Renewable hydrogen future begins now in Ft. Collins, Colo.
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The Hydrofiller 175-6000G extracts about 1 kg. hydrogen from water per 60 kWh. Unlike many electrolyzers, the unit compresses the hydrogen in the production process, so it is ready to mix with compressed natural gas. (Photo courtesy of Avalence LLC Hydrogen Energy Systems)
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There are people who wait until the bugs are worked out to adopt a new technology and there are adventurous souls who take each new gadget apart to figure out how it works—and how to make it work better. The city of Fort Collins, Colo., is taking the latter approach to hydrogen energy systems.
"We want to educate ourselves about producing and using hydrogen, about the costs, equipment and options," said Gary Schroeder, an energy services engineer with the city utility. "I'm a great believer in learning from projects."
Fort Collins is preparing to launch the first phase of a multi-faceted hydrogen plan that will provide the municipality with the hands-on education that Schroeder advocated. This fall, one of the city's compressed natural gas-powered Transfort minibuses will be converted to run on Hythane. The ultra-low emissions fuel developed by Hydrogen Components, Inc. of Littleton, Colo., mixes compressed hydrogen gas with compressed natural gas to burn cleaner than CNG alone. Minor tuning of the CNG engine will optimize emission reductions.
Part of the project will include gathering data to compare emissions from the Hythane bus with the city's CNG buses. If the bus performs well on the hybrid fuel, Fort Collins will convert up to five more minibuses and a fleet vehicle to Hythane.
City builds filling station to support converted vehicles
These vehicles will eventually run out of fuel, of course, bringing up the question of fueling infrastructure. Fort Collins is addressing that issue by building a fast-fill CNG station that will pump Hythane, and speed up refueling time for conventional CNG vehicles. Funding for the specialized equipment is coming from the Colorado Governor's Office of Energy Management and Conservation and the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program, a Federal program, jointly administered by the FHWA and the Federal Transit Administration.
Hythane requires a dual tap dispenser to mix CNG with H2. The dispenser is being built by Fueling Technologies, Inc., a Canadian manufacturer. The filling station will also a have pure hydrogen dispenser, developed by HCI. "That was actually Phase II of the plan," observed Schroeder, "but HCI had the dispenser ready to go, so we decided to install it now."
So far, there are only a few hydrogen-only prototypes on the road, but the Ford Motor Company is working on a hydrogen-electric hybrid fleet vehicle that it expects to debut within the next two years. Having the fueling capability puts Fort Collins in an excellent position to participate in future demonstration projects.
Innovative electrolyzer supplies compressed H2 for Hythane mix
Adding initiative to innovation, the station will be outfitted with an electric-powered electrolyzer to produce its own compressed hydrogen. The Hydrofiller 175-6000G, made by Avalence LLC Hydrogen Energy Systems, extracts hydrogen from water—about 1 kg., roughly equivalent to the energy in a gallon of gas—per 60 kWh.
Using off-peak electricity and not factoring in the cost of the equipment, the price of the fuel is about $1.80 per gallon. "Off-peak electricity is very efficient and inexpensive so it helps keep the cost down," said Schroeder.
The fact that the electrolyzer compresses the hydrogen at 6,000 pounds per square inch in the production process somewhat improves the efficiency. "Most electrolyzers produce hydrogen at slightly above atmospheric pressure. It has to be compressed in a separate process before it can be mixed with CNG," Schroeder explained. "This model eliminates the need for a compressor. We want the operation to be as efficient as possible."
Since producing renewable fuel from grid power, much of which derives from non-renewable sources, is not the ideal scenario, the city plans to purchase wind credits from its own wind power program to offset the filling station's electricity needs.
Biomass-to-hydrogen project may lead to hydrogen-based electricity
The energy services engineer stressed again that the hydrogen economy is still very much in its infancy. "The first baby step is running vehicles on Hythane, which is within reach now at a relatively low-cost premium. After that comes hydrogen hybrid vehicles, like the one Ford is developing," he continued.
Those steps will eventually lead to fuel cell-powered vehicles and hydrogen processed with renewable energy, Schroeder predicted. Characteristically, Fort Collins is not waiting to see what happens with the latter technology. The city utility hopes to partner with Frontline Bioenergy, a Longmont, Colo.-based gasification system manufacturer, on a proposed demonstration project to convert wood waste and local crop residues to fuel cell-quality hydrogen.
The success of the biomass-to-hydrogen project could bring the renewable hydrogen economy a step closer, as the opening of the Hythane filling station will. Ground breaking on construction is expected in late July and Schroeder expects the facility to be refueling city fleet vehicles this fall. "Most of the talk about hydrogen technology places it 10 years or more in the future," he said. "Our goal is to get some hardware on the ground now, to make it real to people."
