Renewable Innovations

View Original

Notes from the Center for Hydrogen Safety Asia Pacific Conference 2021

The Center for Hydrogen Safety Asia Pacific Conference 2021 was packed with amazing speakers and tons of really good information. We’ve noted a few pieces here.


Inside a Microsoft Hydrogen UPS Plan

Mark Monroe from Microsoft Cloud Operations & Innovations presented on Day 3, Session 7 with fascinating insights into the design of hyperscale data centers and the resultant impact when planning to change from diesel to hydrogen fuel cell powered UPS systems.

He explained visually the scale of hyperscale data centers that are being built and will needed in the next few years. The current diesel generators are not viable with respect to the impact of carbon footprint and the commitment by Microsoft to be carbon negative by 2030 (and not using diesel).

Mark continued to illustrate the technology that has already been used to test case the use of hydrogen fuel cells as UPS power and the current technology provided by Renewable Innovations with hydrogen.

There was no doubt where Microsoft is heading with size and scale of hyperscale data centers, but also the excitement about the potential use of hydrogen as a renewable energy fuel.

We share in the excitement of hydrogen use as a renewable energy fuel. Our Green EV Rapid Chargers operate via on-board hydrogen fuel cells, battery, and inverters making them completely grid-free.

How to Safely Build a Hydrogen Refueling Network

Emily Hilton from Hiringa Energy in New Zealand presented on day 2, session 6 of the conference. She gave a very comprehensive outline of the steps and considerations that Hiringa have been working through in the design and implementation of the first hydrogen refueling network for New Zealand freight trucks.

Emily shared great details into the decision flow charts that guide their planning and risk analysis. She also reviewed very practical things about hydrogen delivery, refueling and storage choices. Other items included all electrical safety points and preparations required to prevent dangerous circumstances.

Emily discussed both liquid and gas hydrogen and the relevant considerations as well as planning for traffic planning connected to refueling and delivery.

There were other interesting points that demonstrated Hiringa’s very thorough analysis of both the construction, maintenance and daily operation of a new hydrogen refueling network for New Zealand.

We are paying close attention to this discussion as RI’s H2 Transport Refueler takes the road. With built-in high-pressure storage, compression, and delivery interfaces, it’s the most effective way to deliver renewable hydrogen.

Liquid Storage of Hydrogen

Matt Moran from Moran Innovation presented on day 3, session 8 with great detail and energy based on his 35 years experience in this field. He discussed the physical conditions of stored liquid hydrogen and particularly the Zero Boil-off liquid hydrogen systems.

Matt discussed different storage systems and introduced us to a calculator tool he has developed over many years to design the perfect cryogenic tanks for different hydrogen storage applications.

We took notes on this to share with our RI engineers as we continue to improve the technology of our Hydrogen Storage Modules .