DHL and London Stansted Airport to Use ITM Power’s Hydrogen Refueller in Hydrogen ICE Trial with Converted Ford Transit Vehicles

DHL Supply Chain and London Stansted Airport recently signed agreements to participate in Hydrogen On Site Trials (HOST) of ITM Power’s transportable high pressure hydrogen refuelling unit (HFuel).

The unit under construction is supported by a Technology Strategy Board (TSB) grant (announced February 2010) and project partners Gateway to London and Revolve Technologies.

HOST will begin in 2011, and will see the operation and refueling of two Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engine (HICE) Revolve Technologies Ford Transit vehicles with hydrogen produced on site at the point of use, at sites operated by participating companies and in the Gateway to London development area.

Membership of HOST provides each partner with a one week free trial of HFuel and the two Revolve HICE transit vehicles, and an option to lease both HFuel and vehicles for additional weeks. The demonstrations will be 100% managed and operated by ITM Power personnel, in liaison with site owners’ operations and management.

Hydrogen Refuelling Station (HFuel) is a self-contained module suitable for refuelling hydrogen-powered road vehicles and forklift trucks. It is based around a modular platform (standard freight containers) and can be expanded at any point after the initial installation enabling a staged roll-out of hydrogen fuel.

HFuel generates hydrogen by electrolysis, compresses it, stores it and dispenses the gas on demand at high pressure (nominally 350 bar/35 MPa). It requires an on-site water and electricity supply but is otherwise an autonomous solution for refuelling hydrogen-powered vehicles.

Revolve Hydrogen ICE Transit. The Revolve Technologies (formerly Roush Technologies Limited) HICE is a bi-fuel vehicle—Revolve modified the engine of a Ford Transit-based vehicle to operate using compressed hydrogen gas fuel, while retaining the ability to operate on gasoline.

The conversion features Ford’s 2.3-liter 4-cylinder gasoline engine, to which Revolve added a belt-driven supercharger with intercooler. This provides additional combustion air under pressure when the fuel mode switch is selected to hydrogen only. The engine retains its conventional spark ignition system.

The hydrogen fuel is currently designed to be stored in three tanks, underslung below the vehicle floor. This installation provides a usable storage capacity for 4.5 kilograms of hydrogen at 350 bar (5,000 psi) and gives an estimated range between 95 miles for the urban cycle and 135 miles for open highway running.

The location and configuration of the tanks allows the retention of the volume and load height of the base vehicle with no intrusion or interference within the load space.

Two Revolve Ford Transit HICEs are also in operation as Royal Mail post vans in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland.