AIA: Software Analyzes Cost of Hydrogen Production
Hydrogen fuel cell technology for automobiles holds a great deal of promise-pollution-free vehicles, a nearly unlimited fuel source and an alternative to dependence on foreign oil. But designers of fuel cell-powered cars face great challenges-everything from designing a new fuel tank to planning the gradual conversion of the fueling infrastructure from gasoline to hydrogen. One of the largest questions is how to get hydrogen to the fuel cell in the first place.
"There are already gas stations throughout the world," says Gregory Ariff, a senior engineer at Directed Technologies Inc. (Arlington, VA). "A sensible place to start was finding out what it would cost to provide those stations with the ability to offer hydrogen." The new hardware required for these stations includes a reforming and purification system to create hydrogen from natural gas, a compressor to pressurize the gas, storage vessels and a pump to dispense hydrogen gas into cars.