Proterra’s 35-foot, composite-body, plug-in, battery-electric bus with hydrogen fuel cell range extension will be used to transport staff around Ft. Lewis and between Ft. Lewis and McChord Air Force Base in Tacoma, Washington (about 8 miles (13 km) away).

The APU unit. Click to enlarge.

The bus employs two Hydrogenics 16 kW hydrogen fuel cell APUs and a UQM PowerPhase 150 electric propulsion system, along with a TerraVolt fast-charging energy storage system incorporating a Li-ion battery pack from Altairnano. The UQM electric propulsion system produces peak torque of 650 N·m and peak power of 150 kW (201 hp). The system has a continuous torque rating of 400 N·m and a continuous power rating of 100 kW (134 hp).

The project is the third in a series of Defense Logistics Agency pilots designed to provide the Department of Defense with the technical and business case data it needs to support its plans for hydrogen infrastructure, enabling the achievement of its Energy Policy Act (EPACT 2005) objectives.

Other participants in the project include:

• Gas Technology Institute. The hydrogen generation system, designed and supplied by Gas Technology Institute (GTI), will consist of three key components; 1) digester gas cleanup, 2) biomethane reformation, and 3) hydrogen purification. This 3-component system will tie into the Ft. Lewis existing digester gas management system to yield pure hydrogen, which will be delivered to a buffer tank. A separate stream of hydrogen-rich gas can be diverted for use by a stationary fuel cell system for on-site power generation. The process will be continuously monitored with automatic controls to maintain hydrogen quality standards necessary for the fuel cell equipment. The completed system will be capable of providing over 50 kg of hydrogen daily to the compression, storage, and dispensing system.

• Air Products. Air Products will provide hydrogen transportation, compression, storage, and dispensing equipment, as well as hydrogen backup. A compression and tube trailer filling system will be located at the hydrogen generation site. Two over the road tube trailers or ISO modules will transport the hydrogen from the generation site to the dispensing site. One trailer will be filling at the generation site while the other supplies the dispensing station.

  The dispensing system is equipped with a gaseous hydrogen buffer storage comprised of six, high-pressure gas cylinders. Total hydrogen storage is approximately 100 kg. Two, 350 bar outdoor dispensers will service the high-pressure requirements of the fuel cell lift trucks and the fuel cell bus. A hydrogen backup system will be provided in case the generation system or the anaerobic digester gas supply is unavailable for hydrogen production.

• Plug Power Inc.. Plug Power will provide 19 class 1 GenDrive fuel cell units to power a fleet of sit-down counterbalanced lift trucks, as well as expertise in system integration, training, service and support. The 19 GenDrive-powered forklift trucks will be used at the logistics facility during the 24-month pilot period.

The Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE) is a nonprofit, 501 (c)(3) organization that develops technologies and implements solutions to achieve energy and environmental sustainability. Since its founding in 1993, CTE has managed a portfolio of more than $110 million in federal, state, and local cost-shared research, development, and demonstration projects involving more than 450 organizations in the advanced transportation technology field. CTE has facilitated and leveraged funding for its projects and initiatives from the US Departments of Defense, Energy, Interior, and Transportation, as well as from the US Army and NASA, among others.