Compressed gaseous hydrogen

Compressed hydrogen is delivered in a variety of containers, depending on the quantity of hydrogen required.

Large quantities of compressed hydrogen are delivered in a tube trailer. These “tube trailers” consist of several tube-shaped pressure vessels in which the hydrogen is stored, built onto a trailer. The tube trailer contains around 300 kg of hydrogen at a pressure of 200 to 250 bar. As hydrogen is consumed the pressure in the trailer will drop and so the tube trailer will be connected via a compressor to additional compressed storage vessels installed on the site. Hydrogen to refuel the vehicles will be taken from these fixed vessels.

Smaller volumes of hydrogen are supplied in cylinders at 200 bar pressure. Typically the cylinders will be bundled together into packs of between 6 to 15 and their outlets manifolded together. These packs are known as manifolded cylinder packs (MCPs). A 15 cylinder MCP contains around 10kg of hydrogen. MCPs are delivered to site on the back of a truck with appropriate lifting gear.