COSMHYC XL Project COSMHYC Project
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COSMHYC: Innovative compression solutions for efficient hydrogen mobility
Vision
Today, Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEVs) can achieve the same quality of service as conventional cars at very low emission levels. Worldwide there are approximately 6 500 FCEVs currently on the roads and manufacturers announce the mass production of affordable FCEVs by 2020. A well-developed hydrogen infrastructure and efficient technologies for hydrogen refuelling stations are key to FCEVs market deployment.
Ease of use, speed and efficiency of the refuelling process are essential for the successful adoption of hydrogen in transport. FCEVs use hydrogen stored in a pressurized tank and are fuelled with gaseous hydrogen at pressures of 350 bar or 700 bar. The COSMHYC consortium made the needed breaktrough and worked towards innovative and efficient hydrogen refuelling stations.
Objectives and Activities
COSMHYC developed and tested an innovative combined compression solution based on a hybrid concept for hydrogen refuelling stations (HRS).
- Adaptation of a booster, development of an alternative compressor and integration of both technologies.
- Test of the compression prototype under real conditions.
- Technical economic assessments to ensure competitiveness of the developed compression solution.
The objectives were to lower the costs and the noise level of hydrogen refuelling and to further increase the availability of stations. This contributed to the efficiency of hydrogen conditioning and delivery.
By developing a new compression technology, COSMHYC addressed the major challenge of assuring an attractive hydrogen fuel price at the pump.
Impacts and benefits
COSMHYC made an important contribution to the roll-out of FCEVs by increasing the energy efficiency of the compression process by at least 20%. The COSMHYC compressor met high flow requirements while reducing the noise level to below 60 dB at 5 m.
COSMHYC lead to an overall reduction of about 20% of the hydrogen costs at the refuelling station thanks to the triple effect of
- Improved energy efficiency
- Reduction of capital costs
- Maintenance optimisation
The COSMHYC compressor can also be applied in decentralized energy storage, enabling the competitive storage of electricity from renewable sources.
