes, and tanks and storage equipment. The code defines required distances between such components and public streets, parking, onsite convenience stores, and perimeter lines. Under the previous code, virtually no hydrogen fueling could be sited at existing stations. This is because those codes were developed via an ‘expert opinion-based process’ – according to report co-author Chris San Marchi, manager of Sandia’s hydrogen and metallurgy science group – and not the risk-informed process developed by Sandia researchers and now used in the code. The previous code was developed for flammable gases in an industrial setting, which carries different risks compared to hydrogen at a fueling station. Some filling stations still may not be able to accept hydrogen under the new code because station footprints vary greatly, and many smaller sites – particularly those in dense, urban areas – cannot be properly configured, says San Marchi. This work is aligned with the Hydrogen Fueling Infrastructure Research and Station Technology (H2FIRST) project, established by the US Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy [FCB, May 2014, p7]. Earlier this year DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory contracted Kalibrate Technologies to identify the infrastructure for placing hydrogen stations throughout California [FCB, April 2014, p8]. Sandia report (PDF): http://tinyurl.com/sandia-h2-station-metric Sandia, Hydrogen Safety, Codes and Standards: http://energy.sandia.gov/?page_id=3725 Sandia, Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program: http://energy.sandia.gov/?page_id=199 NFPA 2, Hydrogen Technologies Code: http://tinyurl.com/nfpa-2 DOE Fuel Cell Technologies Office: www.energy.gov/eere/fuelcells
SAE J2601 standard to establish worldwide basis for FCEV fueling
U
S-based SAE International has published the revised J2601 standard, Fueling Protocols for Light Duty Gaseous Hydrogen Surface Vehicles, which will serve as the baseline worldwide for hydrogen stations for refueling fuel cell electric vehicles. This revised standard, announced in the spring [FCB, April 2014, p9], supersedes the original version published in March 2010.
Fuel Cells Bulletin
7
Air Products expands hydrogen tube trailer fleet, upgrades station
A
ir Products has introduced an additional SmartFuel® hydrogen high-pressure tube trailer to its UK fleet, which will deliver large volumes of hydrogen to its upgraded publicly accessible hydrogen refueling station at London Heathrow Airport. The developments are part of the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) Hydrogen Transport in European Cities (HyTEC) initiative, which is led by Air Products [FCB, November 2011, p7]. HyTEC aims to create two new European hydrogen passenger vehicle deployment centres, in London and Copenhagen. London expects to continue deployment of fuel cell electric vehicles under HyTEC in 2014, with a pair of Hyundai ix35 FCEVs for use in daily operations by Transport for London. London and Copenhagen are among five European cities that will demonstrate a total of 110 FCEVs through the HyFIVE project [FCB, April 2014, p1], with 75 of these vehicles coming from Korean automaker Hyundai. Air Products has commissioned and permanently located the SmartFuel station at Heathrow [FCB, May 2014, p6]. It now has 700 bar (10 000 psi) refueling capability, which is a vital specification for hydrogen vehicles expected to enter commercial operation in the next few years [see the Air Products feature in FCB, February 2013]. The station will take delivery of its hydrogen from the latest SmartFuel hydrogen highpressure tube trailer to enter the Air Products fleet [FCB, February 2014, p7]. These trailers feature specialised composite cylinders which enable them to deliver hydrogen to fueling stations at a pressure of 500 bar (7250 psi). This is a significant enhancement on the existing 200 bar (2900 psi) industrial hydrogen delivery models, and minimises the need for onsite compression, leading to higher reliability. Station operators see this benefit translated into lower capital investment in the station hardware, as well as a marked reduction in station operating costs. Air Products has demonstrated this firsthand at its SmartFuel bus refueling station at Lea Interchange, Stratford in east London, where on-stream levels are consistently in line with industry expectations. This station refuels the hydrogen fuel cell buses operating on the
August 2014
RV1 route between Covent Garden and Tower Gateway Station. The HyTEC project is a partnership between London in the UK and Copenhagen in Denmark (the 16 consortium members also represent Germany, Belgium, and Spain). Both cities have taken political decisions to be early adopters of hydrogen technology, and will work together in a pan-European partnership to implement this vision. Air Products, Hydrogen Energy: www.airproducts.com/h2energy HyTEC project: www.hy-tec.eu European Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking: www.fch-ju.eu
Report says more California forecourts can provide hydrogen
A
study by researchers at Sandia National Laboratories in California concludes that a number of existing regular filling stations in the state can also safely store and dispense hydrogen, suggesting a broader network of hydrogen fueling stations may be within reach. The report examined 70 commercial gasoline stations in California and sought to determine which, if any, could integrate hydrogen fuel, based on the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) hydrogen technologies code published in 2011. The study determined that 14 of the 70 stations considered could readily accept hydrogen fueling, and another 17 could possibly accept hydrogen with property expansions. Under previous NFPA code requirements from 2005, none of the existing gasoline stations could readily accept hydrogen. The current code, NFPA 2, provides fundamental safeguards for the generation, installation, storage, piping, use and handling of hydrogen in compressed gas or cryogenic (low-temperature) liquid form. ‘It turns out that the number of fueling stations able to carry hydrogen can be quantified,’ says report co-author Daniel Dedrick, Sandia’s hydrogen programme manager. ‘We now know that we can build more hydrogen fueling stations if we examine the safety issues within a sound, technical framework that focuses on the real behaviours of hydrogen.’ The study focuses on California, the state with the most hydrogen stations. A key factor in the codes that Sandia examined was the separation distances required for fueling
infrastructure, including fuel dispensers, air intakes, and tanks and storage equipment. The code defines required distances between such components and public streets, parking, onsite convenience stores, and perimeter lines. Under the previous code, virtually no hydrogen fueling could be sited at existing stations. This is because those codes were developed via an ‘expert opinion-based process’ – according to report co-author Chris San Marchi, manager of Sandia’s hydrogen and metallurgy science group – and not the risk-informed process developed by Sandia researchers and now used in the code. The previous code was developed for flammable gases in an industrial setting, which carries different risks compared to hydrogen at a fueling station. Some filling stations still may not be able to accept hydrogen under the new code because station footprints vary greatly, and many smaller sites – particularly those in dense, urban areas – cannot be properly configured, says San Marchi. This work is aligned with the Hydrogen Fueling Infrastructure Research and Station Technology (H2FIRST) project, established by the US Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy [FCB, May 2014, p7]. Earlier this year DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory contracted Kalibrate Technologies to identify the infrastructure for placing hydrogen stations throughout California [FCB, April 2014, p8]. Sandia report (PDF): http://tinyurl.com/sandia-h2-station-metric Sandia, Hydrogen Safety, Codes and Standards: http://energy.sandia.gov/?page_id=3725 Sandia, Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program: http://energy.sandia.gov/?page_id=199 NFPA 2, Hydrogen Technologies Code: http://tinyurl.com/nfpa-2 DOE Fuel Cell Technologies Office: www.energy.gov/eere/fuelcells
SAE J2601 standard to establish worldwide basis for FCEV fueling
U
S-based SAE International has published the revised J2601 standard, Fueling Protocols for Light Duty Gaseous Hydrogen Surface Vehicles, which will serve as the baseline worldwide for hydrogen stations for refueling fuel cell electric vehicles. This revised standard, announced in the spring [FCB, April 2014, p9], supersedes the original version published in March 2010.
Fuel Cells Bulletin
7