Hydrogen bus route planning in regional Victoria

Abstract

In this paper, we present a case study to optimise refuelling logistics for a hydrogen bus network in regional Victoria, Australia. The bus network under study is operated by a company that aims at introducing a new fleet of hydrogen buses. We use integer linear programming to design a decision support system that could guide the company to determine the optimal configuration of a hydrogen refuelling network. Hydrogen bus refuel speed is governed by the pressure of the refuelling pumps. A high-pressure refuel pump is more costly but has a faster refuel time, whereas a low-pressure pump is relatively more economical, but it has a longer refuel time. Higher pressure storage also allows larger volumes of hydrogen to be stored at refuel points, potentially lowering the bulk refilling frequency. As with the refuelling speed, higher pressure storage vessels cost significantly more than standard pressure storage vessels. So there is a trade-off between investing in expensive high-pressure refuel equipment so buses can be refuelled in the shortest practicable time, and in lower-cost and low-pressure refuel equipment resulting in longer refuel times. Furthermore, four replenishment activities (i.e., refuelling, exterior cleaning, internal cleaning, and potentially COVID-19 cleaning) need to be scheduled for each bus. Results of our case study show that it is possible to satisfy the total demand using one low-pressure refuelling pump. In addition, we showed that without our proposed decision support tool, the company would use 9.1% more vehicles compared to the optimal number of buses.