december 2021-january 2022 - 24

Hydrogen Fuel
they can walk us through remotely.
So, we've got a lot of good relationships, "
Berbaum added.
In addition to learning new
maintenance protocols, MTD
contracted with Fiedler Group
and Natural Gas Fueling Solutions/Cissell
Mueller to make
modifications to the storage facility
to ensure a safe storage and
maintenance of the vehicles.
" We've put a hydrogen leak
detection system throughout this
entire storage facility. And there's
a screen that's in our break room
where almost all of us staff reside.
And so, if there's ever an issue,
a hydrogen leak or anything gets
detected, it will basically sound
off alarms so that we know there's
an issue, we need to evacuate the
people or evacuate the buses out, "
Berbaum said.
Despite the changes, Gnadt
adds staff have embraced the new
technology, noting the team has
been " excited, interested and accepting
of the project. "
and will operate and maintain the
fueling station; Hembree Contracting
completed much of the
construction work of the station;
PDC Machines and IVYS Energy
Solutions supplied the compression
and dispensing equipment as part
of the station; Nel Hydrogen supplied
the electrolyzer; and Ballard
provided the fuel cell in the bus.
" I think that we're all experts
in our own way, but this [was] a
complicated project with a lot of
nuance. And I think bringing together
all of these experts on this
project is what has made this to
really be, I think, a landmark
project, " Ryan Erickson, vice
president of Trillium, said.
To power the hydrogen production,
MTD leased an unused
plot of land from the Urbana-Champaign
Sanitary District
that sits across the street from
the agency's maintenance facility
to install an array of solar panels-5,500
panels to be exact. This
is still under construction but is
expected to be complete by 2022.
In order to calculate how much
" No one has the
expertise and the
resources to do it alone. "
- PAUL SKOUTELAS
The Fuel Source
The partnerships don't stop there.
In order to construct MTD's 100
percent renewable hydrogen production
station, the agency had to
plan meticulously while relying on
the private sector to innovate and
take risks, notes Paul Skoutelas,
president of the American Public
Transportation Association.
" No one has the expertise and
the resources to do it alone, " Skoutelas
said during the October
event.
Some of the companies that
pooled their resources for the
project include Trillium Transportation
Fuels, which designed, built,
power would be needed, a software
program from the National Renewable
Energy Laboratory will analyze
information taken from the
solar panels with historical weather
data to help MTD determine how
much power should be produced.
The solar energy produced is
then stored on the utility grid,
allowing MTD to sell back any
unused clean energy to the community
or pull it back off the grid
when needed. What's more is that
sustainability is applied through
the whole lifecycle of the solar
panels, called cradle to cradle.
This allows the manufacturer to
strip out useful materials and turn
the panels into new products.
The solar power generated
is transferred to the hydrogen
production plant and powers the
electrolyzer. The electrolyzer uses
water and electricity to make the
hydrogen. The hydrogen is then
moved to compressors, which
takes the hydrogen from a low
24 | Mass Transit | MassTransitmag.com | DECEMBER 2021/JANUARY 2022
Project
Partners
(continued)
Hembree
Contracting:
prime contractor
for hydrogen
production
station
Federal Transit
Administration:
provided grant
funding
Illinois
Department of
Transportation:
provided grant
funding
CTE (Center for
Transportation
and the
Environment):
provided project
management
NGFS: prime
contractor
for facility
modifications
UrbanaChampaign
Sanitary
District:
leasing land
to MTD for
solar panels
Dewberry:
engineering
for solar array
Sunpower:
produced
solar panels
Lyons-Pinner
Electric: prime
contractor for
solar array
PSI, around 500, and gets it to
a higher pressure, around 7,500
PSI, shares Kareem Afzal, CEO,
PDC Machines.
" This is so there's enough energy
in a small amount of volume
allowing the bus to have the same
range or longer than a diesel bus.
There's no compromises. You only
have to fill it once per day and hydrogen
gets you throughout the
entire day, " explained Afzal.
After the hydrogen is compressed,
it's stored in high pressure
tubes until a bus needs to be
refueled. Hydrogen can be stored
in these tubes as long as needed
without losing any energy. In order
to dispense the hydrogen into the
bus, a nozzle is placed onto the bus
receptacle, a lever is turned, a button
is pushed and fueling begins.
" When you connect that nozzle
to the bus, it's just high-pressure
hydrogen flowing to a
low-pressure tank, " Afzal said.
Once fueled, the buses run on
MTD's highest capacity routes,
which typically serve the University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
campus, as well as the surrounding
community.
What's Next
The clean hydrogen produced is
expected to power 12 to 15 hydrogen
fuel cell buses, and MTD
anticipates adding 10 more hydrogen
fuel-cell buses to its fleet
in the next three years.
" The community has been very
excited about the launch of this
technology. We have a very scienceand
tech-oriented focus in our university
town [and] I think that has
led to a very easy adoption for us.
The aspect of truly being green by
powering the electrolysis with solar
power is what has really tendered
the excitement, " concluded Gnadt.
For now, MTD's zero-emission
fleet operates alongside diesel-electric
hybrid buses, which
currently make up 97 percent
of the 118-bus fleet. In 2022, the
agency's entire fleet will be low- or
no-emission vehicles.
http://www.MassTransitmag.com
december 2021-january 2022

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