Africa’s envisaged hydrogen mobility build-out detailed

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Last year, South Africa witnessed hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) mobility in Johannesburg when B20 and G20 top-brass were chauffeured around in Toyota FCEVs courtesy of Valterra, which provides the platinum group metals (PGM) used by FCEVs to convert hydrogen into electricity.

Last month, South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa held public discussions at the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, where he emphasised the massive energy opportunity that green hydrogen represents for an Africa with superior sun, prime wind corridors, fast-moving water and a great PGM endowment.

Last week, Northam Platinum stated unequivocally that current world hydrogen developments are being under-estimated given the "incredible" hydrogen developments that Northam witnessed first-hand on a recent visit to China.

This week, hydrogen compression specialist PDC Machines made a point of reminding South Africa that it was PDC compressors that enabled the world's largest hydrogen-powered ultra-heavy mining haul truck to do its rounds at Valterra Platinum's Mogalakwena PGM mine in Limpopo province in full view of Mining Weekly and the world.

This reminder popped up during Engineering News & Mining Weekly's Zoom interview with Mike Ciotti, the head of product at PDC Machines, and also Dr Sakib Khan, the GM for Africa of PDC Machines. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

It was during this interview that Africa's envisaged hydrogen mobility build-out potential began to be sketched in further detail, with PDC positioning its high-pressure diaphragm compression as a backbone of the hydrogen mobility step-up.

Ciotti noted that while hydrogen is currently enjoying a policy and investment surge, PDC's involvement dates back several decades. The company, founded in 1978, initially focused on high-pressure applications for toxic gases and nitrogen.

By the 1990s, as industrial gas companies began demonstrating fuel cell mobility concepts, compression requirements shifted sharply upward.

Applications moved from typical 150 bar to 200 bar systems to 350 bar, and ultimately 700 bar fuelling pressures, driven by the need to increase hydrogen storage density in vehicles.

Engineering News & Mining Weekly: Why do you believe that diaphragm compression is so well positioned for hydrogen applications?

Ciotti: The diaphragm compressor is just naturally mated to hydrogen, because it's able to contain the hydrogen with its static seals, and it's able to attain high pressures. Some of the pressures that we see today are 700 bar fuelling stations that require up to 1 000 bar hydrogen storage, and hydrogen, being the smallest molecule, is very susceptible to leaks, so the diaphragm compressor is able to contain that well within its static seals and achieve very high pressures.

FROM PILOT STATIONS TO SCALABLE HUBS

According to Ciotti, hydrogen refuelling station deployment typically follows a staged approach.

Early projects are small-scale demonstrations serving one or two vehicles consuming between four and ten kilograms of hydrogen a day. For this segment, PDC developed integrated systems combining electrolysis, diaphragm compression, storage and dispensing under its SimpleFuel platform.

As fleets expand, compression capacity and hydrogen supply strategy evolve. In many early deployments, hydrogen is trucked in via tube trailers at pressures ranging from 180 bar to 500 bar, depending on geography. Larger compressors are then used to boost pressure to storage and dispensing levels.

Scaling further introduces wide variability in hydrogen demand. Passenger vehicles typically require four to six kilogrammes per fill, buses between 20 kg and 30 kg, while heavy-duty trucks or mining v...