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Washington Savannah River Co. is giving $175,000 to the Center for Hydrogen Research in Aiken for a hydrogen-fueled truck to demonstrate the viability of the alternative fuel.
The center also announced Tuesday that it intends to build a refueling station to provide hydrogen for the truck and other hydrogen-powered vehicles.
The Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engine vehicle, or HICE, is based on a full-size 2007 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 pickup. The truck is being modified by eTec of Phoenix and Roush Industries of Livonia, Mich., a well-known name in NASCAR racing.
The grant will be used to pay for the vehicle, make the modifications and for associated expenses. The vehicle should be delivered in January.
“To the average person, very little will appear different under the hood,” Fred Humes, a director of the Center for Hydrogen Research, said in a release.
“However, the engine will be equipped with new injectors, a new fuel system, intercooler and turbocharger coupled to a completely redesigned and modified computer control system. Three 150-liter cylinders will be located in the bed of the truck to provide hydrogen for a range of approximately 210 miles. The truck will be powered solely by hydrogen.”
The center is evaluating designs and sites for the refueling station. Options include either placing it on the Savannah River Research Campus or at a site along I-20 that would make it accessible to other hydrogen users.
Until the station is built, a mobile refueling station will be used.
Washington Savannah River, which manages hydrogen research for the Savannah River National Laboratory near Aiken, is providing the vehicle to help advance the development of a hydrogen refueling network in South Carolina.
“The availability of the hydrogen-powered Silverado, coupled with a local refueling capacity, will make Aiken County the first in South Carolina to develop and demonstrate this exciting and important technology of the future,” said Leo Sain, president of Washington Savannah River Co.
The Aiken station actually is the second refueling station to be announced in the state.
The Greater Columbia Fuel Cell Challenge announced plans in August to locate a hydrogen fueling station near the city of Columbia’s Canal Water Plant.
The $2.4 million Columbia project was expected to be among the first projects paid for through the State Hydrogen Infrastructure Fund approved by the Legislature last session.
But money for that fund fell victim to a tax revenue shortfall announced days after plans for the Columbia station were unveiled.
The Greater Columbia Fuel Cell Challenge has a vendor ready to build and operate its station, but the signing of a contract has been put on hold until the financing can be resolved, said Russ Keller of the S.C. Research Authority, one of the partners in the fuel cell challenge.
No price tag or information about funding for the Aiken station was provided by the Center for Hydrogen Research.
A hydrogen refueling network is a key component for automakers looking at building either internal combustion vehicles that burn hydrogen, a much cleaner fuel than gasoline, or fuel-cell-powered vehicles whose only emissions are water vapor.
BMW already has a production-model hydrogen-fueled internal combustion vehicle.
The Hydrogen 7 is based on the BMW 7 series.
“We have a hundred of them that were built on a production line,” Thomas Baloga, BMW’s vice president for engineering-U.S., told attendees at last week’s National Hydrogen Association forum in Columbia. “They could be sold to customers.
“We are not selling them, because obviously, you just can’t drive down the road and fill up with hydrogen anywhere you need to.”
The vehicles are capable of running on either hydrogen or gasoline with the flick of switch. But BMW does not want to make them commercially available until the hydrogen fuel is available.
“The BMW Hydrogen 7 is ready for the world when the world is ready,” Baloga said.
