Fuel cells convert hydrogen and oxygen into electricity and water. With good energy efficiency and no carbon dioxide emission, fuel cells are easy on the environment. Development work on FCVs is being undertaken to increase their wider adoption in the near future. The supply infrastructure for hydrogen fuel would also need to be improved.

Hydrogen stations in Japan are able to handle pressures up to 400 bar, and FCVs are equipped with 350 bar hydrogen tanks. Hydrogen tanks capable of handling higher gas pressures would increase the mileage of FCVs. To meet this need, manufacturers are working on 700 bar tanks for FCVs and 1,000 bar hydrogen stations.

As FCVs become more common, Kobe Steel expects demand will increase for high-pressure compressors used in the fuel supply systems of hydrogen stations.

In anticipation of this need, Kobe Steel built a test model with a flow rate of 50 Nm3 in October. The prototype is undergoing trial operation and performance testing up to 1,000 bar at Kobe Steel's Takasago Works. The company plans to move the test compressor to a hydrogen production facility owned by energy and gas supplier Iwatani International Corporation for trial operation. Kobe Steel intends to add more compressor models ranging from 50 to 300 Nm3 per hour in the future. It plans to market the compressors only in Japan.

Kobe Steel's 1,000 bar high-pressure compressor combines an oil-free piston compressor with the diaphragm head provided by Germany's Andreas Hofer Hochdrucktechnik GmbH, the world's top maker of diaphragm compressors. Kobe Steel was responsible for manufacturing and assembling the compressor casing, pistons and other parts, as well as balancing the piston and diaphragm compressors for optimum operation.

As Japan's top compressor maker, Kobe Steel has already supplied over 400 piston hydrogen compressors for use in other applications.