Emergency Hydrogen Refueler for Individual Consumer Fuel Cell Vehicles

The Department of Energy is soliciting an emergency hydrogen refueler for an individual consumer fuel cell vehicle. With sparse hydrogen filling stations at present, operators of fuel cell powered vehicles can experience range anxiety lessening the appeal of these vehicles. Reactive Innovations, LLC is developing an emergency hydrogen refueler that can be stored in the vehicle trunk and used by the consumer to refill the vehicle if they run out of hydrogen fuel away from a hydrogen fueling station. To meet this market need, a hydrogen gas refueler is being developed that can provide 0.75 kg (1.7 lb) of hydrogen fuel refilling the vehicle within 5 minutes. With this capacity, the average fuel cell vehicle will have a 50 mile range enabling the operator to reach a hydrogen refueling station. Performance metrics for this refueler include a total mass of 10 kg (22.8 lb), a compact space of 11 liters (0.4 ft3), a reliable system with no moving parts, and a material cost budget of $391 in low production volumes. With these competitive metrics, fuel cell vehicle owners can economically store this refueler in the car trunk being assured that they will not be stranded if they run out of hydrogen gas far removed from a refueling station.