Performance analysis of hydrogen refueling stations adapting light-duty infrastructures for heavy-duty vehicles

This paper presents a model to analyze the cooling system of a hydrogen refueling station designed for light-duty vehicles when used to refuel heavy-duty vehicles, specifically a truck with a 60 kg onboard storage capacity. Simulations were performed under extreme ambient conditions (40 °C), varying the cooling system's operating temperature between -20 °C and -40 °C to evaluate performance limits. For light-duty vehicle refueling, the simulations adhered to the SAE J2601 protocol for the Average Pressure Ramp Rate (APRR), while for the truck, the APRR was fixed at 3.5 MPa to maximize refueling speed without exceeding the 60 g/s flow rate constraint. The results show that a station originally intended for light-duty vehicles requires over 50 kW of additional thermal power to efficiently refuel heavy-duty trucks, with peak demand reaching 80 kW at a cooling temperature of -40 °C. Additionally, to support the extended refueling durations of large storage systems, the station must have a thermal capacity between 16 and 22 kWh.