| |
VK6BE > FUEL 11.01.10 13:03l 50 Lines 2551 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : D90009VK6BE
Read: GUEST
Subj: Re: VK2AAB > Hydrogen bus trial
Path: DB0FHN<DB0MRW<DK0WUE<7M3TJZ<ON0AR<F4BWT<F1BBI<CX2SA<VK2DOT<VK6ZRT
Sent: 100111/0837Z @:VK6ZRT.#BUN.#WA.AUS.OC #:49385 [Boyanup] $:D90009VK6BE
From: VK6BE@VK6ZRT.#BUN.#WA.AUS.OC
To : FUEL@WW
Warren asked a question about fuel cells. Noone is talking about fuel
cells, Warren, the hydrogen in this case was produced at the Kwinana oil
refinery as a byproduct of the refining process. The distance travelled by
each bus was not clear as the figure of over a 1/4 million km did not
indicate whether that was the total distance travelled by each bus or the
grand total of all. I would hazard a guess that each bus covered that
distance during the trial seeing that they each spent long hours on the
road in Perth's transport system.
Warren's remark about operating costs is answered in the report - a little
more than diesel and slightly better than CNG.
Now we await the final decision by the WA Government on whether the trial
was worthwhile and whether the bus system will gradually turn over to
Hydrogen operation. I see also that China has now entered the picture with
hydrogen fuelled buses being put on their streets in a trial.
Warren, I drive and Australian designed and built car. The only part I
have bought for it in the twelve years I have owned it was a headlight
switch which was a ripoff at $14 for a piece of plastic, and a cut out
switch on the gear selector. Nothing more apart from the usual, tyres,
plugs..
Part of the WA Govt report follows; The full reprt in a PDF fle can be
read at:
http://www.transport.wa.gov.au/mediaFiles/alt_EcoBus_Summary.pdf
Bob VK6BE.
The EcoBuses were part of a limited series of Mercedes-Benz Citaro fuel
cell buses manufactured in Germany by DaimlerChrysler and were equipped
with a fuel cell engine developed by Ballard Power Systems, Canada. The
buses used compressed hydrogen that was stored in high-pressure cylinders
mounted on the roof of the vehicle, and had a range of
about 250 km. The bus design combined a fuel cell engine with standard bus
components such as the automatic transmission and some auxiliary
components.
The trial required the installation of significant infrastructure to
ensure that sufficient hydrogen of the required purity was available for
the EcoBuses.The hydrogen source for the EcoBus trial was unique, and was
obtained as a by product from the BP Kwinana oil refinery.
Once produced at the BP refinery in Kwinana, the hydrogen was piped two
kilometres to the adjacent BOC site where it was purified to 99.9999% in a
Pressure Swing Absorption (PSA) unit. The purified hydrogen was then
compressed and transported 66 kilometres to Path Transit’s Morley bus
depot in one of two 34.8 tonne tube trailers.
Read previous mail | Read next mail
| |
