- Email: [email protected]
Proton OnSite systems to supply hydrogen in Hamburg, South Africa
NEWS the Air Liquide subsidiary Axane (80%) and US-based Plug Power (20%) [FCB, May 2013, p1]. This allows Air Liquide to offer an integrated hydrogen solution, including the fueling station, for the European market. The use of hydrogen as an energy carrier for logistic platforms has been developing in the US and Canada, with nearly 5000 forklift trucks currently running on hydrogen [see the Plug Power feature in FCB, December 2011, and the forklifts feature in October 2010]. The segment for fuel cell powered materials handling vehicles is the fastest-growing market for hydrogen energy. HyPulsion’s suite of GenDrive® products are designed to fit seamlessly into existing electric lift truck fleets in the European market space, to streamline operations while maximising fleet uptime and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Air Liquide – Advanced Business, Sassenage, France. Tel: +33 4 7643 6821, www.airliquideadvancedbusiness.com or http://tinyurl.com/airliquide-advtech HyPulsion, Sassenage, France. Tel: +33 4 7650 5211, www.hypulsion.com Plug Power, Latham, New York, USA. Tel: +1 518 782 7700, www.plugpower.com
Honda R&D installs Air Products fast-fill hydrogen station in US
H
onda R&D Americas has installed a state-of-the-art hydrogen refueling station on its Torrance, California headquarters campus, in anticipation of the 2015 launch of its nextgeneration fuel cell electric vehicle. The facility features Air Products’ newest SmartFuel® hydrogen fueling station, and is expected to help pave the way for rapid infrastructure deployment. This advanced station will serve as a platform for demonstrating and validating the enhanced hydrogen fueling protocol developed by Honda, called MC Fill. Honda will make the new research station available to other automakers, to help standardise the new protocol and further validate its performance and functionality. The MC Fill fast-fill protocol is designed for systems that store hydrogen at 700 bar (10 000 psi) [see the SAE item on page 9]. This new protocol reduces 700 bar fueling times by up to 45% versus comparable fueling protocols, and can complete most fills in less than three minutes under normal temperatures. MC Fill more precisely monitors the dispenser outlet temperature, and uses this to calculate the 8
Fuel Cells Bulletin
shortest possible fueling time. This dynamic, fast-fill control also allows the dispenser to continuously adjust to current temperature and other conditions which normally affect refueling time. The Torrance station incorporates many technology advances, and is being touted by Air Products as a model for how rapidly a hydrogen station can be constructed and its related infrastructure placed into operation. The station construction took just seven months from contract signing to final commissioning with hydrogen. The new SmartFuel station includes Air Products’ patented technology to practice the SAE J2601 fueling protocol, and is modeled after the company’s compressionless hydrogen fueling technology [see the Air Products feature in FCB, February 2013]. ‘This new station shows just how far we have come in our ability to put hydrogen fueling stations and other needed infrastructure into operation in an expedited manner, while complying with our safety mandate, by using a product-based approach,’ says Ed Kiczek, global business director for hydrogen energy systems at Air Products. ‘We have definitely benefited from incorporating some of the practices gained in our fueling work with the material handling market, where we have been able to get hydrogen fueling stations up and running in as little as six weeks [FCB, November 2012, p7].’ Honda launched its current vehicle, the FCX Clarity, in 2008 as a technological breakthrough in design, sedan packaging, assembly line manufacturing, and fuel cell stack size and efficiency [FCB, January 2008, p1]. Last autumn the new Honda FCEV Concept debuted at the Los Angeles International Auto Show, pointing the way to an all-new Honda fuel cell car launching in the US and Japan in 2015, and later in Europe [FCB, December 2013, p2].
Currently there are only nine hydrogen stations available to the public in California, but there are plans to rapidly expand this network in the next few years [FCB, December 2013, p11]. This hydrogen infrastructure development is being led by organisations such as the California Energy Commission and the California Fuel Cell Partnership [see the CaFCP feature in FCB, November 2009]. With automakers planning to start releasing fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) for sale to the public this spring, the availability and proper placement of retail hydrogen fueling outlets is critical to the successful market adoption of FCEVs by consumers. To instill confidence in FCEV users that they can travel with minimal concern about where they can refuel, Kalibrate will employ its retail site evaluation and fuel network planning expertise and modeling techniques to identify how many hydrogen fueling stations are needed, and where they should be located. The optimal locations will be identified, along with alternative locations for consideration when the best location is not viable. NREL’s industry knowledge and expertise on hydrogen fueling and the consumers that are likely to adopt this technology will provide valuable insight into Kalibrate’s process of determining the right infrastructure for these stations. ‘Alternative fuels are a growing segment that will create commercial opportunities for today’s petroleum retailers,’ says Bob Stein, president and CEO of New Jersey/UK-based Kalibrate Technologies (formerly KSS Fuels). ‘We look forward to working with the petroleum and convenience store industry to adapt and plan for this changing environment, and look forward to working with NREL to address this new opportunity.’
Honda FCEV: http://world.honda.com/FuelCell
Kalibrate Technologies, Florham Park, New Jersey, USA. Tel: 1 800 727 6774 (tollfree in US), www.KalibrateTech.com
Air Products, Hydrogen Energy: www.airproducts.com/h2energy
Kalibrate Technologies to analyse optimum California fueling sites
T
he US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has awarded a contract to Kalibrate Technologies, a leading provider of fuel pricing and retail location analytics, to identify the infrastructure for placing hydrogen refueling stations throughout California.
NREL Alternative Fuels Data Center, Hydrogen: www.afdc.energy.gov/fuels/hydrogen.html NREL, Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Research: www.nrel.gov/hydrogen California Fuel Cell Partnership: www.cafcp.org
Proton OnSite systems to supply hydrogen in Hamburg, South Africa
C
onnecticut-based Proton OnSite has won a highly competitive application process to install a C-Series PEM electrolyser in a new hydrogen fueling
April 2014
NEWS station in Hamburg, Germany as part of the overall solution being provided by Danish company H2 Logic. Proton OnSite is also supplying a hydrogen generator for the upgraded solar-to-hydrogen facilities at the HySA Infrastructure research centre in South Africa. The PEM electrolyser in Hamburg will be partially powered by renewable energy sources [see the Proton OnSite feature in FCB, September 2013], and is expected to be in operation in late summer or early autumn to refuel a variety of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). The station is owned and operated by a major European infrastructure provider, and is part of a planned 50-station network in Germany by 2015, as part of the E350 million (US$485 million) H2 Mobility Germany initiative [FCB, October 2013, p6]. The Hamburg refueler is a collaboration between teams at H2 Logic and Proton OnSite [FCB, February 2014, p8]. H2 Logic has developed and is commercialising the H2Station® CAR-100 hydrogen refueling stations [see the H2 Logic feature in FCB, May 2013]. This is the second Proton OnSite hydrogen generator to be delivered for vehicle fueling in Germany. Two years ago a Proton electrolyser was installed at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE’s solar-powered refueling station in Freiburg, as part of the BadenWürttemberg environment ministry’s hydrogen refueling project [FCB, March 2012, p8]. The electrolyser in Hamburg will use the same C-Series electrolyser platform as the SunHydro commercial fueling station in Wallingford, Connecticut, which opened in October 2010 [FCB, November 2010, p7]. Proton OnSite estimates that this station has dispensed more than 8000 kg of hydrogen, and completed more than 2000 fills, resulting in hydrogen FCEVs being driven more than 50 000 miles (80 000 km) as of January 2014. More than 95% of the fills were 700 bar (H70, 10 000 psi) ‘fast fills’ of three minutes or less using SAE TIR J2601 and OEM fill protocols. Proton OnSite has also installed C-Series electrolysers in refueling stations in Flint, Michigan and Emeryville, California, and multiple locations in Hawaii and internationally [FCB, September 2011, p7]. In other news, Proton OnSite is supplying an S40 PEM hydrogen generator for the Hydrogen South Africa (HySA) Infrastructure Centre of Competence in Potchefstroom [see the HySA Infrastructure feature in FCB, June 2013]. The Phase 2 upgrade of the HySA Infrastructure solar-to-hydrogen facilities includes installation of an additional 9 kW of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, giving a total installed capacity of 15 kW (peak).
April 2014
Excess energy from the PV panels is stored in 90 kWh battery bank facilities as part of the ongoing upgrade activities. The stored energy is used during low solar radiation days, and also ensures hydrogen production after sunset. The system will be capable of producing almost 2.5 kg/day of high-purity hydrogen. Proton OnSite, Wallingford, Connecticut, USA. Tel: +1 203 678 2185, www.ProtonOnSite.com H2 Logic, Herning, Denmark. Tel: +45 9627 5600, www.h2logic.com HySA Infrastructure, South Africa: www.hysainfrastructure.org
LBST/TÜV SÜD: 11 new hydrogen stations worldwide in 2013
T
he sixth annual assessment by www.H2stations.org, a website jointly run by the German consultancies Ludwig-Bölkow-Systemtechnik (LBST) and TÜV SÜD, reports that 11 new hydrogen refueling stations were opened around the world last year. This brings the total number of hydrogen refueling stations in operation to 186 as of March 2014. The latest listing shows two new refueling stations in North America, three in Asia, and six in Europe, two of which are in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. Allowing for the decommissioning of some old stations, this means that Germany now has 26 hydrogen stations. According to the information available to LBST, a total of 72 hydrogen refueling stations are currently operated in Europe, 67 in North America, one in South America, and 46 in Asia. The numbers are slightly lower than last year [FCB, April 2013, p5], since some older stations have been dismantled, partly to allow replacement by new and upgraded ones. In most global regions, hydrogen-fueled vehicles are only used in field tests and trials, which means that most refueling stations are dedicated to such projects. Even so, about 70 stations are – in principle – accessible for public refueling, 14 of which are in Germany. New countries with hydrogen infrastructure are Slovenia, which opened its first hydrogen station [FCB, November 2013, p8], and Costa Rica, where a hydrogen plant was commissioned last year, with the installation of a refueling station to follow in 2015. H2stations.org also lists planned hydrogen stations for which locations have already been determined. These currently amount to 95 stations worldwide: 26 in North America,
two in South America, 23 in Asia, and 44 in Europe, 12 of which are in Germany. Japan and California in particular have moved forward in implementing their roadmaps, with the announcement of 19 (Japan) and six (California) firm locations [and see page 8]. H2stations.org uses interactive maps to list all hydrogen stations worldwide that are in operation or planning, or have been shut down. The database is continuously updated, and shows detailed information on the 516 refueling stations currently included. TÜV SÜD and LBST jointly operate the portal www.netinform.de/H2, which offers extensive hydrogen and fuel cell information and services for professional users and interested members of the public. The portal comprises the www.H2stations.org (fueling) and www.H2mobility.org (vehicles) websites, extensive specialist information, and a guide to standards and regulations. Hydrogen Filling Stations Worldwide: www.H2stations.org Ludwig-Bölkow-Systemtechnik: www.lbst.de/index_e.html TÜV SÜD, Hydrogen Technology: www.tuv-sud.com/hydrogen
Two SAE standards to harmonise global hydrogen fueling
S
AE International’s Fuel Cell Standards Taskforce has completed two technical standards that aim to support the impending rollout of hydrogen fueling infrastructure and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). The standards have been created to harmonise hydrogen fueling worldwide for both 350 and 700 bar (5000 and 10 000 psi) stations. SAE J2601 (Fueling Protocols for Light Duty Gaseous Hydrogen Surface Vehicles) defines parameters for a hydrogen fueling experience similar to conventional fueling, and is considered one of the key standards required for the commercialisation of FCEVs and hydrogen stations. SAE J2601 enables safe, full hydrogen fast-fueling in 3–5 minutes, for all light-duty FCEVs, including models with a range of at least 300 miles (500 km). Extended driving ranges with hydrogen fueling are accomplished by compressing hydrogen to 700 bar (70 MPa, or H70). The SAE J2601 fueling protocol uses a lookup table approach and an average pressure ramp rate that has a consistent pressure rise regardless of tank size. The SAE J2601 fueling tables allow a simple control where the
Fuel Cells Bulletin
9
Honda R&D installs Air Products fast-fill hydrogen station in US
H
onda R&D Americas has installed a state-of-the-art hydrogen refueling station on its Torrance, California headquarters campus, in anticipation of the 2015 launch of its nextgeneration fuel cell electric vehicle. The facility features Air Products’ newest SmartFuel® hydrogen fueling station, and is expected to help pave the way for rapid infrastructure deployment. This advanced station will serve as a platform for demonstrating and validating the enhanced hydrogen fueling protocol developed by Honda, called MC Fill. Honda will make the new research station available to other automakers, to help standardise the new protocol and further validate its performance and functionality. The MC Fill fast-fill protocol is designed for systems that store hydrogen at 700 bar (10 000 psi) [see the SAE item on page 9]. This new protocol reduces 700 bar fueling times by up to 45% versus comparable fueling protocols, and can complete most fills in less than three minutes under normal temperatures. MC Fill more precisely monitors the dispenser outlet temperature, and uses this to calculate the 8
Fuel Cells Bulletin
shortest possible fueling time. This dynamic, fast-fill control also allows the dispenser to continuously adjust to current temperature and other conditions which normally affect refueling time. The Torrance station incorporates many technology advances, and is being touted by Air Products as a model for how rapidly a hydrogen station can be constructed and its related infrastructure placed into operation. The station construction took just seven months from contract signing to final commissioning with hydrogen. The new SmartFuel station includes Air Products’ patented technology to practice the SAE J2601 fueling protocol, and is modeled after the company’s compressionless hydrogen fueling technology [see the Air Products feature in FCB, February 2013]. ‘This new station shows just how far we have come in our ability to put hydrogen fueling stations and other needed infrastructure into operation in an expedited manner, while complying with our safety mandate, by using a product-based approach,’ says Ed Kiczek, global business director for hydrogen energy systems at Air Products. ‘We have definitely benefited from incorporating some of the practices gained in our fueling work with the material handling market, where we have been able to get hydrogen fueling stations up and running in as little as six weeks [FCB, November 2012, p7].’ Honda launched its current vehicle, the FCX Clarity, in 2008 as a technological breakthrough in design, sedan packaging, assembly line manufacturing, and fuel cell stack size and efficiency [FCB, January 2008, p1]. Last autumn the new Honda FCEV Concept debuted at the Los Angeles International Auto Show, pointing the way to an all-new Honda fuel cell car launching in the US and Japan in 2015, and later in Europe [FCB, December 2013, p2].
Currently there are only nine hydrogen stations available to the public in California, but there are plans to rapidly expand this network in the next few years [FCB, December 2013, p11]. This hydrogen infrastructure development is being led by organisations such as the California Energy Commission and the California Fuel Cell Partnership [see the CaFCP feature in FCB, November 2009]. With automakers planning to start releasing fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) for sale to the public this spring, the availability and proper placement of retail hydrogen fueling outlets is critical to the successful market adoption of FCEVs by consumers. To instill confidence in FCEV users that they can travel with minimal concern about where they can refuel, Kalibrate will employ its retail site evaluation and fuel network planning expertise and modeling techniques to identify how many hydrogen fueling stations are needed, and where they should be located. The optimal locations will be identified, along with alternative locations for consideration when the best location is not viable. NREL’s industry knowledge and expertise on hydrogen fueling and the consumers that are likely to adopt this technology will provide valuable insight into Kalibrate’s process of determining the right infrastructure for these stations. ‘Alternative fuels are a growing segment that will create commercial opportunities for today’s petroleum retailers,’ says Bob Stein, president and CEO of New Jersey/UK-based Kalibrate Technologies (formerly KSS Fuels). ‘We look forward to working with the petroleum and convenience store industry to adapt and plan for this changing environment, and look forward to working with NREL to address this new opportunity.’
Honda FCEV: http://world.honda.com/FuelCell
Kalibrate Technologies, Florham Park, New Jersey, USA. Tel: 1 800 727 6774 (tollfree in US), www.KalibrateTech.com
Air Products, Hydrogen Energy: www.airproducts.com/h2energy
Kalibrate Technologies to analyse optimum California fueling sites
T
he US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has awarded a contract to Kalibrate Technologies, a leading provider of fuel pricing and retail location analytics, to identify the infrastructure for placing hydrogen refueling stations throughout California.
NREL Alternative Fuels Data Center, Hydrogen: www.afdc.energy.gov/fuels/hydrogen.html NREL, Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Research: www.nrel.gov/hydrogen California Fuel Cell Partnership: www.cafcp.org
Proton OnSite systems to supply hydrogen in Hamburg, South Africa
C
onnecticut-based Proton OnSite has won a highly competitive application process to install a C-Series PEM electrolyser in a new hydrogen fueling
April 2014
NEWS station in Hamburg, Germany as part of the overall solution being provided by Danish company H2 Logic. Proton OnSite is also supplying a hydrogen generator for the upgraded solar-to-hydrogen facilities at the HySA Infrastructure research centre in South Africa. The PEM electrolyser in Hamburg will be partially powered by renewable energy sources [see the Proton OnSite feature in FCB, September 2013], and is expected to be in operation in late summer or early autumn to refuel a variety of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). The station is owned and operated by a major European infrastructure provider, and is part of a planned 50-station network in Germany by 2015, as part of the E350 million (US$485 million) H2 Mobility Germany initiative [FCB, October 2013, p6]. The Hamburg refueler is a collaboration between teams at H2 Logic and Proton OnSite [FCB, February 2014, p8]. H2 Logic has developed and is commercialising the H2Station® CAR-100 hydrogen refueling stations [see the H2 Logic feature in FCB, May 2013]. This is the second Proton OnSite hydrogen generator to be delivered for vehicle fueling in Germany. Two years ago a Proton electrolyser was installed at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE’s solar-powered refueling station in Freiburg, as part of the BadenWürttemberg environment ministry’s hydrogen refueling project [FCB, March 2012, p8]. The electrolyser in Hamburg will use the same C-Series electrolyser platform as the SunHydro commercial fueling station in Wallingford, Connecticut, which opened in October 2010 [FCB, November 2010, p7]. Proton OnSite estimates that this station has dispensed more than 8000 kg of hydrogen, and completed more than 2000 fills, resulting in hydrogen FCEVs being driven more than 50 000 miles (80 000 km) as of January 2014. More than 95% of the fills were 700 bar (H70, 10 000 psi) ‘fast fills’ of three minutes or less using SAE TIR J2601 and OEM fill protocols. Proton OnSite has also installed C-Series electrolysers in refueling stations in Flint, Michigan and Emeryville, California, and multiple locations in Hawaii and internationally [FCB, September 2011, p7]. In other news, Proton OnSite is supplying an S40 PEM hydrogen generator for the Hydrogen South Africa (HySA) Infrastructure Centre of Competence in Potchefstroom [see the HySA Infrastructure feature in FCB, June 2013]. The Phase 2 upgrade of the HySA Infrastructure solar-to-hydrogen facilities includes installation of an additional 9 kW of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, giving a total installed capacity of 15 kW (peak).
April 2014
Excess energy from the PV panels is stored in 90 kWh battery bank facilities as part of the ongoing upgrade activities. The stored energy is used during low solar radiation days, and also ensures hydrogen production after sunset. The system will be capable of producing almost 2.5 kg/day of high-purity hydrogen. Proton OnSite, Wallingford, Connecticut, USA. Tel: +1 203 678 2185, www.ProtonOnSite.com H2 Logic, Herning, Denmark. Tel: +45 9627 5600, www.h2logic.com HySA Infrastructure, South Africa: www.hysainfrastructure.org
LBST/TÜV SÜD: 11 new hydrogen stations worldwide in 2013
T
he sixth annual assessment by www.H2stations.org, a website jointly run by the German consultancies Ludwig-Bölkow-Systemtechnik (LBST) and TÜV SÜD, reports that 11 new hydrogen refueling stations were opened around the world last year. This brings the total number of hydrogen refueling stations in operation to 186 as of March 2014. The latest listing shows two new refueling stations in North America, three in Asia, and six in Europe, two of which are in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. Allowing for the decommissioning of some old stations, this means that Germany now has 26 hydrogen stations. According to the information available to LBST, a total of 72 hydrogen refueling stations are currently operated in Europe, 67 in North America, one in South America, and 46 in Asia. The numbers are slightly lower than last year [FCB, April 2013, p5], since some older stations have been dismantled, partly to allow replacement by new and upgraded ones. In most global regions, hydrogen-fueled vehicles are only used in field tests and trials, which means that most refueling stations are dedicated to such projects. Even so, about 70 stations are – in principle – accessible for public refueling, 14 of which are in Germany. New countries with hydrogen infrastructure are Slovenia, which opened its first hydrogen station [FCB, November 2013, p8], and Costa Rica, where a hydrogen plant was commissioned last year, with the installation of a refueling station to follow in 2015. H2stations.org also lists planned hydrogen stations for which locations have already been determined. These currently amount to 95 stations worldwide: 26 in North America,
two in South America, 23 in Asia, and 44 in Europe, 12 of which are in Germany. Japan and California in particular have moved forward in implementing their roadmaps, with the announcement of 19 (Japan) and six (California) firm locations [and see page 8]. H2stations.org uses interactive maps to list all hydrogen stations worldwide that are in operation or planning, or have been shut down. The database is continuously updated, and shows detailed information on the 516 refueling stations currently included. TÜV SÜD and LBST jointly operate the portal www.netinform.de/H2, which offers extensive hydrogen and fuel cell information and services for professional users and interested members of the public. The portal comprises the www.H2stations.org (fueling) and www.H2mobility.org (vehicles) websites, extensive specialist information, and a guide to standards and regulations. Hydrogen Filling Stations Worldwide: www.H2stations.org Ludwig-Bölkow-Systemtechnik: www.lbst.de/index_e.html TÜV SÜD, Hydrogen Technology: www.tuv-sud.com/hydrogen
Two SAE standards to harmonise global hydrogen fueling
S
AE International’s Fuel Cell Standards Taskforce has completed two technical standards that aim to support the impending rollout of hydrogen fueling infrastructure and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). The standards have been created to harmonise hydrogen fueling worldwide for both 350 and 700 bar (5000 and 10 000 psi) stations. SAE J2601 (Fueling Protocols for Light Duty Gaseous Hydrogen Surface Vehicles) defines parameters for a hydrogen fueling experience similar to conventional fueling, and is considered one of the key standards required for the commercialisation of FCEVs and hydrogen stations. SAE J2601 enables safe, full hydrogen fast-fueling in 3–5 minutes, for all light-duty FCEVs, including models with a range of at least 300 miles (500 km). Extended driving ranges with hydrogen fueling are accomplished by compressing hydrogen to 700 bar (70 MPa, or H70). The SAE J2601 fueling protocol uses a lookup table approach and an average pressure ramp rate that has a consistent pressure rise regardless of tank size. The SAE J2601 fueling tables allow a simple control where the
Fuel Cells Bulletin
9