Design Project #2
Team No Show
Team Number 7
Jordan Barner………….jdb5450@psu.edu
Taylor Hoover…….……tjh5287@psu.edu
Sean Herrman….…….smh5649@psu.edu
Dong-ho Kim….……………duk20@psu.edu
EDGSN 100
Section 003
Note:
The Technical
Report Title Sheet and Report Outline
MUST follow this format exactly.
Submitted to: Prof. Berezniak
Date: 04/25/2011
1 Spring 2011

1.0 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………. Page #4
2.0 Project Objectives.……………………………………………………………………………. Page #4
3.0 Project Requirements.………………………………..………….…………….…………. Page #4
4.0 Background………..………………………………………….…………………….…………. Page #4
4.1/4.2 Technical/Online Literature Search.…………..……….…….……. Page #4
5.0 Technical Considerations.……….……………….……….…………;…………………. Page #5
5.1 Selected City………………………………………..……..………….…….……. Page #5
5.2 H2/HCNG Dispensing Method………………..……..……………………. Page #6
5.3 H2/HCNG Station Design…………………….…………………..…….……. Page #7
5.4 H2/HCNG Supply Method……………………………………..……………. Page #10
6.0 Safety, Codes and Standards..….………………………………………………….…. Page #11
7.0 Environmental Impacts.…………………………………………………………………. Page #11
8.0 Economic Sustainability.……………………………………………………………….…. Page #12
9.0 H2/HCNG Production Sustainability.………………….…………………………… Page #15
10.0 Results…………………………………………………………………………………………… Page #17
11.0 Conclusions…………………………………………………………………………………… Page #20
12.0 References………………………………………………….………………………………… Page #21
Table # 1
Table #2
Table #3
Table #4
Table #5
Table #6
Table #7
Table #8
Table #9
Figure #1
Figure #2
Figure #3
Figure #4
Figure #5
Figure #6
Figure #7
Figure #8
Figure #9
Safety Codes...………………………………………………….……..…..… Page #11
Implementation (Fixed) Costs.……………………………………..… Page #12
Operating Costs…………………………………………………….……..… Page #13
Profit…………………………………………………………………….……..… Page #14
Production Stability..…………………………………………….……..… Page #15
Demographics/Traits…………………………………………….……..… Page #17
Fueling/Energy Capacity……………………………………….……..… Page #18
Station Design..…………………………………………………….……..… Page #18
Economics..………………………………………………………….……..… Page #19
Boulder City………………………………………………………….……...… Page #6
Gas Pump..………………………………………………………….………..… Page #6
Dispensing Method…………………………………………….………..… Page #7
Overhead View.………………………………………………….………..… Page #7
Placement of Stations..……………………………………….………..… Page #7
Front View………………………………………………………….………..… Page #8
Side View..………………………………………………………….………..… Page #8
Isometric View…………………………………………………….………..… Page #9
Perspective View………………………………………………….………..… Page #9
2 Spring 2011

Figure #10 Site View………………………………………………………….…………...… Page #10
Figure #11 Supply Method..……………………………………………….…………..… Page #10
Figure #12 Profit……….………………………………………………………….………..… Page #15
Figure #13 Flow Diagram……………………………………………………….………..… Page #17
Figure #14 Perspective View 2……………………………………………….………..… Page #19
Figure #15 Isometric View 2……………………………………………….……………… Page #19
3 Spring 2011

The objective of this project was to create a standardized H2/HCNG fueling station to convert
Boulder City, Nevada’s entire transportation network, both personal and public, to hydrogen fuel. To complete this task we decided to focus on just the use of Hydrogen gas to make the design process easier. We decided to use hydroelectric power generated from nearby Hoover
Dam as our renewable energy source to power our Electrolysis based Hydrogen production plant. The Hydrogen gas is then piped to available fueling stations and distributed using a unique 350 or 700 BAR fueling method.
In this project we designed a standardized Hydrogen fueling city to be used throughout
Boulder City, Nevada. The idea of the project is to convert the city transportation system, both public and personal vehicles, to being completely reliant on Hydrogen fuel technology. We picked Boulder City because it is a medium sized city with both public and personal transportation available. We decided to use electrolysis as our means of Hydrogen production because there is an abundant source of water nearby in Lake Mead and we would be able to tap into the power grid for Boulder City that is being produced from Hoover Dam. This method combined with the location makes an ideal combination, resulting in a clean, renewable source of Hydrogen production for a Hydrogen fueled transportation network.
The goal of this project is to convert a city from using fossil fuels to one that uses hydrogen to fuel vehicles. The scope of this project entails developing a fueling system and method of distribution for an entire city, as well as developing an economic cost analysis. Environmental impacts and safety codes must also be taken into consideration.
The project requires the group to select a city to convert to using hydrogen for fuelling purposes, design a fuelling station with full site layout, select/design a dispensing method, develop a process for the creation and supplying of the hydrogen to fuelling stations city wide, as well as develop a cost estimate for the fuelling conversion.
Our team decided to put our H2 gas stations in Boulder City, NV, which is near the Hoover
Dam. After researching the city through countless Internet and library resources, we realized
Boulder City has less people (approximately 15,000) than we expected, but still thought it would be a great place to try our H2 tech.
4.1/4.2 Technical/Online Literature Search
Boulder City:
4 Spring 2011

Boulder City is a small city near Las Vegas, NV. It was initially created to house the workers who built Hoover Dam. The city is located approximately twenty miles from Las Vegas and about ten miles from the Hoover Dam. Currently, there are five gas stations in Boulder City, and most of them are located in the west side of the city. These are the spaces that we plan to utilize for our H2 gas stations.
Hoover Dam:
Hoover Dam was a significant construction project in the 1930s and is still considered important due to its hydroelectric power production. The dam releases water at a constant rate of about 15,000 cubic meters (20,000 cubic yards) each second, which is more than half the water in an Olympic-sized swimming pool. Inside the dam are 17 hydroelectric generators, each attached to a huge fan-like structure called a turbine. As water is released from the reservoir, it flows through pipes in the dam and past the turbine blades, causing the turbines to spin and the generators, to which they are attached, to turn.
By way of this process, Hoover Dam generates more than 4 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity each year, making it one of the country’s largest hydroelectric power facilities. These amounts are enough to serve 1.3 million people, with the operation and maintenance of the facility being solely funded by revenue from power sales.
Lake Mead:
Lake Mead is the nation’s biggest man-made reservoir coming in at 157,000 acres of water
(247 square miles). It can reach a capacity of 28 million acre-feet of water, also equivalent to 9 trillion gallons. This is equal to about 2 years of normal average river flow from the Colorado
River. This lake covers 225 square mile, which is 110 mile long, and has over 550 miles shoreline, making it pretty irregular. The lake’s main importance is for use as a source of production input for hydroelectric plants.
5.1 Selected City
The city that we selected was Boulder City, Nevada. When searching for a city to convert to hydrogen, our group looked at the population size, geography, environmental characteristics, demographic estimates, and transportation characteristics of each candidate. Our first step was to search for a city that had a large amount of renewable resources nearby. We also wanted a city that relied on automobile transportation for both public (taxis) and private transportation. This way the switch over to hydrogen fuel would actually make a difference.
Because of these criteria, Boulder City, Nevada seemed like the perfect city to convert, with the greatest reason being that it is near the Hoover Dam. The Hoover Dam is an electricity generating power-house. Annually, the dam generates 4.2 billion kilowatt hours of electricity.
This amounts to 11.5 million kilowatt hours generated each day. Boulder City’s relatively small
5 Spring 2011

population of around 15,000 people makes it easy to convert their current transportation over to hydrogen-based automobiles. Our group had first looked at converting Las
Vegas, Nevada, but felt that their population size of close to 600,000 was too high to make the conversion feasible. Boulder City even has a transportation system, albeit a small one called the Silver Rider that transports passengers between Henderson and Boulder
City. Because the system runs through multiple cities, we decided it would not be feasible to convert the system to HCNG as it would require multiple cities to be on board
Figure 1: Boulder City with switching over to hydrogen fuel.
Demographically, Boulder City is pretty evenly spread out among the different age categories.
According to the 2000 United States Census, 22.4% of the population is 19 or under, 3.3% is from 20-24, 21.3% is from 25-44, 29.3% is from 45-64, and 23.7% is 65 or older. With roughly
45% of the population being either under 19 or over 65, the amount of drivers is cut down even more, making the conversion of Boulder City even more feasible.
5.2 H2/HCNG Dispensing Method
The dispensing method of hydrogen will be very similar to the dispensing method of gasoline.
The hydrogen gas comes from the production facility via pipeline. From there, the hydrogen is compressed to a pressure of 350 BAR and stored underneath the gas station. This eliminates the space for above ground storage of hydrogen. Then the hydrogen is dispensed through the pumps using similar technology of current gas stations. All gas station are equipped with the ability to accept major credit cards and mimic petroleum pumps. A challenge that arises is that different cars require difference pressures, 350 and 700 BAR. To compensate with that, the pumps will regularly dispense
Figure 2: Gas Pump at the minimum 350 BAR and are internally equipped with a compressor to dispense at 700 BAR. Selecting the difference in pressure will be similar to picking the octane at petroleum stations. Before the pumps starts pumping the hydrogen into the car, the pump makes sure there is a clear connection with the car and the correct pressure is the one that was selected. Both of these requirements must be met or the pump will not start dispensing. Once the dispensing process starts, it will take an estimated 5 minutes to fill the average tank.
6 Spring 2011

Figure 3: Dispensing Method
5.3 H2/HCNG Station Design
For the design of the hydrogen gas station, the design team looked at various gas stations, including both hydrogen and petroleum stations. We the design team came up with a name for this gas station: “Air Gas”. We chose this name simply on the fact that the hydrogen being put into the cars is a simply a gas that is in the air, instead of liquid petroleum. The gas station has the latest of modern amenities from tire filling station to being a
Figure 4: Overhead View convenience store. The inside of the station would follow a similar layout of most petroleum stations of today. For example, the station would have restrooms for both genders and house convenience snacks and drinks. However, the outside station has a very unique design and stands apart from regular stations.
The station was designed for placement in Boulder
City, Nevada. In this city, there are laws and regulations to require the city to stay somewhat small, so it doesn’t become consumed by the Las Vegas mentality. We took
Figure 5: Placement of Stations these considerations into the design of the station.
Hence, the station is not a giant landmark and fits into the atmosphere of the small desert town of Boulder City, Nevada. The population of Boulder
City is around 15,000 people. Out of that 46.1% of population are younger than 18 or over 65, and would likely not be driving much on average. From there we calculated that 8085 cars would be driving enough to fill their car weekly. That would mean there would be 72.2 cars per hour. We estimated that the gas station would be open at least 16hrs which would be from
7 Spring 2011

6AM-10PM. This translates into 6 cars per filling with an estimated filling time of 5 minutes. As a safety factor for congested times, we have placed five gas stations in strategic geographic locations, with 4 pumps each to meet the demand of hydrogen for Boulder City, Nevada.
In addition, the release of hydrogen technology promotes a greener life style, which explains our use of the colors green, white and yellow. One thing that you might notice is there is no price advertising the fuel. This was not put in for a reason. Since these will be the only hydrogen fuelling stations in Boulder City, there will be no competition for gas prices and the fuel will cost a fixed dollar per kilogram of hydrogen. Also since the hydrogen will be produced in an efficient green way, the cost of a kilogram will not be on speculation and will hold a constant value. Finally, after some calculations based upon the population and statistics, there will be a total of five stations put into Boulder City. All which will be evenly distributed across the city.
Station Views/Pictures:
Figure 6: Front View
Figure 7: Side View
8 Spring 2011

Figure 8: Isometric View
Figure 9: Perspective View
9 Spring 2011

Figure 10: Site View
5.4 H2/HCNG Supply Method
Figure 11: Supply Method
10
The production of hydrogen for the gas stations will be from a renewable green process. The plant will use the electrolysis method to produce hydrogen from water.
The production facility will be placed outside of Boulder City. The water needed for electrolysis will be pumped from Lake
Mead, which is approximately three miles away. In addition the electric will be produced from Hoover Dam’s hydroelectric power. Electrolysis was chosen because the city has renewable green resources that can meet the demand of hydrogen for
Boulder City. Once the hydrogen is produced, it will be piped into the gas stations located throughout the city in a
Spring 2011

gaseous phase. The reasoning behind a pipeline is that it is intended for long-time sustainability. In addition the distance to the pumps is diminutive. When the hydrogen arrives at the pump, it is compressed underground into a holding tank at a pressure of 350 BAR.
Having the hydrogen stored under ground eliminates the space for above ground tanks and does not affect the visual attractiveness of the station.
There are several codes and standards set forth for Hydrogen fuel production and distribution. Since Hydrogen fuel production and distribution is still in the early stages of development and implementation many codes are constantly being altered and updated.
Below is a table of the most common codes and standards being used today.
Association/Code
Table 1: Safety Codes
Description
CGA/G-5 Hydrogen/Fuel Cell Codes & Standards
NFPA/50A&B
NFPA/54
SAE/2600
ISO/13984
ISO/14687
ISO TS/20012
ISO TR/15916
ISO/17268
Gaseous/Liquid Hydrogen at consumer sites
Fuel gas piping installation
Hydrogen/Fuel Cell Codes & Standards
Liquid Hydrogen – Land Vehicle Fueling System Interface
Hydrogen Fuel – Product Specification
Gaseous Hydrogen – Service Stations
Basic Considerations for Safety of Hydrogen Systems
Compressed Hydrogen Surface Vehicle Refueling Connection Devices
As with all types of fueling, there is some environmental impact from the production and use of H2. Depending on how the H2 is produced, these impacts can either be immense or practically negligible. The way our group is proposing to produce H2 for Boulder City, Nevada is through electrolysis powered by hydroelectric power. Our production process would basically just be using renewable resources (water) to create H2 fuel, which does little to no damage to the environment. On the other side, however, if hydrogen is produced from the burning of fossil fuels, the environmental impact would raise exponentially because of the release of CO2 gas into the atmosphere, which is the primary cause of global warming.
Another possible environmental impact comes from the direct use of H2 fuel. H2 is an extremely light gas. In fact, it is lighter than air. Because of this, it is inevitable that some H2 will escape into the atmosphere during the production, transportation, or storage process. If
H2 becomes the world’s main fuel source, it is estimated that the amount of escaped H2 into
11 Spring 2011

the atmosphere could be 60-120 trillion grams annually. This also amounts to a 10% increase in the stratosphere, indirectly destroying ozone.
Overall, an H2 city done correctly is much more environmentally friendly than one that runs on fossil fuels. Throughout the entire life cycle of the H2 fuel, the impact on the environment is mostly negligible. If produced by renewable resources (as our process does), the creation of
H2 fuel has little to no environmental impact. Likewise, the use of H2 does not give off any harmful gases. The only real issue throughout the entire life cycle is that of the transport/storage process where H2 could potentially escape into the atmosphere.
Our team decided to put our H2 gas stations in Boulder City, NV. The population of the city is about 15,000 people. There would be five H2 gas stations in Boulder City and each station would have four pumps of 350-BAR pressure and four pumps of 700-BAR pressure, pumping 16 hours per day. The area of the station would be 535 square meters. We decided to deliver our
H2 gas by way of an underground pipeline. The average length of the pipeline from the Off-Site production facility to station to station would be 3 miles. In addition, we predicted that the average miles driven per each citizen each year would be 6,000 miles/person/year. We also assumed that cars could attain 60 miles/kg H2. We chose not to provide HCNG fuel at stations throughout our city as our city lacks its own transportation system. The transportation system that does run through the city also runs through others, and therefore would require multiple cities to convert to hydrogen based fuel. Our group also felt that four employees working at an hourly average wage of $10.00 would be an acceptable number.
Implementation:
In order to build our stations, a reasonable amount of money must be spent. Our team’s plan for the conversion of Boulder City to H2 fuel involves converting each of the city’s existing five gas stations. To do this, infrastructure must be built. The infrastructure would consist of compressor and dispenser systems for both 350 bar and 700 bar H2 bar. A cooling system for the 700 bar H2 fuel would also be needed. Furthermore, our team would incur balance of plant, land purchase and development, building, and pipeline costs. Table 2 shows these costs.
Table 2: Implementation (Fixed) Costs
FIXED COSTS (per each station)
H
2
Fueling station costs
H2 compressor system, 350 bar
H2 dispenser system, 350 bar ($50,000/pump)
H2 compressor system, 700 bar
Cooling block/chiller system, 700 bar
$163,986
$200,000
$156,275
$54,095
12 Spring 2011

H2 dispenser system, 700 bar ($60,000/pump)
Balance of Plant
Land, purchased and developed ($50/m^2)
Buildings, finished and furnished ($3000/m^2)
Pipeline Costs (OFF-SITE Production)
($250,000/mile)
TOTAL FIXED Cost Per station
Total FIXED Costs for All Stations
$240,000
$210,000
$26,750
$1,605,000
$750,000
$3,406,106
$ 17,030,531.34
Operating Costs:
As with all businesses, it takes money to operate. Incurred costs come from the cost of what the business is selling (in our case H2 fuel), paying employees, insurance, advertising, utilities, and all the taxes that come with those expenses. Table 3 shows these costs.
Table 3: Operating Costs
OPERATING COSTS (per each station, per year)
OFF-SITE H2 production ($5.00/kg)
Labor (Average Wage: $10/hr)
Wage Tax (20%)
Business Tax (35% of Wages + Labor)
Other Expenses (Insurance, Advertise, etc.) (2% of
FIXED Costs)
Utilities (3% of FIXED Costs)
TOTAL OPERATING Cost Per station
TOTAL OPERATING Costs for All Stations
$1,500,000
$29,200
$5,840
$71,871
$68,122
$102,183
$1,777,216
$8,885,080.87
Sale Volume:
It is crucial to a business to know how much of a product they are expected to sell. In the case of our H2 stations, we expect to sell 822 kg/day at each station. That amounts to a total of
4,110 kg/day sold throughout the entirety of Boulder City. These values our based on how
13 Spring 2011

much the average person in Boulder City drives per year (6,000) and being able to get 60 miles/kg H2 fuel.
Profit:
The implementation and operating costs for converting a city to H2 fuel are quite high.
Because of this, it is important that the profit margin is also high. It would be difficult to get investors to invest in this plan if the profit margin was low. Our project represents a high-risk big reward situation, which can certainly draw investors to it. We feel that a 20% profit margin would be able to do this. Below is a table showing an estimation of profit.
Table 4: Profit
6
7
8
9
2
3
4
5
Discount Rate
FIXED COST
OPERATING COST
Number of kg sold annually
Cost per Unit
Year
0
1
10
NPV
Profit %
FIXED Cost
$3,406,106
$3,406,106
OPERATING Cost
$1,777,216
$1,692,587
$1,611,987
$1,535,226
$1,462,120
$1,392,495
$1,326,186
$1,263,034
$1,202,890
$1,145,609
$1,091,057
$15,500,408
5.00%
$3,406,106
$1,777,216
300,000
$8.70
Annual Income per Unit
$2,610,000
$2,485,714
$2,367,347
$2,254,616
$2,147,253
$2,045,003
$1,947,622
$1,854,878
$1,766,551
$1,682,429
$1,602,314
$22,763,728
20.4%
14 Spring 2011

22%
22%
21%
21%
20%
20%
$8,70 $8,75 $8,80
Figure 12: Profit
We would set our cost per unit at $8.70 in order to make 20.4% profit.
Table 5: Production Sustainability
Total Car miles driven per year 90,000,000 miles driven/year
H2 used per mile, per car
H2 used per year, all Cars
H2 used per day, all Cars
H2 used per day, per person
0.0167 kg H
2
/mile
1,500,000 kg/year
4,110 kg/day
0.27 kg/day/person
822 kg/station/day H2 Working capacity, per station
Required Flow rate H2, per station (350 bar)
Required Flow rate H2, per station (700 bar)
Required Flow rate H2, per pump (350 bar)
Required Flow rate H2, per pump (700 bar)
0.428 kg/min
0.428 kg/min
0.107 kg/min
0.107 kg/min
15 Spring 2011

As shown above the total hydrogen gas used per day at all stations would equal 4,110 kg/day.
To produce this hydrogen gas we decided to use the electrolysis process using electrical power from the local power grid, which is generated from the Hoover Dam. This power is readily available due to the renewable source of power generation used at Hoover Dam. We chose the electrolysis process because of the abundant resources available from Lake Mead. The hydrogen gas will be produced at an electrolysis plant nearby and then will be piped to the local hydrogen fueling stations. The use of these methods, both hydroelectric power and electrolysis for Hydrogen production, are in high demand now to help reduce the need for fossil fuels and to help with pollution.
Along with Hydrogen needed per day we can look at the amount of energy need to produce that Hydrogen gas using our electrolysis production method. Based on assumptions of how many miles people are driving in the city and how many miles they will drive a year, we estimated that we will need to provide 4,110 kg H2 per day. Hoover Dam produces 11,500,000 kWh/Day.
55 kWh kg
4,110 kg
Day
= 226,050 kWh/Day
226,050 kWh Day = 2.2% total electrical production
Day 11,500,000 kWh
As you can see from the calculations above, the production of Hydrogen gas for the fuelling stations will take approximately 1.96% of Hoover Dam’s daily electrical production.
16 Spring 2011

Our report aimed to determine whether converting a city to be reliant on hydrogen fueling was feasible. After looking into many cities, we finally settled on Boulder City, NV, as it is extremely close to the renewable resources and power that come from Lake Mead and Hoover Dam.
Demographics/City Traits:
When taking on the task of changing a facet of an entire city, it is extremely important to learn as much as possible about the city’s
Table 6: Demographics/Traits
Population
Boulder City
15,000 demographics, traits, and quirks. Boulder City has a population size of 15,000 and is currently served by five fueling stations. Of these 15,000 people, however, only roughly 55% are at a rea-
Approximate %
Driving 55
Current # Fueling sonable driving age. The city lacks its own transportation system, relying instead on a system that runs through multiple cities. Boulder
City also likes to distinguish itself from its more vibrant brother of Las Vegas, and has banned gambling and extravagant buildings.
Stations
Other info
5
No gambling
No large buildings
Production/Distribution:
Our group’s H2 fuel will be produced at a central facility located outside of the city. The facility will generate H2 through electrolysis, with its inputs in the form of water from Lake
Mead and hydroelectric power from Hoover Dam. The fuel will then be distributed throughout the city via pipeline. A flow diagram is shown below.
17 Spring 2011

Figure 13: Flow Diagram
Fueling Capacity/Energy Needed:
In order to effectively provide fuel for our city, a total of 4,110 kg H2 is needed per day.
To create this much H2, a total of 226,050kilowatt hours are needed each day. This amount of power will be provided from the
Hoover Dam. The 226,050-kilowatt hours needed represents only approximately 2% of
Hoover Dam’s daily capacity.
Table 7: Fueling/Energy Capacity
Fueling/Energy Capacity
Fuel Needed (Daily)
Energy Needed (Daily, kWh)
% of Hoover Dam Output
4,100 kg
226,050
1.96
Station Design:
After taking into account the current number of gas stations in the city and the fueling capacity that needed to be attained each day, our team felt that it was best to implement five H2 fueling stations throughout the city.
Each of these stations would have four pumps with the option of pumping at 350 or 700-bar pressure. The stations would feature basic amenities such as a convenience store, air pump, and trashcans, which help the stations to fit right in in accordance to Boulder City’s building code. The hours of operation for each station would be from 6 AM to 10 PM.
Table 8: Station Design
Stations
Pumps / Station
Pressures 350/750-Bar
Amenities:
Convenience
Store
Air Pump
Trashcans
Operation Hours 6 AM to 10 PM
5
4
18 Spring 2011

Figure 14: Perspective View 2
Figure 15: Isometric View 2
19 Spring 2011

Economics:
To implement this plan throughout the city, a reasonable amount of money must be spent. The total fixed cost for the materials and construction of each station is $3,406,106. This represents only part of the total amount, as it would cost $1,777,216 to operate each station annually, assuming that the workers of each station are paid an average wage of $10/hr.
What makes up for this, however, is the fact that the profit total over ten years amounts to $22,763,728 if the price per kg is $8.70. Over this same time interval, the total out of pocket costs (fixed and operating) for each station is $18,806,515. This means that over ten years, revenue amounts to $3,857,214 per station.
Table 9: Economics
Economics per Station
Employee Wages
Employees per Day
Fixed Cost
Operating Cost (10 yrs)
Total Cost (10 yrs)
Total Profit
$10/hr
4
$3,406,106
$15,500,408
$18,906,515
$22,763,728
Total Revenue $3,857,214
Concerns:
With a project of this scale and technology, it was important for our group to research the possible concerns and issues that could arise. After concluding our research on H2 fueling and production, we are confident that our plan is environmentally friendly and is within all current codes.
To summarize, we used Boulder City, NV as our city of choice to convert its vehicle fuelling stations to Hydrogen fuel. We will be using hydroelectric power generated from Hoover Dam to power our electrolysis plant that will generate the Hydrogen gas needed for the fuel.
Our project satisfies the objectives given to us by providing a Hydrogen fuelling solution that can be switched between 350 and 700 BAR pressure depending on the vehicle being fuelled.
We have also determined the required amount of fuelling stations needed to provide all the residents of the local community with fuel for their vehicles.
The method we are planning on using may be expensive initially but will see large returns for a significant profit over the ten year period that we analyzed. This profit will also not be at a disadvantage to the patrons, as the price for Hydrogen fuel will compare very closely to the petroleum based fuel offered today. This relatively similar cost for fuel and the significant reduction in pollution and environmental impacts compared to fossil fuels makes this project extremely successful and beneficial for all.
We did run into a small problem, however, with how much power we are using from Hoover
Dam. Boulder City is allotted 2.2% of the Hoover Dam’s produced electricity. To make our fuel we are 1.96% of the total allotment, meaning that we are using nearly all of the city’s power.
We feel though that the government would make an exception, however, and divert some more power to Boulder City in response to this future changing project.
20 Spring 2011

In the case of our city, the conversion to H2 fuel can be successful. This is because of the relatively small population and enormous power source nearby. In all actuality though, it doesn’t seem like converting a city to H2 is yet feasible, at least not until H2 can be created in a less energy hogging way.
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21 Spring 2011