Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and FirstElement Fuel (FEF), a provider of hydrogen refueling solutions, have launched the liquid hydrogen pump (LH2 Pump), after successfully testing it for durability. The 90 MPa class pump was tested for 250 hours of operations.

The test involved 300 run cycles of the pump resulting in 30 tons of liquid hydrogen transfer. This is the equivalent of fueling 1,100 fuel cell buses.

The hydrogen transferred was used to refuel hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in California resulting in zero emissions transportation.

Inspection of the pump revealed that all internal pump components are still in excellent condition, confirming the robustness and longevity of the pump.

This test began in April 2023 at FEF's Hydrogen Distribution Hub in California and will continue into next year.

The MHI LH2 Pump has consistently and reliably achieved an output of 160 kg per hour at a discharge pressure of 90 megapascals.

MHI's LH2 Pump design also ensures that hydrogen loss due to boil-off is negligible thus enhancing the economics of the hydrogen refueling stations.

The pump's best-in-class performance is enabling MHI to rapidly integrate the LH2 Pump into hydrogen refueling stations and bring the product to the California market in the immediate future, it is said in a statement.

MHI claims that the MHI LH2 Pump supports its commitment of achieving net-zero by 2040 and the creation of a carbon neutral society.

FEF operates a field-testing facility for hydrogen cryopumps at its Hydrogen Distribution Hub in California.

The field-testing capability allows for multiple, long run cycles of cryopump operations under real-world hydrogen conditions.

FEF added this capability to its Livermore facility because liquid hydrogen is critical to achieving scale at hydrogen refueling stations.

MHI and FEF have worked closely together to test MHI's LH2 Pump because of this shared view that liquid hydrogen is required to achieve a full-scale hydrogen society, and that liquid hydrogen cryopump technology will be critical to meeting the refueling needs of all hydrogen vehicle classes, said both companies.

MHI is ready to launch the expansion of their LH2 Pump business into the US and international hydrogen markets.