Jan 23 2013
Air Products’ proprietary hydrogen dispensing and infrastructure technology was featured today in Cleveland, Ohio where the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA), in coordination with the NASA Glenn Research Center, held a hydrogen fuel cell bus program media event.
Air Products provided the hydrogen fueling station dispensing unit, and hydrogen compression and storage technologies, which were installed working with NASA contractor Sierra Lobo, Inc. and are located at RTA’s Hayden Garage in East Cleveland. At this location Air Products’ technology will be compressing, storing, and providing hydrogen produced from an on-site electrolysis unit, separating water into hydrogen and oxygen, to a 40-foot, 57 passenger bus that will transport RTA passengers between 60 to 80 miles a day for six to eight hours daily. The new hydrogen bus at RTA is powered by a UTC Power PureMotion fuel cell system, which runs on hydrogen and is free of harmful emissions.
“We’ve been involved with several mass transit hydrogen fuel cell projects around the country and the world and are pleased to play an important role in Cleveland’s project. The technology for hydrogen feeding fuel cells to power transportation vehicles is proven. Cleveland RTA riders will now experience that first-hand, and do so riding in a bus without any emissions other than water vapor,” said Robert Kelly, business development manager for Hydrogen Energy Systems at Air Products.
"RTA is the first transit system in Ohio, and one of the few in the nation, to produce its own hydrogen fuel," said Joseph Calabrese, CEO and general manager for RTA. "We are glad to be working with NASA on this unique project in fuel-efficiency."
Air Products’ most recent mass transit project involvement was in 2012 in Michigan with the commissioning of a fueling station and related infrastructure equipment. Details on Air Products’ portfolio of hydrogen fueling station technologies are provided at www.airproducts.com/h2energy.
Air Products, the leading global supplier of hydrogen to refineries to assist in producing cleaner burning transportation fuels, has vast experience in the hydrogen fueling industry. In fact, several sites today for certain hydrogen fueling applications are fueling at rates of over 75,000 refills per year. Use of the company’s fueling technology is increasing and is over 500,000 hydrogen fills per year. The company has been involved in over 150 hydrogen fueling projects in the United States and 19 countries worldwide. Cars, trucks, vans, buses, scooters, forklifts, locomotives, planes, cell towers, material handling equipment, and even submarines have been fueled with trend-setting Air Products’ technologies.
Air Products has more than 50 years of hydrogen experience and an extensive patent portfolio with over 50 patents in hydrogen dispensing technology. Air Products provides liquid and gaseous hydrogen and a variety of enabling devices and protocols for fuel dispensing at varied pressures. Hydrogen for these stations can be delivered to a site via truck or pipeline, produced by natural gas reformation, biomass conversion, or by electrolysis, including electrolysis that is solar and wind driven.