Fueling Station Component Validation · 5/19/2020 · Nov 2016 Jul 2017 Jul 2018 2019. Months. 0. All [kg] 200. NREL cdpRETAIL_infr_82. Created: Jan-13-20 9:58 PM | Data Range: 2014Q3-2019Q3

Fueling Station Component Validation

Genevieve Saur, Spencer Gilleon, and Sam SprikNational Renewable Energy Laboratory

H2@Scale Working GroupMay 19, 2020

This presentation does not contain any proprietary, confidential, or otherwise restricted information.

NREL | 2

NREL’s National Fuel Cell Technology Evaluation Center

Approach: NFCTEC Data/Analysis/Results Handling

CDPs

DDPs

Composite Data Products (CDPs) • Aggregated data across multiple systems, sites, and teams

• Publish analysis results without revealing proprietary data every 6 months2

Detailed Data Products (DDPs) • Individual data analyses• Identify individual contribution to CDPs• Only shared with partner who supplied data every 6 months1

1) Data exchange may happen more frequently based on data, analysis, and collaboration2) Results published via NREL Tech Val website, conferences, and reports

Results

Internal analysis completed quarterly

Bundled data (operation and maintenance/safety)

delivered to NREL quarterly

ConfidentialPublic

NREL | 3

Collaborations

Air LiquideAir Products

California State University Los AngelesEquilon

FirstElement FuelH2 FrontierITM Power

IwataniLinde

MesserProton OnSite/NEL

ShellStratosFuel

California Energy CommissionCalifornia Air Resources Board

SCAQMD

California Fuel Cell PartnershipIPHE and HySUT

Gas Technology InstituteCA - CDFA Division of

Measurement Standards

Data Requirements > Data Reporting > Analysis Results > Feedback

NREL | 4

Relevance: Evaluating Existing Stations/Equipment

Objectives • Use existing stations as real-world guide

for future innovations• Identify issues for research• Have results readily available (both

public and private)

FirstElement Fuel, Costa Mesa, CA. Photo: NREL

Air Liquide, Anaheim, CA. Photo: NREL

A Developing Market• 41 retail stations open (39 last AMR)

• 40 in CA • 1 in CT • As of April 2020

• Supporting over 8,250* FCEVs• 2,006* FCEVs sold in 2019

* https://www.anl.gov/es/light-duty-electric-drive-vehicles-monthly-sales-updates

NREL | 5

Hydrogen Stations Across the U.S.Light Duty

45 Total StationsRetail and Non-Retail43 are Retail - Open

California41 Retail - Open18 Retail – Planned Awarded

North East12-25 Retail – Planned1 Retail Station Open5 Retail Stations Planned in 2020

www.cafcp.org/sites/default/files/h2_station_list.pdfwww.afdc.energy.gov/fuels/hydrogen_locations.html

As of 4/6/2020

This includes non-retail

California200 targeted by 2025

1,000 targeted by 2030

NREL | 6

Cumulative Number of Retail Stations

Cumulative Stations - Retail Stations

2014

Q4

2015

Q1

2015

Q2

2015

Q3

2015

Q4

2016

Q1

2016

Q2

2016

Q3

2016

Q4

2017

Q1

2017

Q2

2017

Q3

2017

Q4

2018

Q1

2018

Q2

2018

Q3

2018

Q4

2019

Q1

2019

Q2

2019

Q3

2019

Q4Future

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Num

ber o

f Sta

tions

Future - AwardedRetiredOpen

NREL cdpRETAIL_infr_10Created: Jan-13-20 5:56 PM | Data Range: 2011Q1-2019Q3

925

2,473

4436*

8,250*

*Argonne National Laboratory, 2020

Next challenge: Medium/heavy duty FC truck refueling

6,700*

NREL | 7

Station Types

Delivered hydrogen comes in part from the merchant hydrogen chemical market which is about 260 tonnes/day for liquid and 15,000 tonnes/day for gaseous*. The flexibility of this market has decreased recently due to demands by FCEVs and other new markets. California FCEVs accounted for ~2.5 tonne/day in 2018.* Hydrogen and Fuel Cells for Data Center Applications Project Meeting: Workshop Report. NREL/TP-5400-75355.

NREL | 8

Hydrogen Dispensed By Quarter - Retail Stations

2015

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

2016

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

2017

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

2018

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

2019

Q1 Q2 Q3

1 1 3 10 17 20 23 25 26 27 30 30 31 32 32 35 30 27 220

50

100

150

200

250

Hyd

roge

n D

ispe

nsed

[1,0

00 k

g]

Cumulative Hydrogen Dispensed = 2,107,471 kg

By Year

2,341 kg

104,891 kg

449,725 kg

913,570 kg

636,944 kg

0 200 400 600 800 1000

H2 Dispensed [1,000 kg]

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019 thru Q3

NREL cdpRETAIL_infr_01Created: Jan-13-20 3:22 PM | Data Range: 2014Q3-2019Q3 Note: Colors represent individual stations. Station count is number

at bottom of bar.

Hydrogen Dispensed by Quarter

Following the color bars, which represent individual stations, one can trace generally increasing H2 dispensed and non-reporting.

Station with increasing H2 dispensed trend

Station whose reporting req. ended

NREL | 9

Station usage

0

100

200

300

70M

Pa [k

g]

Daily Fueling Amounts Over Time - Retail Stations

*Daily Average per Month

0

100

200

35M

Pa [k

g]

2015

Mar

May

Ju

l Sep

Nov

2016

Mar

May

Ju

l Sep

Nov

2017

Mar

May

Ju

l Sep

Nov

2018

Mar

May

Ju

l Sep

Nov

2019

Mar

May

Ju

l Sep

Months

0

200

All

[kg]

NREL cdpRETAIL_infr_82Created: Jan-13-20 9:58 PM | Data Range: 2014Q3-2019Q3 *Daily average only includes days with fills.

Daily average per month of 70 Mpa fills now over 100 kg

10

Histogram of Fueling Times

Histogram of Fueling Times

633,333 EventsAverage = 3.51 min

43% <3.3 min18% <2.5 min

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10Time (min)

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

Num

ber o

f Fue

ling

Even

ts [1

,000

]

2020 MYRDD Target for 5kg Ultimate MYRDD Target (5 kg in 2.5 min)Average


11

Time Between Fueling

<0 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

Time Between Fuelings* [min]

0

5

10

15

20

# of

Fue

lings

[% o

f tot

al]

Histogram of Time Between Fuelings - Retail StationsSi

mul

tane

ous

Fills

Back-to-Back Fills

25 % of fills are within 0-5 minutes of each other47 % of fills have more than 20 minutes between them634916 Total Fills

All Sites CombinedIndividual Sites

200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750 800 850 900Final Pressure [bar]

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

# of

Fue

lings

10 4 Final Pressures for Fills with <5 Minutes in Between

Previous FillNext Fill

NREL cdpRETAIL_infr_08Created: Jan-13-20 5:19 PM | Data Range: 2014Q3-2019Q3 *Time is from end of fill to start of next fill.

NREL | 12

ClosedHours

Business Hours

Closed Hours

Start of network issues due to June 1 incident

6 stations are closed overnight36 Stations are open 24/7

Station Unavailability: Number of Stations Unavailable

Based on SOSS “Offline” status for all of 2019.

NREL | 13

ClosedHours

Business Hours

Closed Hours


Station Unavailability: Number of Stations Unavailable (Northern California)

Significant network effects to Northern California Retail Stations from June 1 incident

NREL | 14

ClosedHours

Business Hours

Closed Hours


Station Unavailability: Number of Stations Unavailable (Southern California)

Less significant network effects to Southern California Retail Stations from June 1 incident

NREL | 15

Maintenance by Equipment Type

Most maintenance remains on dispensers, followed by compressors. Chiller maintenance large portion of events and hours (stations fill at -40 C).

NREL | 16

0

5

10

Rep

air L

abor

Tim

e (H

ours

)

Equipment Category Repair Time - Retail Stations

AIRAUX

CHILLER

COMPRESSOR

DISPENSER

ELECTRICAL

ELECTROLYZERENTIRE

FEEDWATER

GAS MGMT PANEL

PURIFIER

REFORMER

SAFETY

STANCHION

STATION O

THER

STORAGE

THERMAL MANAGEMENT


75 th Percentile

Mean

Median

25 th Percentile

Equipment Maintenance by TimeOf the equipment most identified for repair by event, repair times per event:

Chiller ~1-6 hr, Compressor ~0.5-4.5 hr, Dispenser ~0.5-3 hr

Top 3 systems by number of events

NREL | 17

Compressor Deep DiveData normalized per station

Events/Month

kg H2 dispensed

/event

Labor Hours/Month

kg H2 dispensed/maint. hour

Data through Quarter

2 N/A 7 105 Q3 2016

2 450 7 140 Q4 2016

3 812 6 328 Q2 2017

3 N/A 6 525 Q4 2017

3 N/A 5 2569 Q4 2018

2.8 2358 5.6 2739 Q3 2019

Labor hours per station per month spent on compressor maintenance has been declining while dispensed hydrogen per station per maintenance hour is increasing.

18

Safety Reports Primary Factors - Retail Stations

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45Number of Reports

Minor H2 Leak

Near Miss

Incident

Seve

rity

Component FailureInadequate Training, Protocol, SOPInadequate/ Non-working EquipmentMaintenance RequiredNot DefinedOperator/Personnel Error

NREL cdpRETAIL_infr_31Created: Jan-14-20 9:54 AM | Data Range: 2014Q3-2019Q3

An Incident is an event that results in:

- a lost time accident and/or injury to personnel

- damage/unplanned downtime for project equipment, facilities or property - impact to the public or environment

- any hydrogen release that unintentionally ignites

- release of any volatile, hydrogen containing compound (including the hydrocarbons used as common fuels)A Near Miss is:

- an event that under slightly different circumstances could have become an incident - any hydrogen release sufficient to sustain a flame if ignitedA Minor H2 Leak is:

- an unplanned hydrogen release insufficient to sustain a flame, and does not accumulate in sufficient quantity to ignite

Safety Reports Primary Factors

19

Safety Reports By Equipment Involved - Retail Stations


Minor H2 Leak

Near Miss

Incident

Seve

rity

DispenserDispensing NozzleH2 StorageHoseMultiple SystemsNot DefinedPipes, Fittings, ValvesSafetySensorsThermal Management









Safety Reports by Equipment Involved

20

Safety Reports By Event Description - Retail Stations


Minor H2 Leak

Near Miss

Incident

Seve

rity

Electrical IssueEquipment MalfunctionH2 Release - AccumulationH2 Release - No AccumulationH2 Release-MinorOtherUser error









Safety Reports by Event Description

21

Impurities (Retail Stations) - Particulate Concentration

nd d

et. l

im =

0.0

5 m

g/kg

H2

SAEJ

2719

Lim

it =

1 m

g/kg

H2

nd 0-0.2 0.2-0.4 0.4-0.6 0.6-0.8 0.8-1 > 1

Measured Impurity [mg/kgH2]

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Num

ber o

f Sam

ples

Delivered CompressedDelivered LiquidDelivered PipelineOnsite ElectrolysisDelivered Compressed; Onsite ElectrolysisOnsite SMR


268 Total Samples--Not Detected Summary--

Delivered Compressed 1 Sample(s)--Not Measured Summary--

Delivered Compressed 217 Sample(s) Delivered Liquid 8 Sample(s) Delivered Pipeline 1 Sample(s) Onsite Electrolysis 24 Sample(s)

Delivered Compressed; Onsite Electrolysis 5 Sample(s) Onsite SMR 4 Sample(s)

Impurities—Particulate Concentration

Impurity charts for: ammonia, argon, CO, CO2, formaldehyde, formic acid, helium, nitrogen, oxygen, particulate concentrate, total halogenates, total hydrocarbons, total sulfur, water

NREL | 22

Sampling of Results

Fueling Rate Average 0.9 kg/min

Fueling Amount Average 3.1 kg

Fueling Time Average 3.51 min

Compressor Energy Average 1.4 kWh/kg

Total Hydrogen Dispensed (35 Stations)

2,107,471 kg1,470,151 kg - 18Q4

Electrolyzer Energy Average 58 kWh/kg

Maintenance Hours Average 81 hours/Quarter

Fueling Final Pressure Average 763 bar

Average Electricity Cost by Delivery Type 2019Q3

$3.34/kg – Compressed$4.36/kg – Liquid

$3.65/kg –Electrolysis

40 50 60

Production Energy per kg [kWh/kg]

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Dat

a Po

ints

Rep

orte

d

Electrolyzer Energy - Retail Stations

Average = 58 [kWh/kg]

NREL cdpRETAIL_infr_36Created: Mar-05-19 11:13 AM | Data Range: 2017Q1-2018Q4

Budget Amounts* (Avg Total = $2.17M), 43 Stations

4%

85%

7%4%

General & Administration

Station**

Commissioning

Data Reporting***

NREL cdpRETAIL_infr_41Created: Dec-16-16 1:58 PM | Data Range: 2009Q1-2016Q3

Average Station Cost by Category - Retail Stations

*Based on budgeted data from station awards (includes cost share)

**Station includes: Hydrogen Equipment and Station Engineering, Design, Fabrication, Procurement, Site Preparation, Installation, andConstruction

***Data Reporting includes quarterly reporting on performance, operation and maintenance

• Station data: 98 Composite Data Products in 8 topic areas publicly availablehttps://www.nrel.gov/hydrogen/hydrogen-infrastructure-analysis.html• Expecting data from 3 FY19 awarded MW scale electrolysis projects

www.nrel.gov

NREL/PR-5400-76846

Thank You

This work was authored by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, operated by Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308. Funding provided by U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fuel Cell Technologies Office. The views expressed in the article do not necessarily represent the views of the DOE or the U.S. Government. The U.S. Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the U.S. Government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this work, or allow others to do so, for U.S. Government purposes.

Documents

Fueling Station Component Validation · 5/19/2020 · Nov 2016 Jul 2017 Jul 2018 2019. Months. 0. All [kg] 200. NREL cdpRETAIL_infr_82. Created: Jan-13-20 9:58 PM | Data Range: 2014Q3-2019Q3