THE MAIN GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF A HIGH FLOW RATE (100 KG/MIN), COST-EFFECTIVE AND SAFE TRANSFER OF LIQUID HYDROGEN (LH2) INTO A RAIL TANK CAR, AND A STRATEGY FOR MITIGATING THE IMPACT OF THE RESULTING LOSSES. TO ACHIEVE THIS GOAL, THE PROJECT WILL DESIGN, CONSTRUCT AND TEST IN A RELEVANT ENVIRONMENT A HIGH FILL-RATE PROTOTYPE AT INDUSTRIAL SCALE. THE SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES OF THIS PROJECT ARE THE FOLLOWING:
1) IDENTIFY A STEP-CHANGE APPROACH IN LH2 FILLING PERFORMANCE TARGETED AT HD RAIL APPLICATIONS;
2) CONDUCT TECHNO-ECONOMIC ASSESSMENTS TO EVALUATE ENERGY, PROCESS ECONOMICS, VALUE PROPOSITION AND ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS;
3) ENGAGE KEY SUPPLIERS FOR DESIGN OF SPECIALTY COMPONENTS AS A PART OF HIGH FILL-RATE DESIGNS;
4) PROVIDE AN EQUIPMENT-BASED DEMONSTRATION OF A HIGH RATE HD RAIL FILLING SYSTEM ENABLING FUTURE REPLICATION; AND
5) POSITIVELY IMPACT COMMUNITIES THROUGH DEIA ACTIVITIES IN TRAINING AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, AND ENERGY EQUITY.
THE TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT, PERFORMANCE, AND DEMONSTRATION PORTION OF THE PROJECT HAS THREE MAJOR TASKS CONDUCTED OVER THREE BUDGET PERIODS (BP) (FIGURE 1) DESIGNED TO ENSURE THE SUCCESS IN ACHIEVING THE PROJECT TARGETS. PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND REPORTING ACTIVITIES AS WELL AS COMMUNITY BENEFIT ACTIVITIES ARE CONDUCTED ACROSS ALL BUDGET PERIODS. THE HIGH-LEVEL STRUCTURE OF THE PROJECT IS AS FOLLOWS:
• BUDGET PERIOD 1 (12 MONTHS): TASK 1-ARCHITECTURE DESIGN & OPTIMIZATION
• BUDGET PERIOD 2 (12 MONTHS): TASK 2-ENGINEERING DESIGN & FABRICATION
• BUDGET PERIOD 3 (12 MONTHS): TASK 3- FILL SYSTEM INTEGRATION & TESTING
EFFORTS IN TASK 1 WILL FOCUS ON THE OPTIMIZATION OF THE LH2 SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE USING TRANSIENT THERMODYNAMIC MODELING DESIGN TO ACHIEVE TARGETED HIGH FLOW RATES (MINIMUM 100 KG/MIN) WHILE MINIMIZING FLASH LOSSES, ENERGY REQUIREMENTS AND EQUIPMENT CAPITAL COST. IN TASK 2, A PROTOTYPE WILL BE DESIGNED BASED ON THE CONFIGURATION SELECTED IN TASK 1, AND THE INDUSTRIAL SITE FOR THE DEMONSTRATION TRIAL WILL BE SELECTED. THE PROTOTYPE WILL BE COMMISSIONED AND OPERATED IN TASK 3. DATA GENERATED WILL BE ANALYZED AND FILL RATE AND VAPOR LOSS RATE PERFORMANCE WILL BE CONFIRMED.
THE PROPOSAL REFLECTS A JOINT EFFORT AMONG INDUSTRY (WABTEC), TECHNOLOGY PROVIDERS (LINDE), ACADEMIA (UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO) AND DOE NATIONAL LABORATORY (SANDIA) TO DECARBONIZE THE FREIGHT RAIL SECTOR.$5,461,173
· FY2025 · Department of Energy