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June 9, 2000
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Fuelcell Technology For Underground Vehicles
The Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research, with the support of a grant through the Virginia Division of Mines, Minerals and Energy and the US Department of Energy, sponsored a presentation
by Arnold R. Miller, Ph.D., as part of the Society of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers/Central
Appalachian Section Annual Spring Meeting, June 9, 2000, in Abingdon, Virginia.
Speaker:
Arnold R. Miller, Ph.D. is the director of the Fuelcell Propulsion Institute in Denver, Colorado, and
spoke on the topic "The Hydrogen Mine: Refueling Infrastucture for Fuelcell Underground Vehicles."
Abstract: The next technology step beyond the elctric mine is the hydrogen mine. Hydrogen produced
onsite is distributed underground and serves as the energy source for clean, safe, and productive fuelcell
vehicles and other machines.
Fuelcell vehicles have the potential of solving the problem of underground traction power. Conventional
power technologies cannot meet increasingly stringent health and safety regulations and simultaneously
provide high vehicle productivity. Inherently cleaner hydride fuelcells, the coupling of a traction
fuelcell with metal-hydride onboard energy storage, will allow fuelcell vehicles to escape these
regulatory constraints and exhibit greater productivity. We project that this powerful cost offset will
make fuelcell vehicles economically viable 3-5 years earlier than projected for surface vehicles.
Nontheless, commercialization of fuelcell underground vehicles requires the capability of refueling them
within the customer's mine or tunnel. Because no vehicles will be sold until they can be refueled in a
practical and safe manner, development of the refueling infrastructure may be a greater commercialization
barrier than development of the vehicles themselves. The Hydrogen Mine Project will develop and evaluate
technology for hydrogen production, hydrogen distribution, and vehicle refueling in underground metal
mines and tunneling. An analogous system will apply to coal mining.
The hydrogen mine is enabling technology for fuelcell underground vehicles, and its development must proceed
in parallel with development of the vehicles themselves.
More Information: For more information, please contact the Virginia Center for Coal
and Energy Research at vccer@vt.edu.
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