Author(s)

T.L. Farias

Abstract

The main objective of the present paper is to present a sustainable and environmental alternative solution for the passenger transport systems. The solution is based on the fuel cell technology and will be presented under a Thermie demonstration project sponsored by the European Union entitled \“Fuel Cell Bus Berlin, Copenhagen and Lisbon”. The project involves the design and construction of a completely new bus by MAN that will use stacks of fuel cells supplied by Air Liquide. The fuel selected for operating the bus is liquid hydrogen stored in a cylindrical vessel at -253° C. The bus will be monitored by a team of Instituto Superior Tecnico, Lisbon and demonstrated for several months in three major cities of Europe: Berlin, Copenhagen and Lisbon. Demonstrations will be executed using the local main transportation companies that will incorporate the fuel cell bus into their normal lines. The bus will be tested initially by the Berlin Bus transportation company - BVG in the city of Berlin on the route between the airport and the city center. The bus will also undergo test runs in Copenhagen operated by HT and in Lisbon operated by CARRIS, Of special interest in these test runs will be how factors such as climate and geography (e.g. flat/hilly terrain) can influence the fuel cell bus performance. The project will demonstrate advantages of fuel cell buses compared to conventional diesel buses. The performance of the test runs will by analyzed in relation to inner city conditions. Economic data such as vehicle reliability, technology, operation and fuelling will be gathered as part of a process to establish the market viability of this technology, The project will be accompanied by a comprehensive measurement program which will clearly show the environmental benefits to be gained from the introduction of a technology which provides a 100% reduction in emissions.

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