The problem with hydrogen cars is not the cars themselves but the infrastructure needed to support them. And industrial gas supplier Air Products made a move that will help station owners using its hydrogen high pressure tube trailers.
According to Automotive World, “This state-of-the-art SmartFuel® high pressure tube trailer features specialised composite cylinders for hydrogen storage that enable cost effective hydrogen from central production facilities to be delivered directly to the fuelling station at a pressure well above 350 bar; a significant enhancement on the existing 200 bar industrial hydrogen delivery models. This increased pressure removes the need for onsite compression for 350 bar vehicle refuelling and significantly reduces site compression for 700 bar vehicle refuelling. Station operators see this benefit translated into lower capital investment in the station hardware, as well as a marked reduction in station operating costs.
“Minimising the need for compression on site naturally leads to higher levels of reliability, as Air Products has demonstrated first hand at its SmartFuel® bus refuelling station in London, where high onstream levels are consistently in line with industry expectations. The SmartFuel® high pressure tube trailer delivery concept also significantly reduces the space needed to deploy hydrogen refuelling stations, particularly compared with onsite hydrogen production solutions, such as electrolysis.”
So there you have it, another cost-saving measure to help push the hydrogen fueling infrastructure forward.
I wonder what the capacity will be.
Linde claims a 1,100 kg capacity for their 500 bar trailers:
“New technology working at 500-bar (7,250 psi) allows a single trailer to now carry 1,100 kg or roughly the equivalent of fueling 180 FCEVs with 6L tank capacity or enough hydrogen for each vehicle to drive more 400+ miles. ”
http://www.evworld.com/news.cfm?newsid=31336