- Email: [email protected]
Air Products grant to enhance hydrogen station user experience
NEWS developed under a joint development agreement as a fully integrated, non-detectable power source for off-grid defence applications in unmanned – e.g. covert and undercover – scenarios in the field. The extremely high energy density of the methanol fuel will allow the fuel cell to power stationary off-grid applications automatically for extended periods of time without requiring any user intervention. SFC will base the NGFC on its proven and tested fuel cell architecture, which is fully commercialised and ruggedised for powering electric and electronic devices, and for charging batteries onboard vehicles. The silent power source also reliably charges batteries offvehicle as a field charger. The Emily and Jenny systems have been successfully qualified and officially cleared for military use by the German Bundeswehr. SFC will optimise the fuel cell system as well as all individual components for maximum lifetime, safety, and reliability. SFC Energy offers a portfolio of portable, mobile, stationary, and vehicle-based fuel cells for defence applications, including the SFC Energy Network and the portable Jenny fuel cell [see the SFC feature in FCB, January 2013]. Its fuel cells are in field use with several major NATO defence organisations around the world [FCB, April 2014, p7 and January 2015, p4]. SFC is also partnering with ZephIR Lidar in the UK to serve the wind energy industry, and with a new marine distributor in the US [see page 10]. SFC Energy, Brunnthal/Munich, Germany. Tel: +49 89 673 5920, www.sfc.com or www.sfc-defense.com
FUELING
Air Products grant to enhance hydrogen station user experience
I
n the UK, two Air Products projects have been awarded funding from the Hydrogen Refuelling Station (HRS) Infrastructure Grants Scheme, run by the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV). The funding will be used to upgrade two of the company’s existing SmartFuel® stations in London, in particular to enhance user experience. The HRS Infrastructure Grants Scheme is managed for OLEV by Ricardo-AEA and E4tech [FCB, March 2015, p11]. In the spring it announced £6.6 million (US$9.6 million) in funding for three new hydrogen fueling projects and nine station upgrades [FCB, April 2015, p9].
August 2015
‘Having already achieved the necessary technical and operational standards, improving the user experience is the natural next step,’ says Diana Raine, European hydrogen energy business manager for Air Products. ‘Working in consultation with car manufacturers such as Hyundai and Toyota, we will use the funding provided by OLEV to introduce enhancements to our Heathrow and Hendon fueling stations [FCB, April 2015, p10], aimed at encouraging commercial and public adoption of hydrogen transport.’ Air Products is rolling out its proven hydrogen infrastructure technology around the world in parallel with automakers’ hydrogen vehicle deployment plans. In London, the company operates the UK’s first network of publicly accessible hydrogen stations. These dispensers refuel hydrogen cars such as the Hyundai ix35 Fuel Cell, vans and taxis delivered through projects supported by the European Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) and Innovate UK. The OLEV funding will also be used to enable Air Products to deploy its mobile hydrogen fueling solution, to allow vehicle demonstration and testing across the UK, including areas where the fixed fueling infrastructure is not yet developed. Both the mobile fueler and upgraded fueling stations use Air Products’ high-pressure delivery trailer [FCB, February 2014, p7]. Delivering high-pressure hydrogen – unlike other stations that produce hydrogen onsite – reduces the need for onsite compression, leading to high levels of reliability and minimising the forecourt footprint. This is an important distinction as the industry moves towards commercial adoption of the technology. This proven model is demonstrated at Air Products’ SmartFuel bus refueling station in east London, where on-stream levels are consistently in line with industry expectations [see the Air Products feature in FCB, February 2013]. Air Products, Hydrogen Energy: www.airproducts.co.uk/h2energy Hydrogen Refuelling Station Infrastructure Grants Scheme: http://tinyurl.com/ricardo-aea-hrs-grants
Total opens Munich hydrogen station for CEP with BMW, Linde
I
n Germany, Total and BMW have partnered to develop the Total multi-energy service station in Detmoldstrasse, directly opposite the BMW Group Research and Innovation Centre (FIZ) in Munich, as part of the
Clean Energy Partnership. In addition to the existing 700 bar gaseous hydrogen fuel pump, a second hydrogen pump uses innovative cryo-compressed fueling technology developed by Linde. Linde was commissioned to install its high-pressure cryogenic hydrogen pumps (cryopumps) at the station. The technology is designed to directly compress cryogenic liquid hydrogen stored at –253°C. ‘Linde is harnessing its expertise in cryogenic gases to reduce the amount of energy and storage space required at an integrated multi-energy fueling station,’ explains Dr Andreas Opfermann, head of technology & innovation. Linde’s advanced technology allows the station to offer two different fueling technologies at separate pumps. Drivers can choose between industry-standard 700 bar compressed gaseous hydrogen (at –40°C), and cryo-compressed hydrogen at –233°C (pressurised at up to 300 bar). This latter technique is suited to the pressurised cryogenic tanks in BMW’s nextgeneration FCEVs, e.g. based on the BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo demonstrator car [see page 2]. Total has invested more than €2 million ($2.2 million) in the station project, including €1.4 million ($1.6 million) in public funding. The station, under the umbrella of the Clean Energy Partnership, is the first publicly accessible hydrogen fueling service in the Bavarian capital [see the CEP feature in FCB, June 2011]. Total opened the first motorway hydrogen station in Germany in the spring, at Geiselwind [FCB, June 2015, p7], and operates seven of the country’s 18 public hydrogen stations. BMW is using the cryo-compression technology, which it says offers up to 50% more hydrogen storage capacity than 700 bar tanks, in its new generation of FCEVs. The automaker believes that it is important to have both systems available for testing in the real world, not just in the lab. More realistic test scenarios can be achieved if lab tests are supplemented by testing at a public fueling station. The Linde Hydrogen Center in Unterschleissheim, near Munich, has been serving as a hydrogen refueling station (although not open to the public), technology testing, training and demonstration centre since 2006. Linde has already established a strong position in the hydrogen refueling market with its ionic compressor technology [see the Linde feature in FCB, September 2014]. To meet rising demand for building up hydrogen infrastructure, last summer Linde opened the world’s first small-scale series production facility for hydrogen fueling stations at its application centre in Vienna, Austria [FCB, July 2014, p1]. The Linde Group, Hydrogen Energy: http://tinyurl.com/linde-hydrogen-energy
Fuel Cells Bulletin
7
FUELING
Air Products grant to enhance hydrogen station user experience
I
n the UK, two Air Products projects have been awarded funding from the Hydrogen Refuelling Station (HRS) Infrastructure Grants Scheme, run by the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV). The funding will be used to upgrade two of the company’s existing SmartFuel® stations in London, in particular to enhance user experience. The HRS Infrastructure Grants Scheme is managed for OLEV by Ricardo-AEA and E4tech [FCB, March 2015, p11]. In the spring it announced £6.6 million (US$9.6 million) in funding for three new hydrogen fueling projects and nine station upgrades [FCB, April 2015, p9].
August 2015
‘Having already achieved the necessary technical and operational standards, improving the user experience is the natural next step,’ says Diana Raine, European hydrogen energy business manager for Air Products. ‘Working in consultation with car manufacturers such as Hyundai and Toyota, we will use the funding provided by OLEV to introduce enhancements to our Heathrow and Hendon fueling stations [FCB, April 2015, p10], aimed at encouraging commercial and public adoption of hydrogen transport.’ Air Products is rolling out its proven hydrogen infrastructure technology around the world in parallel with automakers’ hydrogen vehicle deployment plans. In London, the company operates the UK’s first network of publicly accessible hydrogen stations. These dispensers refuel hydrogen cars such as the Hyundai ix35 Fuel Cell, vans and taxis delivered through projects supported by the European Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) and Innovate UK. The OLEV funding will also be used to enable Air Products to deploy its mobile hydrogen fueling solution, to allow vehicle demonstration and testing across the UK, including areas where the fixed fueling infrastructure is not yet developed. Both the mobile fueler and upgraded fueling stations use Air Products’ high-pressure delivery trailer [FCB, February 2014, p7]. Delivering high-pressure hydrogen – unlike other stations that produce hydrogen onsite – reduces the need for onsite compression, leading to high levels of reliability and minimising the forecourt footprint. This is an important distinction as the industry moves towards commercial adoption of the technology. This proven model is demonstrated at Air Products’ SmartFuel bus refueling station in east London, where on-stream levels are consistently in line with industry expectations [see the Air Products feature in FCB, February 2013]. Air Products, Hydrogen Energy: www.airproducts.co.uk/h2energy Hydrogen Refuelling Station Infrastructure Grants Scheme: http://tinyurl.com/ricardo-aea-hrs-grants
Total opens Munich hydrogen station for CEP with BMW, Linde
I
n Germany, Total and BMW have partnered to develop the Total multi-energy service station in Detmoldstrasse, directly opposite the BMW Group Research and Innovation Centre (FIZ) in Munich, as part of the
Clean Energy Partnership. In addition to the existing 700 bar gaseous hydrogen fuel pump, a second hydrogen pump uses innovative cryo-compressed fueling technology developed by Linde. Linde was commissioned to install its high-pressure cryogenic hydrogen pumps (cryopumps) at the station. The technology is designed to directly compress cryogenic liquid hydrogen stored at –253°C. ‘Linde is harnessing its expertise in cryogenic gases to reduce the amount of energy and storage space required at an integrated multi-energy fueling station,’ explains Dr Andreas Opfermann, head of technology & innovation. Linde’s advanced technology allows the station to offer two different fueling technologies at separate pumps. Drivers can choose between industry-standard 700 bar compressed gaseous hydrogen (at –40°C), and cryo-compressed hydrogen at –233°C (pressurised at up to 300 bar). This latter technique is suited to the pressurised cryogenic tanks in BMW’s nextgeneration FCEVs, e.g. based on the BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo demonstrator car [see page 2]. Total has invested more than €2 million ($2.2 million) in the station project, including €1.4 million ($1.6 million) in public funding. The station, under the umbrella of the Clean Energy Partnership, is the first publicly accessible hydrogen fueling service in the Bavarian capital [see the CEP feature in FCB, June 2011]. Total opened the first motorway hydrogen station in Germany in the spring, at Geiselwind [FCB, June 2015, p7], and operates seven of the country’s 18 public hydrogen stations. BMW is using the cryo-compression technology, which it says offers up to 50% more hydrogen storage capacity than 700 bar tanks, in its new generation of FCEVs. The automaker believes that it is important to have both systems available for testing in the real world, not just in the lab. More realistic test scenarios can be achieved if lab tests are supplemented by testing at a public fueling station. The Linde Hydrogen Center in Unterschleissheim, near Munich, has been serving as a hydrogen refueling station (although not open to the public), technology testing, training and demonstration centre since 2006. Linde has already established a strong position in the hydrogen refueling market with its ionic compressor technology [see the Linde feature in FCB, September 2014]. To meet rising demand for building up hydrogen infrastructure, last summer Linde opened the world’s first small-scale series production facility for hydrogen fueling stations at its application centre in Vienna, Austria [FCB, July 2014, p1]. The Linde Group, Hydrogen Energy: http://tinyurl.com/linde-hydrogen-energy
Fuel Cells Bulletin
7