IEEE Electrification Magazine - March 2018 - 58

A number of factors
were considered
before the
electrolyzer could be
installed at Baglan
to allow for the safe
operation of
hydrogen systems.

the electricity demand required to
generate the hydrogen was covered by
a 26-kw bank of solar photovoltaic
(pV) panels. a small buffer stored the
hydrogen, and the gas flowed to a
compressor, which drove the hydrogen to the cylinders for onboard
hydrogen storage. the cylinders could
store up to 15 kg of hydrogen at 350
bars. the frame supported the cylinders while they were onboard the ship
and during transport for onshore refueling. In the future, as regulators better
understand the safety issues, refueling while the cylinders are onboard
will likely be possible. the boat, a
10-m-long catamaran, was retrofitted with the world's first
hydrogen internal combustion engine. one of the two 135-hp
honda engines the boat was equipped with had been converted to run on hydrogen gas as well as petroleum.

Trial Outcome
the marine refill station trial was a boat trip around the
Isle of wight. the collected measurements showed that
the 56 nmi were covered in 8 h. the pressure in the storage dropped over the duration of the trip, from 350 to
140 bar, or 6.59 kg of hydrogen gas consumed. the same
refill station was used to fill an Fc Microcab car that
toured the island and stopped at primary schools to raise
the profile of hydrogen as fuel.

Field experiment: PeM electrolysis
Site
as part of the Island hydrogen project, a trial and demonstration of an ItM power peM electrolyzer were

carried out at the University of south
wales (Usw) hydrogen research and
Demonstration centre at Baglan energy park. the electrolyzer, an ItM
hpac40 capable of producing 5.2 kg/d
of hydrogen at a pressure of 15 bar,
was installed and commissioned at
the hydrogen centre on 10 July 2013.
the purpose of the trial was to analyze the performance of the electrolyzer under the operating conditions
at the hydrogen centre, provide
learning associated with the installation and integration of the electrolyzer with the existing system at Baglan,
and comment on the design of the
two Island hydrogen trial refueling stations. the electrolyzer installed at Baglan was of a similar design but different size than those installed at the two island
hydrogen refueling trial sites.
the Usw hydrogen centre was developed to allow
field trials of equipment associated with hydrogen energy
storage. It had an existing 22-kg/d alkaline electrolyzer
installed along with associated hydrogen compression,
storage, and other ancillaries. It also had a 12-kw Fc
capable of powering the building, an onsite hydrogen
refueling station, and a 20-kw pV array. a diagram of
the centre is shown in Figure 6. the ItM electrolyzer
was integrated with the existing systems at Baglan to
allow the generated hydrogen to be compressed and
stored. Data-gathering equipment that allowed the
stack voltage, stack current, ambient temperature, stack
temperature, and systems pressure to be recorded was
installed along with the electrolyzer. hydrogen production was calculated from the stack current according to
Faraday's law.

Installation Considerations
Electrolyzer
Container

Hydrogen Boat
with Internal
Combustion
Engine

Buffer
Compressor
Cylinders for
Onboard
Hydrogen Storage

Figure 5. The Isle of Wight marine filling station. (Photo courtesy of ITM Power.)

I EEE E l e c t r i f i c a t i on M a gaz ine / March 2018

a number of factors were considered before the electrolyzer could be
installed at Baglan to allow for the
safe operation of hydrogen systems.
the lab at the Baglan hydrogen
centre was naturally ventilated,
allowing more than 12 air changes
per hour, meaning that temperatures inside the lab were similar to
those outside. this required the
system to be insulated and trace
heated to allow year-round operation. Figure 7 shows a diagram of
the hpac40 unit installed at the
hydrogen centre. the electrolyzer,
trace heating, and hydrogen compressor can be seen in Figure 7. a
hazard and operability study was

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Electrification Magazine - March 2018