A tube-trailer transports compressed gaseous hydrogen in multiple strong pressure vessels mounted on a road trailer. It can deliver hydrogen to locations without a dedicated pipeline, including industrial users, filling stations and early-stage demonstration sites.
The approach is flexible because a truck can serve different customers. Its limits are capacity and logistics: hydrogen is light for its volume, pressure vessels add weight, compression consumes energy and the vehicle may need many trips to deliver a large quantity.
Costs depend on hauling distance, pressure, usable gas capacity, trailer turnaround and how completely customers empty the vessels. Safety rules cover vessel testing, transport and handling. For very large, steady demand, a pipeline or production next to the user may have different economics.
When estimating delivered hydrogen cost, include filling, loading, labor, fuel, trailer ownership or rental and return trips. A cheap plant-gate hydrogen price can become expensive after road distribution is added.