Comparison of Refueling Methods for Hydrogen Rail Vehicles

Kurzfassung

Hydrogen-powered rail vehicles offer a viable solution for decarbonizing non-electrified regional rail networks. This study evaluates different hydrogen refueling strategies, focussing on refueling performance and safety compliance. A lumped-parameter simulation model, validated against real-world data from the "Wasserstoffschiene Heidekrautbahn" project, is used to compare trailer-based refueling, ramp rate refueling and MC Formula-based (MCF) refueling with and without vehicle-to-station communication. These methods allowed for an end of fill SoC ranging from 56 % to 100 %, with a maximum refueling speed of 5.3 %/min and completion in under 14 min. Furthermore, the results show that trailer refueling offers flexibility and fast initial fills, but its performance degrades over consecutive cycles due to reduced trailer pressure, limiting the achievable vehicle SoC. Segmented trailers improve consecutive refueling capability but at the cost of slightly slower initial fills. Compared to table-based refueling, the MCF method without communication achieves a lower SoC due to early termination caused by a steeper ramp rate. In contrast, MCF with communication enables complete refueling to 100 % SoC. The findings highlight that vehicle-to-station communication is essential for efficient and reliable hydrogen refueling in rail transport and underscore the need for updated standards to support its implementation.