60269 - Gas Turbine Based Fuel Cell Vehicle Charging Station 

Hydrogen as fuel for transportation sector is going to play a prominent role when it comes combating the climate change, as its only by-products are heat and water. Yet, the transition to fuel cell vehicle (FCV) is below par with electric vehicles. Rapid surge in adoption rate for FCV could be driven by improvements in fuel cell technology, as well as rise in number of hydrogen fueling stations (HFS). Most commonly used sources of electricity for hydrogen production for HFS application are the renewable and grid electricity. Renewable energy is intermittent in nature and at the same time it needs need to be installed in favorable geographical locations. On the other hand, grid electricity could be from carbon intensive processes.

In this paper, gas turbine from Baker Hughes portfolio is utilized to create a circular economy model for hydrogen fueling stations. Solid Oxide Electrolysis (SOE) and carbon capture units are the two prime components that are integrated to the gas turbine. SOE unit is powered by gas turbine to generate hydrogen for refueling the FCVs and to use for itself as blended fuel, bringing down the carbon footprint. Gas turbine exhaust energy is efficiently recovered to pre-heat the de-ionized water for SOE, thus improving its efficiency. Gas turbine exhaust CO₂ is captured through carbon capture unit, eliminating the carbon emissions. Energy and mass balance studies are carried out to analyze the feasibility of the solution. Detailed economic analysis is also performed to demonstrate the economic viability of the solution.

Proposed HFS solution can refuel about 250 FCVs in half a day of operation. Economic analysis shows that the solution is lucrative with attractive return on investment. The solution is also flexible enough to incorporate Power-to-X conversions. Proposed system is having high power density, compared to the actual renewable energy dependent HFSs. As the gas turbine exhaust CO₂ is captured and its fuel is blended with hydrogen, it makes the entire solution to be quasi-renewable. Modular nature of the solution makes it easy to implement in city limits as well as in remote locations, along the highways.