In time for the Hydrogen & Fuel Cells Conference, at the Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre April 29 to May 2, IWHUP is now demonstrating real world use of waste hydrogen in buses, trucks and a car wash along with distribution and fuelling infrastructure.

The five-year project, with 21 partners and members, culminates with a two year fully integrated demonstration of a clean local waste hydrogen source fuelling transportation and stationary power. Years of design, testing and integrating the efforts of a consortium of companies have resulted in a complete, actively working hydrogen system that is innovative in both engineering capabilities and technical developments.

The IWHUP project, a member of the BC Hydrogen Highway, strengthens the lead that Canada and British Columbia have in the hydrogen economy, and is garnering world-wide attention, especially for international delegations visiting the Hydrogen & Fuel Cells Conference April 29 -- May 2, 2007.

Project specifics:

IWHUP sources its hydrogen from a vented industrial waste stream in North Vancouver. HTEC has built a modular hydrogen purification and compression plant on Newalta's North Vancouver site, and with assistance from Questair's Pressure Swing Adsorption system, renders hydrogen pure enough for fuel cell operation. North Vancouver has enough vented hydrogen to power 20,000 vehicles annually; there is 50,000,000 kg of hydrogen vented annually in Canada.

IWHUP's purified hydrogen is captured using Dynetek's carbon-fiber wrapped aluminum cylinders, then transported "milkman style" to a transit bus fuelling station, a vehicle fuelling station and a fuel cell powering a carwash. This transportation system drops off hydrogen-filled cylinders and picks up the empty ones.

TransLink has converted four Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses into Hydrogen and Compressed Natural Gas (HCNG) buses, using Westport Innovations technology, which housed hydrogen cylinders on the top of each bus. Each bus will run on 20% hydrogen mixed with 80% compressed natural gas, for a cleaner burning fuel, with just a few simple modifications of the regular CNG buses. Clean Energy has engineered an HCNG fuelling station and hydrogen storage compound to ensure a technically advanced, safe, environmentally improved fuelling system.

Sacre-Davey Engineering and Powertech Labs teamed up to create a modular, space efficient hydrogen fuelling station for eight Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engine (H-ICE) vehicles. This station is assembled offsite, positioned on a concrete pad and is modular and moveable (no below ground tanks!), should future fuelling requirements dictate this.

Up to eight H-ICE vehicles refuel at the fuelling station and are thoroughly tested through a 20,000 km a year vehicle evaluation program by six companies and organizations. The City of Vancouver, District of North Vancouver (Northlands Golf Course), Mutual Construction, Novex Couriers, Port of Vancouver and Powertech Labs have agreed to evaluate Hydrogen ICE vehicle technology through high mileage use, reporting vehicle operations regularly, and agreeing to test the vehicles as mileage increases.

To realize the current opportunity from by-product stream of hydrogen, an integrated approach and financial investment is required from industry as well as government. IWHUP has been successful securing funding from Industry Canada, Natural Resources Canada, Sustainable Development Technology Canada and the US DOD.

The complex and comprehensive Integrated Waste Hydrogen Utilization Project is unique, progressive and real -- vehicles and sites are available for viewing on request.