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Hydrogen refuelling for heavy-duty applications with very high flow rates

Refuelling hydrogen in large quantities quickly - this requirement is becoming more and more common. How does this process work efficiently and safely? What do the components for this have to look like? ZBT is investigating these issues with nine partners as part of a new EU-funded project.

Within the framework of RHeaDHy, a hydrogen filling station is being set up on ZBT's hydrogen test field for testing purposes and to validate the refuelling train.

There is strong demand from the EU to decarbonise freight transport. The recently launched EU-funded project "RHeaDHy" will contribute to this process by developing high-performance hydrogen refuelling stations. RHeaDHy aims to fully implement and validate new refuelling protocols that allow 100 kg of hydrogen to be refuelled in 10 minutes.

The project partners design and build a refuelling train for 70 MPa hydrogen applications (e.g. for trucks). In order to fulfil the mass flow requirements of 170 g/s on average (approx. 300 g/s at peak), the key components currently missing for this are being developed. The comprehensive approach in RHeaDHy guarantees an optimised component and dispenser design, as the consortium is staffed with leading partners for the production of all components.

Over the next two years, the components and the refuelling train will be designed, developed and built, allowing for a test campaign of at least one and a half years. Two test refuelling stations will be built in Germany and France to test two truck refuelling systems that will also be built and to validate the refuelling protocols on large-scale systems. On the German side, ZBT will install and test the newly developed refuelling train on its hydrogen test field.

This will allow an optimal compromise between constraints due to the arrangement of the individual components and real vehicle constraints. The new refuelling protocols to be implemented are based on previous projects (PRHYDE) as well as standardisation work. They include calculations of refuelling parameters related to the specific vehicle tank, derived from hundreds of simulations.

The results obtained in RHeaDHy will help to feed real-world process feedback into standardisation bodies and establish new standards for refuelling components and refuelling protocols. RHeaDHy will help open up the market for heavy-duty hydrogen applications by enabling a wide-ranging hydrogen refuelling network based on European ambitions for alternative fuels.

RHeaDHy
Start: 1 February 2023
Duration: 4 years
Consortium: Engie, Hydrogen Refuelling Solutions, ZBT, Engie Energie Services, Emerson Process Management Flow, Tescom Europe, Alfa Laval Vicarb, Lauda Dr. R. Wobser, Faurecia Systemes D'echappement, Benkei
Funding: Clean Hydrogen Partnership, European Partnership
Details: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101101443

Contact person at ZBT:
Lukas Willmeroth
Phone: +49 203 7598-2190
E-mail: l.willmeroth@zbt.de

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