On August 23, China’s first self-developed, skid-mounted natural gas hydrogen production device was officially put into use at the Foran Energy Mingcheng Comprehensive Energy Station. The 250 standard cubic meters/hour production device is capable of instantly producing high-purity hydrogen for fuel cell vehicles.

This device was jointly developed and implemented by Southwest Institute, Foran Energy, and CNOOC Gas and Power Group. It has completely independent intellectual property rights. It embraces the characteristics of high level of integration and automation, high hydrogen production efficiency, while having a small footprint. Its performance indicators are world-class, and it fills the production gap for the domestic fuel cell industry.

This device uses natural gas and the steam reforming process to produce hydrogen. It can take gas from urban natural gas pipelines onsite without using long-tube trailers from the hydrogen production plant to transport it to the station. This can reduce the terminal cost of hydrogen by 20%-30%. This not only effectively solves the problem of unavailability and high using cost, but it also reduces the risk of hydrogen transportation on urban roads. This also provides a localized hydrogen source solution for the construction of the first batch of pilot city fuel cell vehicle clusters in China.

Looking into the future, Southwest Institute will continue to dive into the hydrogen technology. Based on the successful application of equipment that produces 250 standard cubic meters/hour, it will accelerate the R&D process to obtain 500 standard square meters/hour skid-mounted natural gas hydrogen production equipment. Developing the second generation of production technology with a more efficient and better performance will contribute to the development of China’s hydrogen industry and the accomplishment of the “dual carbon” goal.