Customer case: Everfuel / HySynergy – Swagelok® FK series connectors were chosen for the hydrogen plant project

Everfuel is a Danish company operating in the energy sector, which produces green hydrogen with completely emission-free electrolysis of water using renewable energy sources. The goal of the HySynergy project is to build a large-scale green hydrogen production and storage facility. The project is planned to be completed in three phases. 

Phase I has a capacity of 20 MW and will be commissioned as early as 2022. Phase II consists of three units with a capacity of 100 MW, which would be operational in 2025. 
Phase III is planned to be ready by 2030, when the total energy production will reach the level of 1 GW. HySynergy is very comparable to green hydrogen development projects in the planning stages in Finland.

Overall, the project contributes to Denmark's climate goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 70%. The HySynergy Power-to-X (PtX) facility offers competitive and emission-free green hydrogen as an energy source for industry and heavy transport applications in the surrounding areas. The Danish Energy Agency supports the project with 6.5 million euros. 

Everfuel is the operator and owner of the HySynergy hydrogen plant, and in addition to Everfuel, HySynergy has several strong partners, such as Crossbridge Energy, Aktive Energi Anlæg (AEA), Trefor Elnet, Energinet, TVIS, EWII and Swagelok Denmark.

Swagelok Denmark has acted as a consulting partner in instrumentation, and Swagelok’s FK series connection components has been chosen for the facility's various instrumentation systems. In addition, Swagelok Denmark has delivered instrumentation panels to the facility as a Swagelok Custom Solution design and assembly service. Close cooperation was carried out with the design of the facility, and expert and fast technical support was crucial for the design office in the project.

How did the project end up with FK series connections? 

During the project, Swagelok Denmark carried out an extensive mapping between different connection options for Everfuel's hydrogen system needs. Traditional cone & thread connections and Swagelok's specially designed FK connectors for hydrogen were compared as alternatives. In the connector mapping, the total costs and technical characteristics of the alternatives were reviewed.

The total cost calculations for the joints accounted for the product price, the personnel and equipment resources needed to implement the installations, the installation time, the need for maintenance and the life cycle. The total costs of the connection options turned out to be roughly the same level in the calculation.

However, in terms of safety aspect, ease of installation, reliability and life cycle, the FK connection was significantly more efficient than the C&T connection. In addition, the mapping revealed that the risk of a leak in the hydrogen system is likely sooner or later for the C&T connection.

In the end, the FK series connection was chosen for the hydrogen system of the HySynergy project, because the difference in total costs was relatively small, but other factors such as reliability and safety were superior. As the project progresses, Swagelok field engineers also supervise the installation process of FK connectors on site and participate in panel installations at the plants.

In the picture, Peter Thomsen, Sales Director of Swagelok Denmark, presents to the customer complited manifold panel for the 550 bar hydrogen refueling system.

Everfuel chose Swagelok components also for the refueling infrastructure 

Swagelok components are also used at refueling stations for safety and longer life cycle. In refueling systems, the most important thing is reliability, because challenges in the use of refueling stations caused by maintenance interruptions, for example, do not promote the introduction of hydrogen cars and the growth of the industry. In terms of the future of the hydrogen economy, especially the safety of fueling stations used by consumers is a primary requirement for near-future projects.

The Swagelok Group supported the project at an international level with its network of hydrogen specialists, third-party tests and by optimizing the delivery schedule to fit the schedule of the large-scale project.  

Click and read more about Hysynergy project from their web site.

Get to know FK Series fittings from Swagelok web store.

Contact our sales about hydrogen possibilities

Project sales, our sales engineer Tuomas Ukkola, +358 40 507 2287, tuomas.ukkola@swagelok.fi

Our field engineer Janne Räty, 040 581 5585, janne.raty@swagelok.fi