Dynamic Modeling and Operation of a Green Hydrogen Fueling Station for Heavy-Duty Fuel Cell Vehicles
Authors: Wang Yifan , Fenton James M. , Brooker Paul 
Published: September 2023

Hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) have increased driving ranges and faster refueling times than battery electric vehicles (BEVs). The driving range of FCEVs can be increased by increasing the size, quantity or operating pressure of on-board hydrogen storage tanks at a lower weight and cost than increasing the size or number of Li-ion battery packs in BEVs. Ffast-refueling leads to less waiting time at the fueling station for high-utilization commercial vehicles. As a result, fuel cell system heavy-duty vehicles (HDV) are attracting more attention [1]. Currently, the lack of a hydrogen refueling infrastructure is limiting FCEV adoption. Since the driving routes of HDV trucks are more predictable, a small number of strategically located fueling stations could service pre-planned truck driving routes [2]. While hydrogen refueling protocols and fueling stations for light-duty vehicles (LDV) have been extensively studied [3,4,5], HDV trucks have different refueling protocols and operating conditions (e.g. mass holdup, pressure, refueling rate). To our knowledge, little work has been done on modeling hydrogen fueling stations for HDV trucks applications. With this motivation, a dynamic model of a truck stop coupled with green hydrogen production has been developed for fleet HDV trucks. At the truck stop, green hydrogen is produced from water electrolysis using solar photovoltaics (PV). Electrochemical hydrogen compression (EHC) is implemented for high-pressure hydrogen storage and dispensing. The fluctuations from solar PV and truck hydrogen demand are actively managed by installation of a spherical hydrogen storage vessel. The feasibility and flexibility of a truck stop using 100% renewable electricity and hydrogen will be discussed.

A high-fidelity dynamic model of a Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) electrolyzer is developed for hydrogen production from PV electricity. A PEM electrochemical hydrogen compressor model is developed for gas pressurization with consideration of EHC temperature and water management. The green hydrogen is stored in a large spherical storage vessel to decouple the different PV power loads and HDV trucks hydrogen refueling demands. A modular system for HDV trucks refueling (nominal working pressure of 35 MPa) is designed and modeled with parallel multi-stage hydrogen compression and cascaded storage tanks. It was found that single modular system for FCEV refueling shows a service gap during hydrogen cascaded storage tank refilling, but a multiple modular structure can be easily expanded and provide uninterrupted hydrogen for FCEV refueling.

The different hydrogen production and dispensing scenarios are implemented depending on the seasonal solar supply and varied HDV trucks demands. Hydrogen compression using mechanical compressor and electrochemical compressor are compared. The truck stop operation strategies are proposed based on the integrated process systems analysis of solar penetrations, hydrogen production and compression, and HDV trucks demand. The feasibility and flexibility of truck stop fueled by solar energy provide an insight for the transition to Net Zero Emission Transportation.

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