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by the Vestforsyning energy utility. The Danish Energy Technology Development and Demonstration Program (EUDP) provided support to the total project budget of E5 million (US$6.6 million).

The establishment of the 700 bar hydrogen station in Holstebro is part of the LINK2009 project, under which H2 Logic developed its 700 bar fast-fill technology. The station in Holstebro uses a globally standardised refuelling nozzle, and follows the established SAE J2601 refuelling standard. This standard ensures the same fast and uniform refuelling of hydrogen in less than three minutes to any FCEV at any hydrogen station worldwide that complies with the standard.

Collaboration with KoreaAnd last spring the City of Copenhagen, H2 Logic, and Hydrogen Link Denmark Association signed a memorandum of understanding with Korean automaker Hyundai-Kia Motors, to push the deployment of FCEVs and hydrogen infrastructure in both Denmark and South Korea for 2015 [FCB, May 2011, p1].

The MOU aims for collaboration on preparing and conducting both FCEV and hydrogen refuelling demonstration activities for a continuing buildup of vehicle volume, and a country-wide and urban dense refuelling network by 2015 in both countries. It also advocates the necessary financing and support mechanisms for commercialisation of both aspects beyond 2015.

The MOU followed on from one signed by Hyundai-Kia a couple of months earlier with key hydrogen stakeholders from the Nordic countries – Sweden, Norway, and Iceland, as well as Denmark [FCB, March 2011, p2].

National, international networks in ScandinaviaHydrogen Link Denmark is a national network for advancing the use of hydrogen for transport in Denmark. It is facilitating and coordinating the buildup of hydrogen refuelling infrastructure and the rollout of fuel cell electric vehicles in Denmark.

Hydrogen Link is part of the Scandinavian Hydrogen Highway Partnership, which is working towards ensuring that Scandinavia is one of the first regions in Europe where hydrogen is available and used in a network of refuelling stations. [Check out the feature on the Scandinavian Hydrogen Highway Partnership in FCB, March 2011.]

Hydrogen Link Denmark: www.hydrogenlink.net/eng

Scandinavian Hydrogen Highway Partnership: www.scandinavianhydrogen.org

Danish Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Partnership: www.hydrogennet.dk (mainly in Danish, but English sitemap at www.hydrogennet.dk/sitemap0)

H2 Logic: www.h2logic.com

The first 700 bar hydrogen refuelling station in Denmark – developed by H2 Logic – was opened last summer in the western city of Holstebro. [Photo: Jens Bach/Hydrogen Link Denmark]

Hydrogen utility vehicle keeps streets clean in Switzerland

The Bucher CityCat H2 hydrogen fuel cell powered street cleaning vehicle – hybridised with a lithium-polymer battery – has been undergoing testing on the streets of Basel since the summer of 2009 [FCB, July 2009, p3]. The project, called hy.muve, is intended to take hydrogen propulsion out of the laboratory and onto the streets, in order to gain experience on using the technology under practical conditions.

In addition to researchers from EMPA and the Paul Scherrer Institute, the project team also includes vehicle manufacturer Bucher Schörling, electric drive specialist BRUSA Elecktronik, hydrogen manufacturer Messer Schweiz, and the City of Basel Environment and Energy Department as well as the city’s cleaning services.

The pilot trial has confirmed that using

hydrogen as a fuel for municipal utility vehicles is technically feasible, saves energy, and is environmentally friendly. But to make it cost-effective, the price of fuel cells, pressurised storage tanks, and electric drives must all drop significantly.

Problems are for solvingTo develop a prototype and then test it right away under everyday conditions of use is not an easy undertaking, and setbacks are almost guaranteed. The hydrogen powered street cleaning vehicle, which took about 18 months to develop before it began trials in Basel in 2009, is no exception.

In 2009 the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (EMPA) and the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) developed a hydrogen-powered municipal street cleaning vehicle, which has been in real-world operation in Basel. The vehicle has now been taken to St Gallen in northeastern Switzerland for further practical trials.

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‘It became clear relatively quickly that the fuel cell system, which had been developed as a one-off specially for the project, was not yet ready for use in a real-life setting,’ explains project leader Christian Bach, head of EMPA’s Internal Combustion Engines Laboratory. ‘On top of that, the various safety systems kept interfering with each other, and bringing everything to a halt.’

Even so, the vehicle achieved its targets both in terms of energy consumption and performance. The project team therefore replaced the original 20 kW PEM fuel cell system with another more mature product, and also implemented a single centralised safety module. The ‘Fuel Cell System Mk 2’ has been in operation since the summer of 2011, and

has proven to be far more robust: only once has it been necessary to take the vehicle out of service, because of a defective water pump.

But problems rarely come alone, and the voltage converter between the fuel cell system and the battery died, then the sensing system for the electric motor drive – as well as two cooling water pumps – had to be replaced shortly after the vehicle was initially repaired. All these components were custom-made for the vehicle, and therefore had long delivery times.

However, despite these setbacks, for the past three months the vehicle has been running so reliably that the city cleaning services are able to use it on an everyday basis, exactly the same as would a ‘normal’ vehicle.

Lessons learned in BaselThe test phase in Basel has shown that fuel cells are ready for use under everyday conditions, also – perhaps particularly – in niche applications such as municipal utility vehicles. Their use allows the operator to save a considerable amount of energy, since the vehicle consumes less than half the fuel of its contemporaries. Instead of 5–5.5 litres of diesel per hour (equivalent to an energy consumption of 180–200 MJ per hour), the hydrogen powered vehicle needs only 0.3–0.6 kg of fuel per hour (i.e. 40–80 MJ per hour).

And in terms of CO2 emissions, the new vehicle performs about 40% better than a diesel powered equivalent, even when the hydrogen is produced by the steam reforming of natural gas using fossil fuels. If the hydrogen was produced using energy from renewable sources then the CO2 reduction would be even greater.

During use the innovative vehicle has proven to be user-friendly and safe. Refuelling was performed by the drivers themselves at a mobile, easy-to-use hydrogen fuelling station. The refuelling stations and garages where the

vehicles are parked are fitted with a hydrogen monitoring system, but since it has been in use there has not been a single problem caused by hydrogen leaks. An additional advantage is the fact that the fuel cell powered vehicle is much quieter than a diesel vehicle, both when driving to the area to be cleaned as well as during the cleaning operation itself – even when the suction system and brushes are operating. This leads to a noticeable reduction in noise, particularly for the drivers.

The only disadvantage is that on cold days the waste heat from the fuel cell and the electric motor are not sufficient to adequately warm the driver’s cabin – a typical weakness of electrical drives. To counter this, the driver’s seat was fitted with a heater unit for use on cold days.

Focus shifts to durabilityThe test phase in Basel came to an end in mid-March, and the vehicle has now been taken to St Gallen for further practical trials. Now that the teething problems have been overcome, the vehicle will undergo further testing in everyday situations to gain more operating experience, and to allow the ageing behaviour of the various components used in the vehicle to be studied.

Currently a vehicle of this kind is about three times as expensive as a conventional one. On the other hand, the costs of fuel cell systems alone have over the past few years dropped by a factor of ten, and the end of this trend is not yet in sight.

The project is financed by EMPA, the Paul Scherrer Institute, Bucher Schoerling, Messer Schweiz and BRUSA Elektronik as well as the ETH-Domain’s Competence Centre for Energy and Mobility (CCEM), Novatlantis – Sustainability in the ETH-Domain, the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE), and the pilot regions of Basel, St Gallen, Bern, and Onex.

Contact: Christian Bach, Head of Internal Combustion Engines Group, EMPA, Duebendorf, Switzerland. Tel: +41 58 765 4137, Email: christian.bach@empa.ch, Web: http://ow.ly/aupqF or www.empa.ch

hy.muve project: www.empa.ch/hy.muve (in German)

Paul Scherer Institute, General Energy Research Department: www.psi.ch/ene

Bucher Schörling: www.bucherschoerling.com

BRUSA Elektronik AG: www.brusa.biz

Messer Schweiz AG: www.messer.ch

Swiss Competence Center Energy and Mobility: www.ccem.ch

Swiss Federal Office of Energy: www.bfe.admin.ch

City of Basel: www.bs.ch

Novatlantis: www.novatlantis.ch

City of St Gallen: www.stadt.sg.ch

The hy.muve project in Switzerland has been field testing a hydrogen fuel cell powered municipal street cleaning vehicle on the streets of Basel.

Not a load of rubbishA similar project is under way in Germany, where Heliocentris Fuel Cells is collaborating with FAUN Umwelttechnik GmbH, a European market leader for disposal vehicles [FCB, September 2010, p3]. There a hybrid waste disposal vehicle with significantly reduced noise and exhaust emissions is being field tested with Berliner Stadtreinigung (BSR), the country’s largest municipal disposal company.

The main objective of this prototype is to demonstrate the suitability for daily use of an electrical propulsion system with a fuel cell for garbage collection in a Rotopress garbage collection vehicle. Heliocentris is responsible for the design and integration of the 32 kW PEM fuel cell unit, as well as the hydrogen tank system, as a vehicle subsystem. FAUN will support the energy management and safety functions with regard to vehicle integration, while BSR will manage the test programme.