Hydrogen Refueling Station Boil-Off Venting Utilization Demonstration

Special Power Sources (SPS) in partnership with Stark Area Regional Transit Authority (SARTA) will demonstrate the capability to address the hydrogen fueling station challenge of boil-off venting that partially offsets the benefits of reduction in greenhouse gas indirect heating because hydrogen has an impact of 12 times that of carbon dioxide per pound (over 100 years). The SPS Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) generator will be integrated at the SARTA refueling station using boil-off hydrogen to generate power for local use, eliminate atmospheric impact, capture economic value, and provide energy resiliency. The waste heat generated by the fuel cell system will also be captured for building use, increasing the system's overall efficiency to > 80%. During Phase I, SPS will (1) deliver a TRL 9 Commercial 1.5KW SOFC to SARTA to demonstrate the use of the hydrogen boil-off to power processing equipment, (2) SARTA will facilitate the installation of the generator and analyze and report on the application of the refueling system process power savings and efficiencies. In addition to the demonstration efforts, SPS and SARTA are exploring a collaboration with the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and West Virginia University which is carrying out a research project to measure and quantify hydrogen emissions (venting, purging, and leakage) for the ôpump-to-wheelsö segment of the hydrogen value chain. EDF plans to measure hydrogen emissions at the SARTA station before installing the SPS system, which will inform how much hydrogen emissions can be saved by the SPS system. These emissions savings will not only bring economic value but also will help maximize the climate benefits of deploying hydrogen by avoiding the indirect warming effects of hydrogen that is released into the atmosphere. Post-installation measurements may also be carried out if deemed necessary to accurately quantify the emissions savings brought by the SPS system. This early proof of concept and demonstration is important to the recently awarded DOE Hydrogen Hub as it will validate the fuel cell as a viable option for boil-off venting mitigation. The team will provide a balanced approach that includes the deployment, operation, and measurement data. Our team will use the demo system performance and data measurements to design and develop the next-generation configurable SOFC system that could be used at every Hydrogen Hub for powering processing equipment, outside of the grid system. By coupling with EDFĺs planned emissions measurement project will quantify the avoided hydrogen emissions by our system at no additional cost to our project. If awarded, Phase II will demonstrate the scalability of the SOFC system for all refueling stations to transfer points in the future HYDROGEN infrastructure pathway.