Clean H2 Production

Renewable natural gas (RNG) produced by WM from a landfill is fed to the pipeline network supplying the GTI Energy steam methane reformer at the demonstration site. The catalytic reformer is the primary generator of clean H2 for the fuel cell powering the data center. It’s on its second tour of duty at UT, having previously produced hydrogen for a fuel cell hybrid shuttle bus in the 2000s.

Electricity powering the SimpleFuel electrolyzers is from solar photovoltaic panels and/or the grid at the UT research campus (which includes wind energy). In addition to an electrolyzer, each of the project’s SimpleFuel units also includes a two-stage hydrogen compressor, internal storage tanks, and a dispenser for fueling fuel cell electric vehicles. One SimpleFuel unit dispenses hydrogen at 350 bar and the other at 700 bar, allowing for fueling of a wide range of mobility applications.