A team of students from Missouri University of Science and Technology scored the highest among U.S. teams in an international hydrogen design competition held this summer.

The Missouri S&T Hydrogen Design Team submitted its proposal to the 2012-2013 Hydrogen Student Design Contest. The teams were challenged to develop hydrogen fueling infrastructure plans for the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States for the 2013-2025 timeframe.

A total of 24 teams competed, with teams entering from Japan, Great Britain, Bulgaria, India, and Italy, in addition to the United States. The S&T team earned fourth place, with a score of 72 percent.

S&T’s entry in the competition outlined mass production of hydrogen using naturally occurring biogas from biomass found in landfills, then treating the biogas with high-temperature steam in a high-pressure processing device. The team identified possible production facilities and locations, provided a list of fueling station sites and looked at the economic impact of the plan. The team also evaluated transportation, storage and dispensing needs, while insuring that the supply of hydrogen could meet the demand of the proposal’s 13-year period.

The team has experience with hydrogen fuel, as S&T is home to Missouri’s only hydrogen production and fuel-dispensing station. The station produces 8.8 pounds of hydrogen per day as a high-pressure, three-stage dispensing facility.

“This year’s competition involved a greater extent of project management than engineering,” explains Yousif Hamad, a graduate student in mechanical engineering from Albdya, Libya. “Hydrogen has no carbon emissions, just water vapor, and the energy-to-weight ratio is better.”

Dr. Fatih Dogan, professor of materials science and engineering at S&T, and Dr. Joan Schuman, assistant teaching professor of engineering management and systems engineering at S&T, are the co-advisors to the team. Hamad is the 2012-2013 team leader. The hydrogen design team will be recruiting for next year and students from all disciplines are encouraged to participate. For more information, contact Hamad at ymhm93@mail.mst.edu.

For more information on the Hydrogen Student Design Contest, visit www.hydrogencontest.org.

The following students were part of the 2012-2013 Hydrogen Design Team:

Abdulhakim Agll, a graduate student in geological engineering from Tripoli, Libya.

Sushrut Bapat, a graduate student in mechanical engineering from Mumbai, India.

Charles Bauer, a senior in engineering management from Kirkwood, Mo.

Andrew Clum, a graduate student in engineering management from Independence, Mo.

Yousif Hamad, a graduate student in mechanical engineering from Albdya, Libya.

Tarek Hamad, a graduate student in mechanical engineering from Albdya, Libya.

Nandish Shivaprasad, a graduate student in manufacturing engineering from Bengaluru, India.