The installation for separation of hydrogen will be built in the Przyjaźń Coking Plant in Dąbrowa Górnicza. It is a plant owned by JSW Koks, a company from the JSW Group. But the road to hydrogen starts underground – with mining the coking coal in Jastrzębie mines. The coking coal is used by JSW Koks coking plants to produce coke and coke oven gas, as a by-product. From gas you can separate hydrogen with the purity of 99.999%, thanks to the PSA (Pressure Swing Adsorption) technology. The gas used in fuel cells in busses or cars, during a reversed electrolysis process, is separated into protons and neutrons. Electricity is generated from protons while neutrons turn into steam – the only waste resulting from the use of hydrogen in vehicles. – Electric buses with fuel cells is the future – explains Waldemar Rumiński, Sales and Marketing Director at Ursus Bus SA. – In this type of solutions we avoid a number of problems, e.g. you don’t need a heavy electric battery, you don’t have to deal with its troublesome disposal, and you get higher mileage. The fuel cell itself is like a small power plant.
JSW SA is the largest producer of coking coal in the European Union, producing over 3.5 million tons of coke a year. JSW Group coking plants have the production capacity of 72 thousand tons of hydrogen per annum. – We are analyzing our strategy from the perspective of environmental protection and we have noticed the potential lying in our coke oven gas, which contains over 50 percent of hydrogen. Therefore we have undertaken cooperation with the producer of hydrogen-powered buses – says Daniel Ozon, President of Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa Management Board. – We believe that the inhabitants of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Area can be transported by such hydrogen-powered buses.
JSW is analyzing the solutions associated with capturing and purification of hydrogen, especially those originating from the Asian market. The Company has also come to agreement with Polish manufacturers, among others Ursus, as regards the use of hydrogen as a fuel. This is not without a reason – a hydrogen-powered bus consumes only 8 kg of hydrogen per 100 km. Introduction of city buses powered by hydrogen will reduce air pollution, smog and noise, while improving the comfort of travel. Already today, a bus provided by Ursus transports the participants of the Climate Summit.
