H2 filling station
Source: BAM
An essential factor for the broad acceptance of hydrogen-based mobility is the availability of filling stations that operate reliably, safely and efficiently. A digital quality infrastructure and modern monitoring concepts ensure the safety and reliability of hydrogen filling stations and contribute to their economic viability. In our pilot project, we are setting up a hydrogen filling station as a reallab. Representing the overall system of a hydrogen infrastructure with special requirements for safety and quality, we are developing digital-based solutions for a new level of quality assurance.
The hydrogen filling station reallab is embedded in BAM's H2Safety@BAM competence centre for hydrogen.
Measures
- Mapping of digital processes along the entire value chain of a filling station
- Sensor-supported procedures for quality-assured data acquisition and evaluation
- Establishment of a data infrastructure
- Development of a digital twin
- Digital process monitoring (online monitoring) of safety in operation
- Development and testing of digital structural elements of QI, in particular the QI cloud and digital certificates
- Development of predictive maintenance procedures for reliable condition and ageing monitoring
Goals
- Optimisation of maintenance cycles and minimisation of downtimes
- Increasing operational safety through early identification of critical conditions in the overall system
- Development of reliable quality and safety standards
- Digital-supported risk assessment and conformity evaluation
Sub-projects
Hydrogen filling station test platform
The core tasks of the sub-project include the planning, procurement, construction and operation of the hydrogen filling station as a test platform. The test platform is supplied with hydrogen via an electrolyser, which is fed with green electricity from photovoltaic or wind energy plants and, if necessary, supplemented by deliveries of green hydrogen. The filling station consists of a storage tank, compressor, gas buffer unit, gas cooler and dispenser to deliver the hydrogen to a vehicle. Passenger cars and light commercial vehicles with hydrogen fuel cells serve as consumers. The operating data generated during a refuelling process is collected, processed and supplemented by external metadata and made available for the generation of models and digital twins.
Process control technology and digital twin
This sub-project deals with the integration of the process control technology of the experimental platform as well as further sensors on a hardware platform installed on site. Current concepts of the process industry (e.g. NAMUR Open Architecture) are used for this purpose. The data obtained is digitally stored together with models (digital twin) so that it can be used to generate further information, update the models and reparametrize the hardware. The sub-project is the link between the hardware of the experimental platform and the trustworthy provision of data at the interface to the QI Cloud.
Regulations, codes and standards
The practical, application-oriented approach of the Digital Quality Infrastructure for Safety and Quality, QI-Digital, makes it possible to systematically derive requirements for the safety and quality of the hydrogen filling station and its ecosystem and to transfer them to standardisation bodies. The aim of the sub-project is to prepare the introduction of digital quality assurance methods in regulations, codes and standards. The focus is on two topics: the introduction of digital quality assurance methods for process-related approaches in conformity assessment using the example of a hydrogen filling station as a complete system and in regulatory requirements for pressure vessels. The newly standardised digital quality assurance methods can thus serve as a basis for a new digital-based risk assessment and conformity assessment.
Structural Health Monitoring
The aim of the subproject is to demonstrate the use of Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) methods on the test platform. A selection of different SHM methods will provide measured values during operation of the plant. In parallel, operational and environmental data will be collected to ensure fully automated and permanent monitoring of the structural health of selected components, e.g. pressure vessels or pipelines. Through the joint evaluation of these data, statements can be derived about the integrity of the monitored components. The permanent availability of the measurement and test results in digital form opens up the possibility of making predictions about the further course of damage, also taking into account future loads on the plant. For this purpose, concepts are being developed in the project to reliably predict maintenance times and remaining lifetimes of the plants and plant components with the help of modern machine learning and artificial intelligence approaches.
Digital sensor technology
The overall goal of the sub-project is to optimise and validate digital hydrogen filling station management with sensor technologies. For this purpose, sensor networks are to be intelligently designed with digitally supported evaluation strategies in order to comprehensively and efficiently monitor the physical and chemical parameters at and in plants and to reliably detect malfunctions. Concrete work steps are the application of sensor technology (gas sensors, manometers and thermometers) and their digital integration into the petrol station management system as well as validation in real operation. The measurement results obtained as well as the measurement uncertainties, histories and procedures are processed in digital form, stored and continuously included in the AI-based data evaluation. The use of digital calibration certificates (DCC) is being tested and serves the metrological traceability of the measured quantities in a digital QI.
Explosion protection
The prevention of explosive atmospheres is a fundamental instrument of explosion protection at hydrogen filling stations. Early detection and rapid localisation of leaks as well as the initiation of suitable measures are decisive in this respect. There is a particularly high potential for optimisation in the detection and location of leaks through the use of digital QI. The information from various sensors, which are installed in the minimum required number through intelligent distribution and arrangement, is combined and evaluated in order to be able to quickly draw conclusions about the position of the leakage. As a further explosion protection measure, explosion protection zones are designed at hydrogen filling stations. Due to the many influencing factors, such as the exact location of the release, the topology in the area of the release source or the prevailing wind conditions, the explosive atmospheres that actually occur during operation can be very specific in reality. Based on a solid database, the explosion protection zones can be designed more precisely, realistically and specifically.
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The hydrogen filling station real laboratory is incorporated in BAM's H2Safety@BAM competence centre for hydrogen.