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Hydrogen Mirror 2/97

News from Hydrogen and Fuel Cell

compiled by the German Hydrogen Association

 

The topics of issue 2/97:

 

 

 

Hanover Fair
DWV will be represented on the Hanover Fair on the joint presentation "Hydrogen Technologies" (booth J05 in hall 18).

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Membership
DWV has become a member of the International Association for Hydrogen Energy (IAHE).

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Transport
Between June and December 1996 experiments with a model tank were made on the test ground Horstwalde of the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM). The results will permit conclusions on the design of very large (more than 3000 m3) sea-going transport vessels for liquid hydrogen. The experimental work was successfully finished, and the evaluation of the data is in progress.

The project was supported by the European Commission. Partners except BAM were Air Liquide (F-Sassenage), Thyssen Nordseewerke (Emden), Germanischer Lloyd (Hamburg) and the State Material Test Institute Stuttgart (MPA).

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Buses (1)
The first hydrogen bus approved for public scheduled service in Europe without limitation of the number of passengers (Type MAN SL) has traveled 12.000 in normal service since begin of operation in May 1996 at Erlangen. (A comparable liquid hydrogen bus in Belgium had been approved for road traffic by the authorities in 1994 only for a limited number of passengers.) There were no safety relevant incidents. The bus was accepted without problems by drivers and passengers alike.

Beginning in April 1997 the bus will be used in Munich, at first for eight months by Stadtwerke Munich on the city line 53. Autobus Oberbayern intends to use the hydrogen bus afterwards to serve the line "New Munich Fair - Airport MUC" for another eight months.

The project is supported by the EU and the Bavarian State Ministry for Development and Environment.

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Buses (2)
The joint development of a hydrogen bus with a PEM cell drive is the objective of an industrial cooperation between Siemens (59%), MAN (35%), and Linde (6%). The coordination of the project is done by Ludwig-Boelkow-Systemtechnik. 50% of the public funds of 5.5 MEuro have been agreed by the Bavarian State Ministry for Economy, Transportation, and Technology in the framework of the Hydrogen Initiative Bavaria. The PEM fuel cell will have a power output of 150 kW. The hydrogen stored under 250 bar will give the low-floor bus a range of more than 300 km. The first prototype will be ready by 1999 and operate in scheduled service in the next millenium. Commercialization will follow stepwise.

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Clean motors
The Federal Ministry for Education, Science, Research and Technology (BMBF) announced after the end of a large scale experiment with electric cars on the island of Ruegen: "The electric vehicle will remain restricted to certain special applications ... A real alternative to conventional vehicles will rather be the car running on hydrogen or with a fuel cell." DWV looks forward to the consequences of this insight with great interest.

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Storage
A new storage material made of graphite nanotubes is said to be able to store 30 l hydrogen per g carbon, or 75 % by weight (no typing error!). The process has been tested only on the material so far, not with a tank. Preliminary estimates show that a container of a weight of 87 kg and a volume of 25 l under an operating pressure of 40 bar would hold enough energy for a range of 8000 km. For comparison: the BMW prototypes with 125 l liquid hydrogen have a range of about 400 km.

The production costs of the storage material under industrial conditions would be "less than 1 Dollar per kg". The physical mechanism is not yet known. If the news is confirmed and the effect can be used on a technical scale we would be a great step closer to the general application of hydrogen fuel in transportation.

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Bewag sale
The Senate of Berlin intends to sell its share in the Bewag (electricity utility). DWV advocated to use at least a part of the money for the development of hydrogen based energy technology, after the pattern set by Bavaria. A press release to this effect has been published.

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Hydrogen Mirror 2/97
Published by German Hydrogen Association, Berlin
Editor: Ulrich Schmidtchen, Berlin