Saskatchewan pumps hydrogen instead of gasoline

The Saskatchewan Research Council and SaskEnergy have launched a hydrogen vehicle fuelling station in Saskatoon. Located in the city’s north industrial district, the station will fuel a fleet of seven specially adapted trucks.
While there are approximately 10 hydrogen fuel pilot programs across Canada, the Saskatchewan project is unique in that it is focused on using hydrogen fuel strictly for combustion engines. The other programs are targeting using hydrogen for fuel cells.
Sheldon Hill, P.Eng. of SRC says that the hydrogen for fuel program involves a relatively simple process that will help bridge the way to fuel cells.
The SRC engineers designed a system that takes by-product hydrogen from a chemical production plant owned by ERCO Worldwide and transfers it through a short pipeline to a loading station at AkzoNobel’s facility nearby. There the hydrogen is dried, compressed and injected into tube trailers, then taken to the fuelling station to be pumped into the vehicles.
Like natural gas fuel, hydrogen is a more explosive fuel than gasoline, says Hill, so systems have to be carefully engineered and have controls to maintain safety.
The “Smart Fuel Solutions” project is costing $2.3 million and is funded partly by Natural Resources Canada.