Taking the 'complex' out of complex hydrogen refueling stations

As more hydrogen refueling stations come into operation, a combination of electrical actuation, component integration, and system serviceability, can help reduce system complexity.

As more hydrogen refueling stations come into operation, Niklas Coors from Norgren argues a combination of electrical actuation, component integration, and system serviceability, can help reduce system complexity while delivering tangible cost and operational benefits to inform CapEx and OpEx decision making.

With the potential to decarbonize electricity generation, transport, and heat, hydrogen is will play a central role in the drive for sustainable energy sources.

Yet, an essential element in the successful up take and ongoing management of hydrogen use across many applications is the necessity to ensure that hydrogen refueling stations can be implemented and economically operated as efficiently as possible, as part of the ever-growing hydrogen economy and its infrastructure.

When considering the viability of a hydrogen refueling station, both CapEx and OpEx concerns underpin decision making around initial construction go-ahead and ongoing profitable operation.

The hydrogen refueling station pain points

Beneath this decision sits a multitude of complexities that influence engineering, operation and purchasing factors.

Design engineers are faced with complex station designs which are required to satisfy certification and functionality requirements - as well as considering time and space constraints - and at the same time ensuring they keep up-to-speed with industry developments and growth demands.

Once up and running, the operations team may have to grapple with unreliable and difficult to service components, which, can lead to unplanned and expensive station downtime.

Alongside complex design and operational issues, the importance of the supply chain and purchasing requirements for the station cannot be underestimated.  Many operators are faced with a fragmented and difficult to manage supply chain; one that places upward pressure on total cost of ownership for the station lifecycle.

While many believe that fueling station complexity is linked to critical areas, including the essential piping and instrumentation system infrastructure required at the station, applications with numerous subsystems that can include hydrogen storage, the pilot gas panel, the dispenser, and the compressor section, only add to this complication.

Therefore, it is important that operators seek out advantages that can help reduce the impact of system intricacies and ongoing operation.  These include rapid industry scale up as demand for hydrogen use intensifies across many applications, reliable component availability to ensure stations continue to operate efficiently, and the prevailing high level of required piping around the station to make it function.

Recognizing the positive impact three proposals: electric actuation, component integration and serviceability can have to reduce station system complexity, will enable stakeholders to make improved specification decisions that can underpin overall effectiveness of the hydrogen refueling station model.

Complexity solutions

Electric actuation:

A typical hydrogen refueling station’s piping and instrumentation system will encompass 15-20 valves alone, as part of a multitude of components that also include regulators and process control solutions.

In most applications these are air or pneumatically operated, which require an entire sub-station of their own including an air compressor, FRLs and air preparation equipment, plus the associated piping and tubing.  The sub system must also comply with all safety-related requirements such as ATEX, as well as being able to operate successfully in both warm and cold environments.

An answer to reducing system complication could lie in the specification of electric actuation solutions that can help focus on reducing the number of subsystems needed.  This provides cost and operational benefits by way of a significant reduction in the total number of components.  In turn, delivering fewer potential leak points, higher component reliability and, ultimately, a less complex system design.

System solution developments - including those supplied by Norgren - are increasingly emerging to seamlessly facilitate a transition to purely electrically operated components.  Both OpEx and CapEx considerations can be influenced through having less components to purchase, service, or at risk of failure.  Add in the advantages of BUS systems to further reduce wiring complexity and electric actuation should be viewed as a real driver for system improvement across several areas.

Component Integration:

Again, the typical hydrogen refueling station requires the purchase and implementation of many fittings, tubes, pipes, and general assemblies.  But is the prescribed way the best way?  Is there an opportunity to eliminate a percentage of the many components that add to the multipart and potentially inefficient running of the hydrogen refueling station, and at the same time tackle the issues associated with fragmented supply chains?

The promising attributes of manifolds equipped with modular functionality offer a credible solution.  Through integration of different functions such as valves, regulators, and filters, it is feasible to reduce the overall quantity of fittings and piping.  This not only eliminates potential leak points in the system, but it also delivers installation timescale benefits, as well as reducing the overall footprint of the station section.  Such an approach has already gained traction in the development of CNG refueling stations, as well as traditional hydraulic applications.

Serviceability:

The reliability of components so they deliver a prolonged and improved lifetime is key to operational efficiency.  This means specifying component solutions that have a proven testing and simulation background and have been developed for the exact needs of station builders and operators.

Where servicing is required, the high-pressure environments components operate within can often prove problematic.  Typical systems see entire components removed from process lines for servicing which is time-consuming and can lead to leak issues when reassembled.

The remedy lies in cartridge type components which can be serviced without the need to remove the entire body from the piping.  Again, potentially difficult servicing needs are mitigated, time is saved, and servicing costs minimized.

Finally, condition monitoring of essential components can support overall aims to reduce complex system need and increase efficiencies.  Integrated solutions that feature sensors and transmitters to monitor pressure and temperature are ideal in this sense.  Generated data not only provides a transparent view on the status of the component, but it also enables better informed decision making for predictive maintenance schedules in the future.

As the demand for hydrogen-based energy solutions intensifies, it is vital that the supporting infrastructure (such as refueling stations) required to support it is effective both from a cost and operational perspective. 

Addressing potentially problematic issues such as multifaceted system design, costly large-scale component purchasing, disjointed supply chains and time-consuming maintenance requirements, linked to the critical piping and instrumentation functions makes good business sense. It will help to drive down expense and drive-up operational efficiency for the long term.