INNOVATION May-June 2019

QUEBEC CONTAINERIZED HYDROGEN FUELING STATION Powertech Labs has delivered its new “hydrogen station in a box” to Quebec City. This station is the first fully containerized 700 bar hydrogen fueling station in Canada, with features that include a payment system for credit and debit cards, a dispenser with a touchscreen user-interface, and control system for station monitoring. The station is designed for rapid deployment with minimal site preparation and installation requirements, addressing a common bottleneck in the industry by allowing station owners to quickly and easily relocate fueling infrastructure. The station was built for Toyota Canada to fuel their hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in support of Quebec’s zero-emissions vehicle act. On average, a vehicle takes three-to-five minutes to fill and provides approximately 500 kilometres of range. Participants: Powertech: Angela Das, P.Eng., Karin Garandza, P.Eng., Erik Klett, P.Eng., Leanne Sharpe, P.Eng., GlennWong, P.Eng., LiamQuinlan, EIT. Hydrogen Technology and Energy Corporation: Gerhard Schmidt, P.Eng., Sabina Russell, P.Eng.

AVALANCHE DIVERSION BERM, MOUNT STEPHEN AVALANCHE PATH IN YOHO NATIONAL PARK

The Mount Stephen avalanche path produces large snow avalanches that impact the Trans-Canada Highway in Yoho National Park in eastern BC. To reduce the occurrences of avalanches reaching the highway, a diversion berm was constructed in 1987 and extended in 1994. Avalanches—either natural and controlled reach the highway approximately once every six years. In February 2017 and March 2018, natural avalanches reached the highway while it was open. The berm spilled over in locations where it is only 8 to 9 metres high. Construction of a re-designed diversion berm in 2018 reduces the potential magnitude and frequency of avalanches reaching the highway, which reduces risk to people and infrastructure. The completed earth-fill berm is approximately 305 metres long, and 5-14 metres high. Participants: Alan Jones, P.Eng. (Dynamic Avalanche Consulting), Shane Anderson, P.Eng., Jaime Sanderson, EIT (McElhanney Consulting), Gilles Lussier, P.Eng (Parks Canada)

CHENGDE WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT A new wastewater treatment plant was completed and started up in late 2018 in Chengde, China—a city situated northeast of Beijing and the site of Mountain Resort, a vast imperial garden and palace, formerly used by the Qing emperors as a summer residence. Designed by ECOfluid Systems Inc of Vancouver, the 15,000 cubic-metres- per-day plant is to-date the largest plant utilizing the ECOfluid proprietary Upflow Sludge Blanket Filtration (USBF) technology, and the first to incorporate an all-concrete design and construction of the USBF clarifiers. Even though the plant was started up in winter weather, the initial operation of the plant has been very successful. Plant expansion is already planned by the Chengde Municipality, the plant majority owner. Participants: Brian Chan, P.Eng, Zhidong Li, Karel Galland, P.Eng.

I N N O V A T I O N

m A Y / J U N E 2 0 1 9

3 5