BOARD MEETING DATE: November 3, 2006
AGENDA NO. 6

Execute Contract to Develop Hydrogen Storage Capability for Gas Blending Facility

SYNOPSIS:

Hydrogen has garnered much attention as a mobile fuel due to its potential to deliver near-zero emissions in fuel cell vehicles.  Hydrogen blended with other fuels, such as natural gas, however, has shown potential promise in mobile and stationary combustion systems.  Utilizing hydrogen blends may provide a near-term opportunity to displace fossil fuels while reducing emissions.  Testing of distributed generation devices, including microturbines and fuel cells, on different blends of hydrogen is therefore a focus of the U.S. Department of Energy and California Energy Commission.  Staff recommends funding the Advanced Power and Energy Program at UC Irvine to develop the hydrogen storage capability for their gas blending facility at a cost not to exceed $200,000 from the Clean Fuels Fund.

COMMITTEE:

Technology, October 27, 2006, Recommended for Approval

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Authorize the Executive Officer to execute a contract with the Advanced Power and Energy Program at UC Irvine to develop the hydrogen storage capability for the gas-blending facility in an amount not to exceed $200,000 from the Clean Fuels Fund.

Barry R. Wallerstein, D.Env.
Executive Officer

Background

Hydrogen as a fuel for both stationary and mobile technologies is of great national interest because of its potential to reduce petroleum dependence, greenhouse gas emissions, and criteria pollutants.  The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has funded a large program for investigating the commercialization potential of hydrogen fueling and fuel cell vehicles; and the AQMD has been working with U.S. DOE, the automobile manufacturers, and the energy companies to facilitate this program.  While the full implementation of a hydrogen economy is still several decades away, the transition to hydrogen will likely be aided using hydrogen and hydrogen blends in combustion applications.  Such applications will allow utilization of the nascent hydrogen infrastructure and provide opportunities to assess the performance, emissions benefits, and optimization strategies in different applications (both mobile and stationary).  Some technology examples include:

• Evaluation of co-generation strategies in an “energy station” to produce hydrogen and electricity from a stationary fuel cell;
• Reducing NOx emissions from microturbines and large gas turbines using lean hydrogen combustion;
• Testing of new hydrogen dispensing components or balance of plant equipment (such as purification modules); and
• Optimization of hydrogen blends (with natural gas, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen) in combustion processes to simulate gasification of renewable fuels such as landfill and digester gas.

Proposal

The proposal is to co-fund the storage infrastructure at UC Irvine’s Advanced Power and Energy Program (APEP) to enable the use of hydrogen and hydrogen blends for distributed generation (DG) applications, such as microturbines and gas turbines, and provide the infrastructure for automotive fueling system development.  The proposed system will be based on 100,000 standard cubic feet of compressed hydrogen at 2200 psi.  This capacity will allow the continuous operation of 30 kW DG devices given a normal hydrogen delivery schedule and intermittent operation of a 250 kW distributed generation on an aggressive delivery schedule.

The bulk storage will also be integrated into the existing automotive fueling dispenser located at the APEP.  The dispenser is equipped with the appropriate compressor to boost the pressure from the storage level to 5,000 psi used by most hydrogen vehicles today.  This capability will provide

1. backup dispensing to the North Campus station (awarded by AQMD in September 2002);
2. experiemental flexibility to demonstrate new fueling components or balance of plant equipment without disturbing the main fueling station; and
3. test the separate equipment (e.g., hydrogen microturbines and fueling on-demand) for advanced energy station concepts.

The storage facility will be located in the rear service yard of the Engineering Laboratory Facility, near the existing carbon dioxide and nitrogen storage tanks.  The storage will comply with Nationa Fire Protection Agency 55 and will also have security features to prevent unauthorized access and ample ventilation.

Benefits to AQMD

Preliminary emissions studies conducted by UCI have shown the potential emissions reductions in a Capstone 60 kW microturbine of approximately 30% NOx and 80% CO when co-firing with a biomass fuel (syngas blend of hydrogen, CO, CO2, nitrogen and natural gas).  The AQMD has also demonstrated hydrogen-CNG (HCNG) blends can achieve NOx emission reductions of up to 50% in a transit bus application (Cummins Westport project with Sunline Transit, awarded September 13, 2002).  In order to verify this technology, the AQMD awarded a contract to City Engines to further develop, demonstrate, and certify a HCNG transit bus engine that meets the 2010 federal heavy-duty engine standard (awarded March 3, 2006).  Developing this hydrogen storage and mixing capability can help to identify further applications and quantify the emissions benefits from lean burn hydrogen and hydrogen blend technologies.

A further benefit of this facility will be the ability to investigate advanced “energy station” concepts.  Energy stations, which use a high temperature stationary fuel cell to provide electricity, heat, and hydrogen, were outlined in the California Hydrogen Highway Blueprint Plan as a means to provide economic benefits to the station operator and increase hydrogen utilization during the transition to a hydrogen economy.  Advanced energy station concepts may include the economic and emission benefits from employing other DG and ICE vehicles running on HCNG and syngas blends.

Finally, this project concept is included in the March 2006 Technology Advancement Office Clean Fuels Program 2005 Annual Report and 2006 Plan Update, under projects to “Develop and Demonstrate Distributed Hydrogen Production and Fueling Stations,” which includes energy station concepts, and to “Develop and Demonstrate Renewable-based Energy Generation Alternatives,” which includes biomass technologies.

Sole Source Justification

Section VIII.B.2 of the Procurement Policy and Procedure identifies four major provisions under which a sole source award may be justified.  This request is made under provision B.2.d.(1), “Project involving cost sharing by multiple sponsors” and (8) “Research and development efforts with educational institutions or nonprofit organizations.”  The fuel mixing facility has been developed by UCI in partnership with U.S. DOE, CEC, Air Products, and the National Fuel Cell Research Center at UCI.  The cost-share breakdown is provided the following section under “Resource Impact”.

The Advanced Power and Energy Program is located at the University of California Irvine and is comprised of the UCI Combustion Laboratory, the National Fuel Cell Research Center, the Distributed Technology Testing Facility, and the Pacific Rim Consortium on Energy, Combustion, and the Environment. 

Resource Impact

The proposed project has cost-share by the following entities.  The proposed funding would allow AQMD to leverage its support on 3:1 basis.

Sufficient funds are available in the Clean Fuels Fund, established as a special revenue fund resulting from the state-mandated Clean Fuels Program.  The Clean Fuels Program, under Health and Safety Code Sections 40448.5 and 40512 and Vehicle Code Section 9250.11, establishes mechanisms to collect revenues from mobile sources to support projects to increase the utilization of clean fuels, including the development of the necessary advanced enabling technologies.  Funds collected from motor vehicles are restricted, by statute, to be used for projects and program activities related to mobile sources that support the objectives of the Clean Fuels Program.