The Air Flow company specializes in gas storage and transport logistics. For its director, Pierre Fiat, the success of hydrogen projects requires upstream consideration of logistics, since the transport of hydrogen by road can generate significant costs. Elements for reflection.
Hydrogen range of action
“In terms of logistics, each gas has its own range of action,” indicates Pierre Fiat. The radius of action is the economically competitive distance between the point of production and the point of consumption. The more difficult a gas is to produce, the more expensive it is to manufacture, the greater its range of action. This is the case for helium, which has around ten production areas in the world. On the contrarythe cheaper and easier a gas is to produce, the smaller its radius of action. This is the case, for example, of carbon dioxide, nitrogen or hydrogen. At Air Flow we estimate that compressed gaseous hydrogen, for its applications in the field of chemistry, has a range of approximately 150 km. By looking at the map of the large French hydrogen production units, you will note that they are approximately 300 km apart from each other. Most French hydrogen consumers are located less than 150 km from any production point. Below a distance of 50 km between the point of production and the point of consumption, the price of the molecule is mainly made up of production costs, taxes and margins. Beyond 250 km, the cost of transport constitutes the dominant part of the sale price. But when used as an energy vector, hydrogen is expensive to transport and not very competitive compared to other carbon-based energies: diesel or liquefied natural gas. Its range of action is therefore even more limited. The lack of anticipation of road transport and storage costs can call hydrogen projects into question. »
Equation with two unknowns
For Pierre Fiat, optimizing the cost of transport/storage amounts to solving an equation with two unknowns that are indirectly dependent on each other:
– the first unknown is the cost of travel, which is measured in euros per kilowatt hour transported;
– the second unknown is the cost of storage. This unknown must be measured in euros per kilowatt hour transported and not in euros per kilowatt hour stored.
“These two unknowns have indirect and random relationships. For example, if your production point and consumption points are particularly far apart, your travel costs will be higher, but so will your storage costs. Moving further away takes longer and storage times increase proportionally. You will then need more equipment to store your hydrogen, with the associated costs.
To reduce storage costs, some are reducing the size of equipment. But then, the frequency of deliveries increases to ensure continuity of supply. And the price of travel is increasing!
To improve transport costs, hydrogen players are intuitively moving towards high-capacity storage (type 2, 3 or 4 compressed hydrogen storage, operating pressure of 300 or 450 bars, or even cryogenic storage). . This equipment effectively reduces the unit cost per kilowatt hour moved. We understand the logic of these decision-makers. But these storages are expensive, not only in terms of investment, but also in terms of maintenance costs. Especially since compressed hydrogen logistics necessarily requires a minimum of three storage locations: one for filling at production, one transported on a truck and one for emptying at the point of consumption. Experience shows that, in our price equation with two unknowns, the share of storage is often greater than the share of travel. Especially when using devices with high pressure capacity. This is why, to date, more than 95% of the compressed hydrogen transport fleet in Europe is made up of type 1 equipment, with a service pressure of 200 bars, which consumes little in CAPEX and is reasonable in terms of cost. maintenance. At Air Flow, we do not think that this proportion will change much in the short term. We compared the performance of type 1 trailer tubes pressure 200 bars and type 4 trailer tubes pressure 320 bars. Type 4 is economically more interesting when gas must be transported over a distance of 150 km every day. If we move to a frequency every three days, type 4 becomes more expensive than type 1. We always advise our customers to start their compressed hydrogen logistics project with type 1 storage, and to evolve later towards higher type equipment, after feedback.
Energy transported
A Type 1 compressed hydrogen truck transports very little energy: 36 times less than a diesel transport truck. The cost of storage at the point of consumption and at the point of production is also higher, in a ratio of 1 to 10.
Many customers come to us with remarkable projects for the production of cheap and/or green hydrogen, with a very precise idea of the consumption points and volumes. They sometimes work for years with enthusiasm on the production and consumption aspects, without worrying about logistics. It is when the project is fully mature that they finally become interested in it. And this is sometimes a disappointment: projects lose their viability because of the cost of the kilowatt hour transported and stored, despite considerable public aid, despite sometimes very cheap energy sources, despite a strong demand for green energy. If you have a hydrogen energy project, study the logistics question as a priority. The less road transport there is, the more likely your hydrogen project is to succeed. »
Air Flow
Created in 2004, Air Flow is a specialist in gas logistics. With its 35 employees, it offers solutions for the storage and transport of compressed and cryogenic gases, with a commitment to guarantee quality. It has a large fleet of gas storage and transport equipment: containers and cryogenic rolling tanks, trailer tubes, frames and high pressure bottles, etc. Air Flow works for projects as varied as oil platforms and mines. , industrial sites, but also territorial projects.
The company has logistics platforms on several continents: Antwerp, Algeciras (Gibraltar), Houston, Marseille, Singapore and Hong Kong. These platforms make it possible to store and, above all, maintain this very specific equipment, which requires unique know-how. Its international clientele includes large industrial groups such as Air Liquide, Linde, Engie, etc. Air Flow has been active in the hydrogen sector for 15 years. It offers players high-pressure storage and real know-how for their transport.
