Regional Transit Authority launch a new era of public transportation in Northeast Ohio at a ceremony marking the official groundbreaking for the transit authority’s new Hydrogen Fueling Facility. When completed the facility will service the fleet of seven zero-emission Hydrogen Fuel Cell-Powered buses that will begin operating on SARTA routes late in 2016 and throughout 2017. SARTA’s State-OfThe-Art fleet which is being built by the Integrated Product Team (IPT) of Ballard Power Systems, BAE Systems Controls, and El Dorado National will be the largest in the United States operating outside the state of California.
According to SARTA executive director Kirt Conrad, construction of the $1.6 million fueling facility, which is being funded by the Ohio Department of Transportation, marks the first visible step in the authority’s concerted effort to “use the energy of tomorrow to fuel SARTA today.”
“We’ve been working with Calstart, a national consortium of more than 150 companies, transit authorities and agencies dedicated to expanding and supporting clean transportation across the United States, for a number of years to secure funding for the project,” Conrad said. “The ODOT funding combined with grants from the Federal Transit Administration will be used to purchase seven Hydrogen Fuel Cell-Powered buses places us on the leading edge of utilizing and commercializing this innovative, zero-emission technology.”
“SARTA’s first of a kind transportation technology is fantastic for both the local community and Ohio,” said Lt. Governor Mary Taylor. “Innovative projects like this help diversify our economy and put Ohio on the map as a leader in alternative energy.”
Conrad noted that SARTA has embraced fuel cells for a number of reasons. “Along with enabling us to increase our fuel mileage as much as fifty percent in the years ahead and maintain our position as a leader in the use of green technology to fuel public transit, this project will drive investment, business creation and job growth in Ohio,” he said.
“A number of Ohio-based companies and Universities, including Stark State, OSU and Cleveland State, are heavily involved and invested in fuel cell-related R & D projects,” Conrad said.
“Hydrogen is a practical, safe, cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternative to traditional fuels. Transit systems across the nation and in other countries are beginning to deploy fleets of fuel cell-powered vehicles bristling with components and technology developed and manufactured in our state.”
“The fact is that the nation and the world is going to continue to search for clean alternatives to fossil fuels,” Conrad said. “We believe it is critically important to step forward and make Ohio the focal point of growth in this industry. If we hadn’t, the investment and jobs associated with fuel cells would have gone elsewhere.”
The transition to fuel cell vehicles is further demonstrated by Toyota, Honda, and Hyundai selling passenger automobiles in California, Germany, and Japan.
How Fuel Cells work
Fuel cells create electricity from reactants stored externally. A proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell uses hydrogen and oxygen as the reactants. In its simplest form, a PEM fuel cell is two electrodes—the anode and the cathode—separated by a catalyst-coated membrane. Hydrogen from the vehicle’s storage tank enters one side of the fuel cell stack and air on the other side. The hydrogen is naturally attracted to the oxygen in the air. As the hydrogen molecule moves through the stack to get to the oxygen, the catalyst forces the hydrogen to separate into electron and proton.
The proton moves through the membrane and the electron moves to the anode. The electricity flows into a power module, which distributes electricity to the electric motor that turns the wheels of the bus. The power module also distributes electricity to the air conditioning, sound system and other on-board devices.
How Fuel Cells Power Vehicles
At the cathode, the electron recombines with the proton, and the hydrogen joins with the oxygen to create the vehicle’s only tailpipe emission—water. Fuel cells produce electricity as long as fuel is supplied.
Fuel Cell-Powered Buses
According to Federal Transit Administration, every fuel cell-powered bus put into service in the U.S. could reduce the carbon released into the atmosphere by 100 tons annually and eliminate the need for 9,000 gallons of fuel every year over the life of the vehicle. The U.S. Department of Transportation estimates that for buses running on diesel fuel, that translates into a savings of more than $37,000 per year, per vehicle.
Because buses have room for several tanks, they can store enough hydrogen to run for 16-18 hours. Buses typically fill their tanks once a day at dispensers in the bus yard, where filling 25-40 kilograms of hydrogen takes about 10 minutes. Urban buses typically drive at low speeds and make frequent stops. Batteries capture energy from braking and use this later to provide power to the air conditioning or the electric motor. Passengers appreciate the quiet, smooth, and odorless ride of fuel cell buses, and bus drivers rate the performance positively in comparison to diesel buses. Fuel cell manufacturer Ballard Power Systems, noted that fuel cell-powered bus drivers found the performance meets or exceeds that of diesel and compressed natural gas (CNG) buses for multiple important criteria.
Hydrogen Fueling Stations
Hydrogen fueling stations consist of safe, reliable equipment for storing, compressing and dispensing hydrogen. Some stations also have equipment for producing hydrogen onsite. At the stations, gaseous hydrogen flows into a compressor where it is compacted to 35 Mega Pascal’s (called “H35”) or 5,000 PSI, and then pushed into long steel storage cylinders, or “tubes.” The tubes are connected to the dispensers by pipes that can be above or underground. Most stations have a boost compressor that further compresses the hydrogen to 70 MPa (H70) or 10,000 during dispensing for passenger automobiles.
A hydrogen dispenser looks similar to a gasoline dispenser. Most dispensers have two hoses, one for H35 and one for H70. These are not interchangeable. A driver cannot connect the H70 nozzle to a vehicle with a H35 tank. Putting hydrogen into a fuel tank is similar to dispensing CNG or filling a propane tank and sounds like filling a tire with air. The driver connects the nozzle to the vehicle’s receptacle to form a hydrogen tight seal. If the seal isn’t complete, the fuel won’t flow. Once the connection is firm, fuel flows from the storage cylinders into a cooling unit in the dispenser and into the vehicle’s tank. If the vehicle uses H70, the hydrogen first passes through a boost compressor. When the tank is full, the dispenser stops. Filling a tank with hydrogen takes about the same amount of time as filling a gasoline tank.
