Findings from world’s largest hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle and fueling demo published

September 11th, 2012 by Fiedler Group

The Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) recently published report covering their seven year validation project indicates that automakers could market fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV’s) as early as 2014.

The real world demonstration included the deployment of 183 vehicles traveling 3.6 million miles which produced 154,000 hours of second-by-second data for the NREL.

The project also included the introduction of 25 hydrogen fueling stations that handled more than 33,000 fueling events, dispensing 152,000 kilograms (kg) of hydrogen.

NREL’s learning demonstration project began in 2004 with the collaborative efforts of General Motors, Daimler, Hyundai-Kia, and Ford, and energy partners – Shell, BP, and Chevron. Project costs were shared equally between the Energy Department and industry, and three primary goals were established:

  • Evaluate fuel cell durability
  • Evaluate vehicle driving range
  • Study on-site hydrogen production and compare to Energy Department targets

Fiedler Group participated in the development of 8 different demonstration stations, working closely with all three energy partners.

Services included:

Consistent with the goals of the demonstration project, Fiedler Group assisted Shell, BP, and Chevron with the development of several different hydrogen generation and distribution fueling applications:

Hydrogen generation through Steam Methane Reforming (SMR) of natural gas and water into hydrogen

  • Chevron, Chino, CA. (February, 2005)
  • Chevron, Orlando, FL. (May, 2007)
  • Shell, Newport Beach, CA. (July, 2012)

Hydrogen generated on-site using electrolysis to convert city water into purified hydrogen

  • BP, Los Angeles International Airport, CA. (October, 2004)
  • Chevron, Rosemead, CA. (May, 2007)
  • Shell, West Los Angeles, CA. (November, 2008)

Hydrogen delivered to site in tube trailers

  • Shell, Culver City, CA. (June, 2009)

Hydrogen delivered directly to site by tapping into an existing hydrogen pipeline

  • Shell, Torrance, CA. (June, 2011)

A copy of the full report can be found on the NREL’s Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle and Infrastructure Learning Demonstration website.

To learn more about Fiedler Group’s experience in hydrogen fueling design, and how Fiedler Group can assist you with your project, contact us today.