On-Demand, On-Site Hydrogen Production Heading To U.S. Airports

A U.S. startup plans to have on-demand production of hydrogen from methanol on-site at airports in 2025, initially to fuel zero-emission ground vehicles but also for fuel-cell-powered electric aircraft as they become available.

Using methanol-to-hydrogen production technology developed by Element 1, startup e1 Air says it can offer hydrogen in reasonable quantity for less than $5/kg at the point of use. This compares with pump prices for hydrogen as high as $35/kg in California, according to data from Platts.

Element 1 has developed technology for the on-demand production of high-purity hydrogen for fuel cells using methanol as the feedstock. Using methanol and water as the hydrogen carrier avoids the high costs of transporting hydrogen as a pressurized gas or cryogenic liquid.

In Element 1’s process, the methanol and water feedstock is fed into a catalytic reactor to reform the hydrogen, which then passes through a membrane purifier to produce greater than 99.99%-pure, fuel-cell-grade hydrogen. Waste gas from the purifier is combusted to heat the catalytic reactor.

“The reformer is a product of Element 1 out of Bend, Oregon. They are now deploying units in both the marine and construction sectors,” e1 Air CEO Hank Krakowski says. “As these units are becoming operational, the main work ahead is adaptation to the airport environment.”

Deployment plans begin with a few target airports on the U.S. East Coast.

“We are in discussions with some of them, beginning in the Norfolk, Virginia, area with a target kickoff airport now identified,” Krakowski says. The startup then plans to deploy on the West Coast in line with the evolving commercialization of electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) and other aircraft.

Using the technology, e1 Air is developing a towable methanol/hydrogen/fuel-cell reformer unit on a trailer. “It is under design right now but will look quite similar in design and size to existing on-airport start carts and external air conditioning units,” Krakowski says.

“We can also provide this same reformer station at a fixed location on an airport if that is preferred, but the technology is the same,” he explains. The unit will produce electricity to recharge battery-electric vehicles as well as hydrogen to refuel fuel-cell vehicles.

“The starting demand for either are the existing ground service vehicles using batteries or hydrogen such as buses, where either the power grid is restricted or at capacity or where there is a desire to provide either a portable or off-grid capability, or both,” Krakowski says.

“As for hydrogen-hybrid eVTOLs or aircraft, this market is at an early stage in development, and it is difficult for us to scale what this looks like in the next three-10 years. Our approach is to provide this capability on the ground side first, and we will be ready to scale up as the aircraft need evolves.”

The aviation industry has a stated desire to use green hydrogen, produced by the electrolysis of water using renewable electricity. This compares with gray hydrogen made from natural gas using steam methane-reforming and blue hydrogen produced the same way with the addition of carbon capture.

For e1 Air, “the color of hydrogen would directly track with the color of methanol used. As more methanol production becomes green, so would our hydrogen product. We have identified a North American source for green methanol who desires to partner with us to provide that supply,” Krakowski says. “Clearly we may need to start with a non-green feedstock with the plan to go fully green as that supply scales up.”

The key driver of e1 Air’s lower cost is that the hydrogen for refilling tanks or fuel-cell recharging of batteries is produced at the point of delivery. “It provides a portable and flexible option, adding to the existing fixed charging/fill stations typically connected to the electricity grid, which we do not require. We charge/fill at the vehicle/airplane side. The capital expenditure needed to produce, transport and store gaseous or liquid hydrogen is eliminated,” Krakowski says.

“Methanol transport, transload and storage is virtually no different than any existing aviation fuel and equally as safe, so the airport environment works well for this approach and accounts for the much lower capital and operating expenditure,” he adds.

Source: energycentral.com