Burckhardt Partners With Shell On Development Of Heavy-Duty Hydrogen Refueling Station Compressor Systems

Burckhardt Compression (Burckhardt) has entered into a partnership with Shell New Energies for the development of heavy-duty hydrogen refueling station compressor systems. Burckhardt is one of the finalists selected by Shell New Energies as a partner for nonlube, high-pressure hydrogen compressor development.

As part of this project, Burckhardt is building a new test facility in Winterthur, Switzerland, dedicated to the advancement of sealing technologies and solutions for hydrogen refueling stations serving heavy-duty vehicles. These solutions, for both export and refueling use cases, will enable the compression of hydrogen gas up to 900 bar (as booster), using non-lubricated compressor designs. The choice to use piston compressors was made based on their high reliability, low total cost of ownership, and ability to compress high volumes hydrogen in a single compressor, Burckhardt said. These high volumes are required to build heavy-duty fuel stations and serve the growing fleet of hydrogen-fueled trucks.

The test facility is expected to begin operation in late 2022 / early 2023, with testing to take place through the end of the same year.

Burckhardt’s hydrogen compressor portfolio includes diaphragm compressors for lower flows and oil-free, high-pressure piston compressors for higher flows. According to Burckhardt, these compression solutions were specifically designed to meet the requirements of various hydrogen applications such as trailer filling and fuel stations.