To fulfill this emerging demand, Element 2 is concentrating its network on the UK’s 147 truck stops. It estimates that it needs 800 individual nozzles – about five per truck stop – by 2027 to provide comprehensive national coverage.
Last July, it announced its first two sites with planning permission approved, one at Coneygarth on the A1 near Northallerton, a second on the M6 near Carlisle.
At its truck-stop sites, the hydrogen pumps will be located on their own forecourts, away from petrol/diesel areas. They will be fed by 40ft-long compressed-gas tanker trailers, towed from a central depot, decoupled from their tractive unit and parked alongside the pumps in a secure compound.
Safety follows ADR dangerous goods transport regulations, in use internationally in industry, which commonly uses compressed hydrogen stored in tanker trailers.
Element 2’s operation is focused on compressed gaseous hydrogen at 350bar, which Bilton said offers the best balance of efficiency and speed of filling. They could operate at 700bar, but the higher pressure causes heating of the gas during filling, which has to be offset by complex cooling systems that also incorporate periods of dwell, when pumping has to be stopped for 30 minutes or so.
Other operators have tried this higher-pressure hydrogen delivery but have found the complex on/off pumping and switching processes unreliable when not in constant use.
Distribution has been contracted to two specialist tanker companies, Reynolds Logistics and XPO Logistics, and although these trucks initially are diesel-powered, Bilton expects Element 2’s trucking operation to switch to fuel-cell trucks as early as practicable.
“Some people in the hydrogen debate are solely focused on a single issue: efficiency. But the bigger picture is more important: replacing diesel trucks with a cleaner, practical alternative.”
Where does the Hydrogen come from?
Element 2 has a hydrogen supply contract with chemicals giant Ineos, from its Runcorn plant on Merseyside, where H2 is a by-product of the chlor-alkili process, using electrolysis of aqueous sodium chloride (salt).