Hydrogen/Electricity Coproduction And the Future
of the H₂ Economy
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by Robb Edwards, Ztek Corporation

Ztek Corporation Demonstration Activities

Ztek Corporation is currently in the process of installing a hydrogen fueling station at Pacific Gas & Electric’s service facility in Auburn, CA for the California Fuel Cell Partnership.  The station will feature Ztek’s smaller CTU-600H hydrogen reformer (see picture below) on a transportable platform.  A larger-scale HPSR-2000H reformer will be delivered to Maw Chong Energy of Taiwan in 2004 for operational training and hydrogen supply for fuel cell vehicles.

Ztek is also engaged in a project with the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund to provide a fuel cell power system for Dinosaur State Park in Rocky Hill, CT.  Ztek is scheduled to deliver and commission the system in the spring of 2004.  A demonstration project of SOFC-MT hybrid system in 2005 is also in the planning stage.

Prior to these activities, Ztek operated its solid oxide fuel cell and hydrogen reformer demonstration system utilizing natural gas and gasoline for over 30,000 hours under the sponsorship of Tennessee Valley Authority.

All of these activities will enable Ztek to compile enough data to continue the refinement of its products.  The ultimate convergence of Ztek’s technologies will allow it to overcome one of the most prominent challenges facing the fuel cell and hydrogen industries, as discussed below.

Hydrogen and Electricity Co-Production

The fuel cell and hydrogen industries have long been faced with the “chicken and egg problem.”  How can a hydrogen-fueling infrastructure be constructed if there are not enough fuel cell vehicles to demand it, and how can fuel cell vehicles become commercially accepted without a hydrogen-fueling infrastructure?

U.S. President George W. Bush took an important first step toward answering this question in his State of the Union address in January 2003 by pledging $1.2 billion in federal funds for the development of a hydrogen infrastructure.  At the state level, Governor Schwarzenegger of California has detailed and endorsed a plan referred to as “Hydrogen Highways” to ensure the availability of hydrogen fueling stations every 20 miles on California's 21 major interstate highways, using state leadership and challenging businesses to match the state's leadership commitment.  It remains up to the private sector to develop solutions that will allow hydrogen supply to grow proportionally to demand and ease the financial risks of investors.

Ztek has worked on meeting this challenge for the last several years.  Much of the massive buildup cost of an exclusive hydrogen infrastructure can be avoided by utilizing existing natural gas and gasoline infrastructures to reform hydrogen on-site.  A compact hydrogen refueling station can be deployed in direct response to increased demand.  Furthermore, a station that is capable of producing both hydrogen and electricity will enable station owners to realize an increased return on their investment and be less vulnerable to fluctuations in demand for hydrogen.  Ztek’s highly integrated Hydrogen and Electricity Co-production System (HECP) is an attractive answer to this dilemma.

For hydrogen production to be commercially viable it must offer competitive or superior economic and environmental performance and allow the existing customer experience to remain relatively unchanged.  An energy station that combines steam methane reforming (SMR) and solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technologies will offer the environmental benefits of hydrogen and fuel cells and be economically synergistic with existing gasoline stations.  Its synergies are derived from (i) the balanced supply and demand of thermal energy between the hydrogen and electricity production and (ii) the matched electricity generation for the operation of the hydrogen station.  Furthermore, providing hydrogen production and dispensing on-site will ensure that the customer experience remains largely intact.  A hydrogen and electricity co-production system will enable a rapid and simplified deployment of on-site electric generation and hydrogen-fueling capabilities to competitively service the emerging hydrogen powered automobile.

Distributed hydrogen production via small scale reforming is envisioned to complement the centralized production in the coming age of hydrogen infrastructure build up.  Distributed hydrogen production would be attractive for local demand-matching generation, eliminating hydrogen transportation by land, which would be overly hazardous and costly as demand grows.  Although electrolysis is another mean to achieve onsite, on-demand hydrogen production, the high cost of electricity relative to thermal energy and the limited efficiency and capital cost of the electrolysis technology will limit its uses in mostly small and niche circumstances.

For visualization purpose, a rendition of a commercial scale energy station is shown below:

The incremental buildup allowed by such a system will minimize financial commitment and potential investment risks while allowing the fuel cell and hydrogen industries to take hold in the transportation infrastructure industry.  The efficiency, environmental and system cost advantages provided by a co-production system will provide local stations with a strong competitive position in the emerging hydrogen economy.  Ztek Corporation looks forward to being at the forefront of continued commercial and technical innovations that will make this hydrogen economy a reality. ©2003. All Rights Reserved. A Publication of the National Hydrogen Association.
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