Fuel-cell coalmine vehicle demonstration project A fuelcell-powered coalmine vehicle will incorporate the best advantages of electric and diesel- powered vehicles while avoiding their disadvantages: It combines the workplace environmental benefits of a battery vehicle with the energy density and mobility of a diesel. The proposed vehicle will be fueled by hydrogen, derived from coal-bed methane, stored onboard safely and compactly as a reversible metal hydride. This combination of fuelcell and hydrogen-storage technologies has been successfully developed by Vehicle Projects LLC in a mine locomotive and a mine loader for underground metal mines. This project to develop and demonstrate a fuelcell coalmine vehicle can strongly benefit both labor and industry. The vehicle will provide a health benefit to miners by replacing diesel- powered equipment with emissions-free, quiet fuelcell power. Moreover, the fuelcell-battery hybrid will provide the safety benefit of being able to produce oxygen from water and thus serve as a mobile emergency oxygen source underground. Electric power takeoff from the vehicle allows use of any tool or device needed. While benefiting both the health and safety of miners, it will equal or exceed the productivity of a diesel vehicle. Hydrogen fuel, stored safely onboard the vehicle as a solid, will be produced aboveground from coal-bed methane. Conversion of methane to hydrogen is a mature technology, and most of the 45 million tonne worldwide annual production of hydrogen uses this technology. With the current high price of diesel fuel, production of fuel from a byproduct of mining would afford a significant cost savings to industry. Project Narrative This project is a significant leap forward in addressing the health and environmental hazards found in coal mining by eliminating vehicle exhaust and providing survivability solutions to catastrophic mining events.
