december 2021-january 2022 - 23

the hydrogen production station
by using solar power to turn water
and electricity into hydrogen
that is then used to fuel the buses.
And finally, when the buses are in
service, the only thing they will
emit is water vapor.
'It's Significant, It's Real'
" This isn't quite Star Trek level
technology, but it's on the path.
It's significant and it's real, "
MTD General Manager Karl
Gnadt told the crowd of project
partners, stakeholders, as well as
local, state and federal officials at
a press event to demonstrate the
new technology.
MTD's two zero-emission, hydrogen
fuel cell electric, 60-foot
Xcelsior CHARGE H2™ heavy-duty
transit buses from New Flyer
of America (New Flyer) were first
unveiled at MTD's maintenance
and storage facility in Urbana, Ill.,
on Oct. 14, 2021. The event not
only celebrated industry firsts but
also the sheer number of collaborators,
including the FTA, it took
to see this project through.
" The new buses, which will run
on hydrogen and produce no emissions,
represent the kind of innovation
we're proud to support at the
[U.S.] Department of Transportation, "
said FTA Administrator
Nuria Fernandez during the event.
The agency elected to pursue
hydrogen fuel cell in lieu of battery-electric
technology because
hydrogen eliminates the agency's
fossil fuel consumption while
having minimal impact on operations.
This is because hydrogen
fueling takes about 10-15 minutes,
on par with a conventional
diesel bus, so MTD doesn't have
to change the way it operates.
And, these buses can drive up to
300 miles on a single refueling,
allowing MTD to keep a bus in
service all day instead of scheduling
down time for charging with
battery-electric buses.
In addition, more than 15,000
gallons of diesel fuel per bus will
be saved each year, with one hydrogen
fuel cell bus reducing
greenhouse gases up to 135 tons
annually. During low winter
temperatures, fuel cell vehicles
use waste heat from the fuel cell
to keep the inside of the vehicle
warm, saving significant energy.
Maintaining the
Buses Safely
New Flyer has been another partner
to MTD, helping the agency's
maintenance personnel learn how
to use and troubleshoot the new
technology.
" The preventative maintenance
schedule and the preventative
maintenance that the [hydrogen
fuel-cell] was going to
require versus what it's replacing
couldn't be more different, " said
Josh Berbaum, maintenance director,
MTD. " So, the training on
that side to ensure that we know
how to properly maintain this vehicle,
that's probably the biggest
challenge that we've had. "
Berbaum explains New Flyer
technicians have been onsite since
MTD received the buses and will
continue to be onsite, working side
by side with the agency to address
any fault codes, trialability issues
or whatever else may come up.
" We've also been really good
at relationship building with
not only New Flyer, but Ballard,
which is the maker of the fuel
cell. So, we've got engineers that
we call when we have an issue and
Project
Partners
New Flyer/NFI
Group: supplied
buses, trained
maintenance
staff
Trillium:
designed, built,
operates and
maintains the
fueling station
PDC Machines
and IVYS Energy
Solutions:
supplied the
compression
and dispensing
equipment
as part of the
fueling station
Nel Hydrogen:
supplied the
electrolyzer for
MTD's hydrogen
production
station
Ballard:
produced the
fuel cell
Fiedler Group:
provided design/
engineering
services for
maintenance
facility
modifications
and hydrogen
production
station
MTD
ONE OF MTD's
two 60-foot
hydrogen fuel cell
buses pulls into
the fuel island,
recently upgraded
to incorporate
fueling with
hydrogen,
produced on-site.
DECEMBER 2021/JANUARY 2022 | MassTransitmag.com | Mass Transit | 23
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december 2021-january 2022

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