United States
State-of-the-Art and Research Priorities in Hydrogen Safety
Sep 2013
Publication
On October 16-17 2012 the International Association for Hydrogen Safety (HySafe) in cooperation with the Institute for Energy and Transport of the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (JRC IET Petten) held a two-day workshop dedicated to Hydrogen Safety Research Priorities. The workshop was hosted by Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) in Berlin Germany. The main idea of the Workshop was to bring together stakeholders who can address the existing knowledge gaps in the area of the hydrogen safety including identification and prioritization of such gaps from the standpoint of scientific knowledge both experimental and theoretical including numerical. The experience highlighting these gaps which was obtained during both practical applications (industry) and risk assessment should serve as reference point for further analysis. The program included two sections: knowledge gaps as they are addressed by industry and knowledge gaps and state-of-the-art by research. In the current work the main results of the workshop are summarized and analysed.
Self-Ignition of Hydrogen Jet Fires By Electrostatic Discharge Induced By Entrained Particulates
Sep 2011
Publication
The potential for particulates entrained in hydrogen releases to generate electrostatic charge and induce electrostatic discharge ignitions was investigated. A series of tests were performed in which hydrogen was released through a 3.75-mm-diameter orifice from an initial pressure of 140 bar. Electrostatic field sensors were used to characterize the electrification of known quantities of iron oxide particulates deliberately entrained in the release. The ignition experiments focused on using charged particulates to induce spark discharges from isolated conductors and corona discharges. A total of 12 ignition events were observed. The results show that electrification of entrained particulates is a viable self-ignition mechanism of hydrogen releases.
What is an Explosion?
Sep 2013
Publication
We are going to focus our discussion on âExplosionsâ its definitions from a scientific regulatory and societal perspective. We will point out that as defined these definitions are not consistent and lead to ambiguity. Of particular interest to this work is how this current ambiguity affects the emerging Regulation Codes and Standards (RCS) as applied to hydrogen technologies. While this manuscript has its roots in combustion science with extension to both the standard development and regulatory communities for hazards at large the unique behavior of hydrogen in many configurations motivates examining the relevant definitions and language used in these communities. We will point out the ambiguities how this leads to confusion in supporting definitions and how it leads to overly restrictive RCS for hydrogen applications. We will then suggest terminology which is not ambiguous internally self-consistent and allows appropriate RCS to be promulgated to ensure the safety of the public and capital to ensure the correct response of first responders and allow cost effective development of hydrogen technologies in our infrastructure.
Experimental Investigation of Nozzle Aspect Ratio Effects on Under Expanded Hydrogen Jet Release Characteristics
Sep 2013
Publication
Most experimental investigations of underexpanded hydrogen jets have been limited to circular nozzles in an attempt to better understand the fundamental jet-exit flow physics and model this behaviour with pseudo source models. However realistic compressed storage leak exit geometries are not always expected to be circular. In the present study jet dispersion characteristics from rectangular slot nozzles with aspect ratios from 2 to 8 were investigated and compared with an equivalent circular nozzle. Schlieren imaging was used to observe the jet-exit shock structure while quantitative Planar Laser Rayleigh Scattering was used to measure downstream dispersion characteristics. These results provide physical insight and much needed model validation data for model development.
Pressure Cycling Of Type 1 Pressure Vessels with Gaseous Hydrogen
Sep 2011
Publication
Type 1 steel pressure vessels are commonly used for the transport of pressurized gases including gaseous hydrogen. In the majority of cases these cylinders experience relatively few pressure cycles over their lifetime perhaps in the hundreds. In emerging markets such as hydrogen-powered industrial trucks hydrogen fuel systems are expected to experience thousands of cycles over just a few year period. This study investigates the fatigue life of Type 1 steel pressure vessels by subjecting full- scale vessels to pressure cycles with gaseous hydrogen between nominal pressure of 3.5 and 43.8 MPa. In addition engineered defects were machined on the inside of several pressure vessels for comparison to fatigue crack growth measurements on materials sectioned from these pressure vessels. As-manufactured pressure vessels have sustained >35000 cycles with failure while vessels with machined defects leaked before bursting after 8000 to 15000 pressure cycles. The measured number of cycles to failure in these pressure vessels is two to three times greater than predicted using conservative methods based on fatigue crack growth rates measured in gaseous hydrogen.
Hydrogen Safety Sensor Performance and Use Gap Analysis
Sep 2017
Publication
Hydrogen sensors are recognized as an important technology for facilitating the safe implementation of hydrogen as an alternative fuel and there are numerous reports of a sensor alarm successfully preventing a potentially serious event. However gaps in sensor metrological specifications as well as in their performance for some applications exist. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Fuel Cell Technologies Office published a short list of critical gaps in the 2007 and 2012 Multiyear Project Plans; more detailed gap analyses were independently performed by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). There have been however some significant advances in sensor technologies since these assessments including the commercial availability of hydrogen sensors with fast response times (t90 < 1 s which had been an elusive DOE target since 2007) improved robustness to chemical poisons improved selectivity and improved lifetime and stability. These improvements however have not been universal and typically pertain to select platforms or models. Moreover as hydrogen markets grow and new applications are being explored more demands will be imposed on sensor performance. The hydrogen sensor laboratories at NREL and the JRC are currently updating the hydrogen safety sensor gap analysis through direct interaction with international stakeholders in the hydrogen community especially end users. NREL and the JRC are currently organizing a series of workshops (in Europe and the United States) with sensor developers end-users and other stakeholders in 2017 to identify technology gaps and to develop a path forward to address them. One workshop was held on May 10 in Brussels Belgium at the Headquarters of the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking. A second workshop is planned at NREL in Golden CO USA. This paper reviews improvements in sensor technologies in the past 5 to 10 years identifies gaps in sensor performance and use requirements and identifies potential research strategies to address the gaps. The outcomes of the Hydrogen Sensors Workshops are also summarized.
Hydrogen Emergency Response Training for First Responders
Sep 2011
Publication
The U.S. Department of Energy supports the implementation of hydrogen fuel cell technologies by providing hydrogen safety and emergency response training to first responders. A collaboration was formed to develop and deliver a one-day course that uses a mobile fuel cell vehicle (FCV) burn prop designed and built by Kidde Fire Trainers. This paper describes the development of the training curriculum including the design and operation of the FCV prop; describes the successful delivery of this course to over 300 participants at three training centers in California; and discusses feedback and observations received on the course. Photographs and video clips of the training sessions will be presented.
Lessons Learned from Safety Events
Sep 2011
Publication
The Hydrogen Incident Reporting and Lessons Learned website (www.h2incidents.org) was launched in 2006 as a database-driven resource for sharing lessons learned from hydrogen-related safety events to raise safety awareness and encourage knowledge-sharing. The development of this database its first uses and subsequent enhancements have been described at the Second and Third International Conferences on Hydrogen Safety [1] [2]. Since 2009 continuing work has not only highlighted the value of safety lessons learned but enhanced how the database provides access to another safety knowledge tool Hydrogen Safety Best Practices (http://h2bestpractices.org). Collaborations with the International Energy Agency (IEA) Hydrogen Implementing Agreement (HIA) Task 19 â Hydrogen Safety and others have enabled the database to capture safety event learningâs from around the world. This paper updates recent progress highlights the new âLessons Learned Cornerâ as one means for knowledge-sharing and examines the broader potential for collecting analyzing and using safety event information.
Hydrogen Monitoring Requirements in the Global Technical Regulation on Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Vehicles
Oct 2015
Publication
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Global Technical Regulation (GTR) Number 13 (Global Technical Regulation on Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Vehicles) is the defining document regulating safety requirements in hydrogen vehicles and in particular fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). GTR Number 13 has been formally adopted and will serve as the basis for the national regulatory standards for FCEV safety in North America (led by the United States) Japan Korea and the European Union. The GTR defines safety requirements for these vehicles including specifications on the allowable hydrogen levels in vehicle enclosures during in-use and post-crash conditions and on the allowable hydrogen emissions levels in vehicle exhaust during certain modes of normal operation. However in order to be incorporated into national regulations that is to be legally binding methods to verify compliance with the specific requirements must exist. In a collaborative program the Sensor Laboratories at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the United States and the Joint Research Centre Institute for Energy and Transport in the Netherlands have been evaluating and developing analytical methods that can be used to verify compliance with the hydrogen release requirements as specified in the GTR.
Risk Reduction Potential of Accident Prevention and Mitigation Features
Sep 2011
Publication
Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA) can help to establish a set of design and operational requirements in hydrogen codes and standards that will ensure safe operation of hydrogen facilities. By analyzing a complete set of possible accidents in a QRA the risk drivers for these facilities can be identified. Accident prevention and mitigation features can then be analyzed to determine which are the most effective in addressing these risk drivers and thus reduce the risk from possible accidents. Accident prevention features/methods such as proper material selection and preventative maintenance are included in the design and operation of facilities. Accident mitigation features are included to reduce or terminate the potential consequences from unintended releases of hydrogen. Mitigation features can be either passive or active in nature. Passive features do not require any component to function in order to prevent or mitigate a hydrogen release. Examples of passive mitigation features include the use of separation distances barriers and flow limiting orifices. Active mitigation features initiate when specific conditions occur during an accident in order to terminate an accident or reduce its consequences. Examples of active mitigation features include detection and isolation systems fire suppression systems and purging systems. A concept being pursued by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) hydrogen standard development is to take credit for prevention and mitigation features as a means to reduce separation distances at hydrogen facilities. By utilizing other mitigation features the risk from accidents can be decreased and risk-informed separation distances can be reduced. This paper presents some preliminary QRA results where the risk reduction potential for several active and passive mitigation features was evaluated. These measures include automatic leak detection and isolation systems the use of flow limiting orifices and the use of barriers. Reducing the number of risk-significant components in a system was also evaluated as an accident prevention method. In addition the potential reduction in separation distances if such measures were incorporated at a facility was also determined.
Regulations, Codes, and Standards (RCS) For Large Scale Hydrogen Systems
Sep 2017
Publication
Hydrogen has potential applications that require larger-scale storage use and handling systems than currently are employed in emerging-market fuel cell applications. These potential applications include hydrogen generation and storage systems that would support electrical grid systems. There has been extensive work evaluating regulations codes and standards (RCS) for the emerging fuel cell market such as the infrastructure required to support fuel cell electric vehicles. However there has not been a similar RCS evaluation and development process for these larger systems. This paper presents an evaluation of the existing RCS in the United States for large-scale systems and identifies potential RCS gaps. This analysis considers large-scale hydrogen technologies that are currently being employed in limited use but may be more widely used as large-scale applications expand. The paper also identifies areas of potential safety research that would need to be conducted to fill the RCS gaps. U.S. codes define bulk hydrogen storage systems but do not define large-scale systems. This paper evaluates potential applications to define a large-scale hydrogen system relative to the systems employed in emerging technologies such as hydrogen fuelling stations. These large-scale systems would likely be of similar size to or larger than industrial hydrogen systems.
Hourly Modelling of Thermal Hydrogen Electricity Markets
Jul 2020
Publication
The hourly operation of Thermal Hydrogen electricity markets is modelled. The economic values for all applicable chemical commodities are quantified (syngas ammonia methanol and oxygen) and an hourly electricity model is constructed to mimic the dispatch of key technologies: bi-directional power plants dual-fuel heating systems and plug-in fuel-cell hybrid electric vehicles. The operation of key technologies determines hourly electricity prices and an optimization model adjusts the capacity to minimize electricity prices yet allow all generators to recover costs. We examine 12 cost scenarios for renewables nuclear and natural gas; the results demonstrate emissionsfree âenergy-onlyâ electricity markets whose supply is largely dominated by renewables. The economic outcome is made possible in part by seizing the full supply-chain value from electrolysis (both hydrogen and oxygen) which allows an increased willingness to pay for (renewable) electricity. The wholesale electricity prices average $25â$45/ MWh or just slightly higher than the assumed levelized cost of renewable energy. This implies very competitive electricity prices particularly given the lack of need for âscarcityâ pricing capacity markets dedicated electricity storage or underutilized electric transmission and distribution capacity.
Ignition of Hydrogen-air Mixtures by Moving Heated Particles
Oct 2015
Publication
Studying thermal ignition mechanisms is a key step for evaluating many ignition hazards. In the present work two-dimensional simulations with detailed chemistry are used to study the reaction pathways of the transient flow and ignition of a stoichiometric hydrogen-air mixture by moving hot spheres. For temperatures above the ignition threshold ignition takes place after a short time between the front stagnation point and separation location depending upon the sphere's surface temperature. Closer to the threshold the volume of gas adjacent to the separation region ignites homogeneously after a longer time. These results demonstrate the importance of boundary layer development and flow separation in the ignition process.
Thermal Hydrogen: An Emissions Free Hydrocarbon Economy
Apr 2017
Publication
Envisioned below is an energy system named Thermal Hydrogen developed to enable economy-wide decarbonization. Thermal Hydrogen is an energy system where electric and/or heat energy is used to split water (or CO2) for the utilization of both by-products: hydrogen as energy storage and pure oxygen as carbon abatement. Important advantages of chemical energy carriers are long term energy storage and extended range for electric vehicles. These minimize the need for the most capital intensive assets of a fully decarbonized energy economy: low carbon power plants and batteries. The pure oxygen pre-empts the gas separation process of âCarbon Capture and Sequestrationâ (CCS) and enables hydrocarbons to use simpler more efficient thermodynamic cycles. Thus the âexternalityâ of water splitting pure oxygen is increasingly competitive hydrocarbons which happen to be emissions free. Methods for engineering economy-wide decarbonization are described below as well as the energy supply carrier and distribution options offered by the system.
Hot Surface Ignition of Hydrogen-air Mixtures
Oct 2015
Publication
Hot surface ignition is relevant in the context of industrial safety. In the present work two-dimensional simulations with detailed chemistry and study of the reaction pathways of the buoyancy-driven flow and ignition of a stoichiometric hydrogen-air mixture by a rapidly heated surface (glowplug) are reported. Experimentally ignition is observed to occur regularly at the top of the glowplug; numerical results for hydrogen-air reproduce this trend and shed light on this behaviour. The simulations show the importance of flow separation in creating zones where convective losses are minimized and heat diffusion is maximized resulting in the critical conditions for ignition to take place.
Kinetic Model of Incipient Hydride Formation in Zr Clad under Dynamic Oxide Growth Conditions
Feb 2020
Publication
The formation of elongated zirconium hydride platelets during corrosion of nuclear fuel clad is linked to its premature failure due to embrittlement and delayed hydride cracking. Despite their importance however most existing models of hydride nucleation and growth in Zr alloys are phenomenological and lack sufficient physical detail to become predictive under the variety of conditions found in nuclear reactors during operation. Moreover most models ignore the dynamic nature of clad oxidation which requires that hydrogen transport and precipitation be considered in a scenario where the oxide layer is continuously growing at the expense of the metal substrate. In this paper we perform simulations of hydride formation in Zr clads with a moving oxide/metal boundary using a stochastic kinetic diffusion/reaction model parameterized with state-of-the-art defect and solute energetics. Our model uses the solutions of the hydrogen diffusion problem across an increasingly-coarse oxide layer to define boundary conditions for the kinetic simulations of hydrogen penetration precipitation and dissolution in the metal clad. Our method captures the spatial dependence of the problem by discretizing all spatial derivatives using a stochastic finite difference scheme. Our results include hydride number densities and size distributions along the radial coordinate of the clad for the first 1.6 h of evolution providing a quantitative picture of hydride incipient nucleation and growth under clad service conditions.
Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Stationary Applications: Key Findings of Modelling and Experimental Work in the Hyper Project
Sep 2009
Publication
SĂle Brennan,
A. Bengaouer,
Marco Carcassi,
Gennaro M. Cerchiara,
Andreas Friedrich,
O. Gentilhomme,
William G. Houf,
N. Kotchourko,
Alexei Kotchourko,
Sergey Kudriakov,
Dmitry Makarov,
Vladimir V. Molkov,
Efthymia A. Papanikolaou,
C. Pitre,
Mark Royle,
R. W. Schefer,
G. Stern,
Alexandros G. Venetsanos,
Anke Veser,
Deborah Willoughby,
Jorge Yanez and
Greg H. Evans
"This paper summarises the modelling and experimental programme in the EC FP6 project HYPER. A number of key results are presented and the relevance of these findings to installation permitting guidelines (IPG) for small stationary hydrogen and fuel cell systems is discussed. A key aim of the activities was to generate new scientific data and knowledge in the field of hydrogen safety and where possible use this data as a basis to support the recommendations in the IPG. The structure of the paper mirrors that of the work programme within HYPER in that the work is described in terms of a number of relevant scenarios as follows: 1. high pressure releases 2. small foreseeable releases 3. catastrophic releases and 4. the effects of walls and barriers. Within each scenario the key objectives activities and results are discussed.<br/>The work on high pressure releases sought to provide information for informing safety distances for high-pressure components and associated fuel storage activities on both ignited and unignited jets are reported. A study on small foreseeable releases which could potentially be controlled through forced or natural ventilation is described. The aim of the study was to determine the ventilation requirements in enclosures containing fuel cells such that in the event of a foreseeable leak the concentration of hydrogen in air for zone 2 ATEX is not exceeded. The hazard potential of a possibly catastrophic hydrogen leakage inside a fuel cell cabinet was investigated using a generic fuel cell enclosure model. The rupture of the hydrogen feed line inside the enclosure was considered and both dispersion and combustion of the resulting hydrogen air mixture were examined for a range of leak rates and blockage ratios. Key findings of this study are presented. Finally the scenario on walls and barriers is discussed; a mitigation strategy to potentially reduce the exposure to jet flames is to incorporate barriers around hydrogen storage equipment. Conclusions of experimental and modelling work which aim to provide guidance on configuration and placement of these walls to minimise overall hazards is presented. "
Compatibility and Suitability of Existing Steel Pipelines for Transport of Hydrogen and Hydrogen-natural Gas Blends
Sep 2017
Publication
Hydrogen is being considered as a pathway to decarbonize large energy systems and for utility-scale energy storage. As these applications grow transportation infrastructure that can accommodate large quantities of hydrogen will be needed. Many millions of tons of hydrogen are already consumed annually some of which is transported in dedicated hydrogen pipelines. The materials and operation of these hydrogen pipeline systems however are managed with more constraints than a conventional natural gas pipeline. Transitional strategies for deep decarbonization of energy systems include blending hydrogen into existing natural gas systems where the materials and operations may not have the same controls. This study explores the hydrogen compatibility of existing pipeline steels and the suitability of these steels in hydrogen pipeline systems. Representative fracture and fatigue properties of pipeline grade steels in gaseous hydrogen are summarized from the literature. These properties are then considered in idealized design life calculations to inform materials performance for a typical gas pipeline.
Design of an Efficient, High Purity Hydrogen Generation Apparatus and Method for a Sustainable, Closed Clean Energy Cycle
Jul 2015
Publication
In this paper we present a detailed design study of a novel apparatus for safely generating hydrogen (H2) on demand according to a novel method using a controlled chemical reaction between water (H2O) and sodium (Na) metal that yields hydrogen gas of sufficient purity for direct use in fuel cells without risk of contaminating sensitive catalysts. The apparatus consists of a first pressure vessel filled with liquid H2O with an overpressure of nitrogen (N2) gas above the H2O reactant and a second pressure vessel that stores solid Na reactant. Hydrogen gas is generated above the solid Na when H2O reactant is introduced using a regulator that senses when the downstream pressure of H2 gas above the solid Na reactant has dropped below a threshold value. The sodium hydroxide (NaOH) byproduct of the hydrogen producing reaction is collected within the apparatus for later reprocessing by electrolysis to recover the Na reactant.
QRA Including Utility for Decision Support of H2 Infrastructure Licensing
Sep 2011
Publication
Rational decision making in land use planning and licensing of H2 infrastructure surrounded by other industrial activities and population should take account of individual and societal risks. QRA produces a risk matrix of potential consequences versus event probabilities that is shrouded in ambiguity and lacking transparency. NIMBY and conflict are lurking. To counter these issues risk analysts should therefore also determine the utilities of decision alternatives which describe desirability of benefits on a single scale. Rationally weighing risks versus benefits results in more transparent and defendable decisions. Example risk analyses of two types of refuelling stations and three hydrogen supply transportation types applying Influence Diagram/BBNs are worked out. Keywords: risk assessment influence diagram decision making land use planning
Safety Considerations for Hydrogen Test Cells
Sep 2009
Publication
The properties of hydrogen compared to conventional fuels such as gasoline and diesel are substantially different requiring adaptations to the design and layout of test cells for hydrogen fuelled engines and vehicles. A comparison of hydrogen fuel properties versus conventional fuels in this paper provides identification of requirements that need to be adapted to design a safe test cell. Design examples of actual test cells are provided to showcase the differences in overall layout and ventilation safety features fuel supply and metering and emissions measurements. Details include requirements for ventilation patterns the necessity for engine fume hoods as well as hydrogen specific intake and exhaust design. The unique properties of hydrogen in particular the wide flammability limits and nonvisible flames also require additional safety features such as hydrogen sensors and flame cameras. A properly designed and implemented fuel supply system adds to the safety of the test cell by minimizing the amount of hydrogen that can be released. Apart from this the properties of hydrogen also require different fuel consumption measurement systems pressure levels of the fuel supply system additional ventilation lines strategically placed safety solenoids combined with appropriate operational procedures. The emissions measurement for hydrogen application has to be expanded to include the amount of unburned hydrogen in the exhaust as a measurement of completeness of combustion. This measurement can also be used as a safety feature to avoid creation of ignitable hydrogen-air mixtures in the engine exhaust. The considerations provided in this paper lead to the conclusion that hydrogen IC engines can be safely tested however properly designed test cell and safety features have to be included to mitigate the additional hazards related to the change in fuel characteristics.
H-Mat Hydrogen Compatibility of Polymers and Elastomers
Sep 2019
Publication
The H2@Scale program of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Fuel Cell Technologies Office is supporting work on the hydrogen compatibility of polymers to improve the durability and reliability of materials for hydrogen infrastructure. The hydrogen compatibility program (H-Mat) seeks âto address the challenges of hydrogen degradation by elucidating the mechanisms of hydrogen-materials interactions with the goal of providing science-based strategies to design materials (micro)structures and morphology with improved resistance to hydrogen degradation.â This research has found hydrogen and pressure interactions with model rubber-material compounds demonstrating volume change and compression-set differences in the materials. The research leverages state-of-the-art capabilities of the DOE national labs. The materials were investigated using helium-ion microscopy which revealed significant morphological changes in the plasticizer incorporating compounds after exposure as evidenced by time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry. Additional studies using transmission electron microscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance revealed that nanosized inclusions developed after gas decompression in rubber- and plasticizer-only materials; this is an indication of void formation at the nanometer level.
Deploying Fuel Cell Systems, What Have We Learned
Sep 2013
Publication
The Hydrogen Safety Panel brings a broad cross-section of expertise from the industrial government and academic sectors to help advise the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Fuel Cell Technologies Office through its work in hydrogen safety codes and standards. The Panel's initiatives in reviewing safety plans conducting safety evaluations identifying safety-related technical data gaps and supporting safety knowledge tools and databases cover the gamut from research and development to demonstration. The Panel's recent work has focused on the safe deployment of hydrogen and fuel cell systems in support of DOE efforts to accelerate fuel cell commercialization in early market applications: vehicle refuelling material handling equipment backup power for warehouses and telecommunication sites and portable power devices. This paper summarizes the work and learnings from the Panel's early efforts the transition to its current focus and the outcomes and conclusions from recent work on the deployment of hydrogen and fuel cell systems.
Hydrogen Strategy - Enabling a Low-Carbon Economy
Jul 2020
Publication
This document summarizes current hydrogen technologies and communicates the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy's (FE's) strategic plan to accelerate research development and deploymnet of hydrogen technologies in the United States. It also describes ongoing FE hydrogen-related research and development (R&D). Hydrogen from fossil fuels is a versatile energy carrier and can play an important role in the transition to a low-carbon economy.
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS): The Way Forward
Mar 2018
Publication
Mai Bui,
Claire S. Adjiman,
AndrĂŠ Bardow,
Edward J. Anthony,
Andy Boston,
Solomon Brown,
Paul Fennell,
Sabine Fuss,
Amparo Galindo,
Leigh A. Hackett,
Jason P. Hallett,
Howard J. Herzog,
George Jackson,
Jasmin Kemper,
Samuel Krevor,
Geoffrey C. Maitland,
Michael Matuszewski,
Ian Metcalfe,
Camille Petit,
Graeme Puxty,
Jeffrey Reimer,
David M. Reiner,
Edward S. Rubin,
Stuart A. Scott,
Nilay Shah,
Berend Smit,
J. P. Martin Trusler,
Paul Webley,
Jennifer Wilcox and
Niall Mac Dowell
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is broadly recognised as having the potential to play a key role in meeting climate change targets delivering low carbon heat and power decarbonising industry and more recently its ability to facilitate the net removal of CO2 from the atmosphere. However despite this broad consensus and its technical maturity CCS has not yet been deployed on a scale commensurate with the ambitions articulated a decade ago. Thus in this paper we review the current state-of-the-art of CO2 capture transport utilisation and storage from a multi-scale perspective moving from the global to molecular scales. In light of the COP21 commitments to limit warming to less than 2 °C we extend the remit of this study to include the key negative emissions technologies (NETs) of bioenergy with CCS (BECCS) and direct air capture (DAC). Cognisant of the non-technical barriers to deploying CCS we reflect on recent experience from the UK's CCS commercialisation programme and consider the commercial and political barriers to the large-scale deployment of CCS. In all areas we focus on identifying and clearly articulating the key research challenges that could usefully be addressed in the coming decade.
Fatigue and Fracture of High-hardenability Steels for Thick-walled Hydrogen Pressure Vessels
Sep 2017
Publication
Stationary pressure vessels for the storage of large volumes of gaseous hydrogen at high pressure (>70 MPa) are typically manufactured from Cr-Mo steels. These steels display hydrogen-enhanced fatigue crack growth but pressure vessels can be manufactured using defect-tolerant design methodologies. However storage volumes are limited by the wall thickness that can be reliably manufactured for quench and tempered Cr-Mo steels typically not more than 25-35 mm. High-hardenability steels can be manufactured with thicker walls which enables larger diameter pressure vessels and larger storage volumes. The goal of this study is to assess the fracture and fatigue response of high hardenability Ni-Cr-Mo pressure vessel steels for use in high-pressure hydrogen service at pressure in excess of 1000 bar. Standardized fatigue crack growth tests were performed in gaseous hydrogen at frequency of 1Hz and for R-ratios in the range of 0.1 to 0.7. Elastic-plastic fracture toughness measurements were also performed. The measured fatigue and fracture behavior is placed into the context of previous studies on fatigue and fracture of Cr-Mo steels for gaseous hydrogen.
Dispersion and Burning Behavior of Hydrogen Released in a Full-scale Residential Garage in the Presence and Absence of Conventional Automobiles
Sep 2011
Publication
Experiments are described in which hydrogen was released at the center of the floor of a real-scale enclosure having dimensions of a typical two-car residential garage. Real-time hydrogen concentrations were monitored at a number of locations. The hydrogen/air mixtures were ignited at pre-determined local volume fractions ranging from 8% to 29%. The combustion behavior and structural effects were monitored using combinations of high-speed pressure transducers and ionization gauges standard thermocouples hydrogen sensors and digital infrared and high-speed video cameras. Experiments were performed both for empty garages and garages with conventional automobiles parked above the hydrogen release location.
Regulations, Codes, and Standards (RCS) for Multi-fuel Motor Vehicle Dispensing Station
Sep 2017
Publication
In the United States requirements for liquid motor vehicle fuelling stations have been in place for many years. Requirements for motor vehicle fuelling stations for gaseous fuels including hydrogen are relatively new. These requirements have in the United States been developed along different code and standards paths. The liquid fuels have been addressed in a single document and the gaseous fuels have been addressed in documents specific to an individual gas. The result of these parallel processes is that multi-fuel stations are subject to requirements in several fuelling regulations codes and standards (RCS). This paper describes a configuration of a multi-fuel motor vehicle fuelling station and provides a detailed breakdown of the codes and standards requirements. The multi-fuel station would dispense what the U.S. Department of Energy defines as the six key alternative fuels: biodiesel electricity ethanol hydrogen natural gas and propane. The paper will also identify any apparent gaps in RCS and potential research projects that could help fill these gaps.
The Technical and Economic Potential of the H2@Scale Concept within the United States
Oct 2020
Publication
The U.S. energy system is evolving as society and technologies change. Renewable electricity generationâespecially from wind and solarâis growing rapidly and alternative energy sources are being developed and implemented across the residential commercial transportation and industrial sectors to take advantage of their cost security and health benefits. Systemic changes present numerous challenges to grid resiliency and energy affordability creating a need for synergistic solutions that satisfy multiple applications while yielding system-wide cost and emissions benefits. One such solution is an integrated hydrogen energy system (Figure ES-1). This is the focus of H2@Scaleâa U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) initiative led by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energyâs Hydrogen and Fuel Technologies Office. H2@Scale brings together stakeholders to advance affordable hydrogen production transport storage and utilization in multiple energy sectors. The H2@Scale concept involves hydrogen as an energy intermediate. Hydrogen can be produced from various conventional and renewable energy sources including as a responsive load on the electric grid. Hydrogen has many current applications and many more potential applications such as energy for transportationâused directly in fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) as a feedstock for synthetic fuels and to upgrade oil and biomassâfeedstock for industry (e.g. for ammonia production metals refining and other end uses) heat for industry and buildings and electricity storage. Owing to its flexibility and fungibility a hydrogen intermediate could link energy sources that have surplus availability to markets that require energy or chemical feedstocks benefiting both. This document builds upon a growing body of analyses of hydrogen as an energy intermediate by reporting the results from our initial analysis of the potential impacts of the H2@Scale vision by the mid-21st century for the 48 contiguous U.S. states. Previous estimates have been based on expert elicitation and focused on hydrogen demands. We build upon them first by estimating hydrogenâs serviceable consumption potential for possible hydrogen applications and the technical potential for producing hydrogen from various resources. We define the serviceable consumption potential as the quantity of hydrogen that would be consumed to serve the portion of the market that could be captured without considering economics (i.e. if the price of hydrogen were $0/kg over an extended period); thus it can be considered an upper bound for the size of the market. We define the technical potential as the resource potential constrained by real-world geography and system performance but not by economics. We then compare the cumulative serviceable consumption potential with the technical potential of a number of possible sources. Second we estimate economic potential: the quantity of hydrogen at an equilibrium price at which suppliers are willing to sell and consumers are willing to buy the same quantity of hydrogen. We believe this method provides a deeper understanding than was available in the previous analyses. We develop economic potentials for multiple scenarios across various market and technology-advancement assumptions.
Everything About Hydrogen Podcast: So, What's the Big Deal with Hydrogen?
Aug 2019
Publication
This episode is a whistle-stop tour of the hydrogen world. The team explore why hydrogen is making a resurgence as an energy carrier how decarbonising the existing hydrogen market is a huge opportunity and how fuel cells fit into the story.
The podcast can be found on their website
The podcast can be found on their website
Development of Dispensing Hardware for Safe Fueling of Heavy Duty Vehicles
Sep 2021
Publication
The development of safe dispensing equipment for the fueling of heavy duty (HD) vehicles is critical to the expansion of this newly and quickly expanding market. This paper discusses the development of a HD dispenser and nozzles assembly (nozzle hose breakaway) for these new larger vehicles where flow rates are more than double compared to light duty (LD) vehicles. This equipment must operate at nominal pressures of 700 bar -40o C gas temperature and average flow rate of 5-10 kg/min at a high throughput commercial hydrogen fueling station without leaking hydrogen. The project surveyed HD vehicle manufacturers station developers and component suppliers to determine the basic specifications of the dispensing equipment and nozzle assembly. The team also examined existing codes and standards to determine necessary changes to accommodate HD components. From this information the team developed a set of specifications which will be used to design the dispensing equipment. In order to meet these goals the team performed computational fluid dynamic pressure modelling and temperature analysis in order to determine the necessary parameters to meet existing safety standards modified for HD fueling. The team also considered user operational and maintenance requirements such as freeze lock which has been an issue which prevents the removal of the nozzle from LD vehicles. The team also performed a failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) to identify the possible failures in the design. The dispenser and nozzle assembly will be tested separately and then installed on an innovative HD fueling station which will use a HD vehicle simulator to test the entire system.
A Review of the Status of Fossil and Renewable Energies in Southeast Asia and Its Implications on the Decarbonization of ASEAN
Mar 2022
Publication
The ten nations of Southeast Asia collectively known as ASEAN emitted 1.65 Gtpa CO2 in 2020 and are among the most vulnerable nations to climate change which is partially caused by anthropogenic CO2 emission. This paper analyzes the history of ASEAN energy consumption and CO2 emission from both fossil and renewable energies in the last two decades. The results show that ASEANâs renewable energies resources range from low to moderate are unevenly distributed geographically and contributed to only 20% of total primary energy consumption (TPEC) in 2015. The dominant forms of renewable energies are hydropower solar photovoltaic and bioenergy. However both hydropower and bioenergy have substantial sustainability issues. Fossil energies depend heavily on coal and oil and contribute to 80% of TPEC. More importantly renewable energiesâ contribution to TPEC has been decreasing in the last two decades despite the increasing installation capacity. This suggests that the current rate of the addition of renewable energy capacity is inadequate to allow ASEAN to reach net-zero by 2050. Therefore fossil energies will continue to be an important part of ASEANâs energy mix. More tools such as carbon capture and storage (CCS) and hydrogen will be needed for decarbonization. CCS will be needed to decarbonize ASEANâs fossil power and industrial plants while blue hydrogen will be needed to decarbonize hard-to-decarbonize industrial plants. Based on recent research into regional CO2 source-sink mapping this paper proposes six large-scale CCS projects in four countries which can mitigate up to 300 Mtpa CO2 . Furthermore this paper identifies common pathways for ASEAN decarbonization and their policy implications.
Effective Thermal Conductivity of Insulation Materials for Cryogenic LH2 Storage Tanks: A Review
Nov 2022
Publication
An accurate estimation of the effective thermal conductivity of various insulation materials is essential in the evaluation of heat leak and boil-off rate from liquid hydrogen storage tanks. In this work we review the existing experimental data and various proposed correlations for predicting the effective conductivity of insulation systems consisting of powders foams fibrous materials and multilayer systems. We also propose a first principles-based correlation that may be used to estimate the dependence of the effective conductivity as a function of temperature interstitial gas composition pressure and structural properties of the material. We validate the proposed correlation using available experimental data for some common insulation materials. Further improvements and testing of the proposed correlation using laboratory scale data obtained using potential LH2 tank insulation materials are also discussed.
Green-hydrogen Research: What Have We Achieved, and Where Are We Going? Bibliometrics Analysis
Jul 2022
Publication
In response to the global challenge of climate change 136 countries accounting for 90% of global GDP and 85% of the population have now set net-zero targets. A transition to net-zero will require the decarbonization of all sectors of the economy. Green-hydrogen produced from renewable energy sources poses little to no threat to the environment and increasing its production will support net-zero targets Our study examined the evolution of green-hydrogen research themes since the UN Sustainable Development Goals were adopted in 2015 by utilizing bibliographic couplings keyword co-occurrence and keyphrase analysis of 642 articles from 2016 to 2021 in the Scopus database. We studied bibliometrics indicators and temporal evolution of publications and citations patterns of open access the effect of author collaboration influential publications and top contributing countries. We also consider new indicators like publication views keyphrases topics with prominence and field weighted citation impact and Altmetrics to understand the research direction further. We find four major thematic distributions of green-hydrogen research based on keyword co-occurrence networks: hydrogen storage hydrogen production electrolysis and the hydrogen economy. We also find networks of four research clusters that provide new information on the journalâs contributions to green-hydrogen research. These are materials chemistry hydrogen energy and cleaner production applied energy and fuel cells. Most green-hydrogen research aligns with Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG 7) and Climate Action (SDG 13). The outcomes of policy decisions in the United States Europe India and China will profoundly impact green-hydrogen production and storage over the next five years. If these policies are implemented these countries will account for two-thirds of this growth. Asia will account for the most significant part and become the second-largest producer globally.
Everything About Hydrogen Podcast: Moving at the Speed of Hydrogen
Nov 2020
Publication
We spend a lot of time on the show talking about the interesting use cases and potential applications of hydrogen technologies as a means to decarbonize high-emissions sectors and that is the point! However moving hydrogen around the world (e.g. to remote areas without the capacity to produce it locally) presents a number of complexities and challenges that are unique to hydrogen itself or for which there are no traditionally established technologies to do so. On this episode the EAH team has a fascinating chat with Dr. Daniel Teichmann CEO and founder of Hydrogenious to learn more about liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHCs) and how they can help companies overcome some of the major hurdles that moving hydrogen around the globe presents.
The podcast can be found on their website
The podcast can be found on their website
Techno-Economic Analysis of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell-Gas Turbine Hybrid Systems for Stationary Power Applications Using Renewable Hydrogen
Jun 2023
Publication
Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC)âgas turbine (GT) hybrid systems can produce power at high electrical efficiencies while emitting virtually zero criteria pollutants (e.g. ozone carbon monoxide oxides of nitrogen and sulfur and particulate matters). This study presents new insights into renewable hydrogen (RH2 )-powered SOFCâGT hybrid systems with respect to their system configuration and techno-economic analysis motivated by the need for clean on-demand power. First three system configurations are thermodynamically assessed: (I) a reference case with no SOFC off-gas recirculation (II) a case with cathode off-gas recirculation and (III) a case with anode off-gas recirculation. While these configurations have been studied in isolation here we provide a detailed performance comparison. Moreover a techno-economic analysis is conducted to study the economic competitiveness of RH2 -fueled hybrid systems and the economies of scale by offering a comparison to natural gas (NG)-fueled systems. Results show that the case with anode off-gas recirculation with 68.50%-lower heating value (LHV) at a 10 MW scale has the highest efficiency among the studied scenarios. When moving from 10 MW to 50 MW the efficiency increases to 70.22%-LHV. These high efficiency values make SOFCâGT hybrid systems highly attractive in the context of a circular economy as they outcompete most other power generation technologies. The cost-of-electricity (COE) is reduced by about 10% when moving from 10 MW to 50 MW from USD 1976/kW to USD 1668/kW respectively. Renewable H2 is expected to be economically competitive with NG by 2030 when the U.S. Department of Energyâs target of USD 1/kg RH2 is reached.
Transition to Renewable Energy for Communities: Energy Storage Requirements and Dissipation
Aug 2022
Publication
The transition of residential communities to renewable energy sources is one of the first steps for the decarbonization of the energy sector the reduction of CO2 emissions and the mitigation of global climate change. This study provides information for the development of a microgrid supplied by wind and solar energy which meets the hourly energy demand of a community of 10000 houses in the North Texas region; hydrogen is used as the energy storage medium. The results are presented for two cases: (a) when the renewable energy sources supply only the electricity demand of the community and (b) when these sources provide the electricity as well as the heating needs (for space heating and hot water) of the community. The results show that such a community can be decarbonized with combinations of wind and solar installations. The energy storage requirements are between 2.7 m3 per household and 2.2 m3 per household. There is significant dissipation in the storageâregeneration processesâclose to 30% of the current annual electricity demand. The entire decarbonization (electricity and heat) of this community will result in approximately 87500 tons of CO2 emissions avoidance.
Residential Fuel Transition and Fuel Interchangeability in Current Self-Aspirating Combustion Applications: Historical Development and Future Expectations
May 2022
Publication
To reduce greenhouse gases and air pollutants new technologies are emerging to reduce fossil fuel usage and to adopt more renewable energy sources. As the major aspects of fuel consumption power generation transportation and industrial applications have been given significant attention. The past few decades witnessed astonishing technological advancement in these energy sectors. In contrast the residential sector has had relatively little attention despite its significant utilization of fuels for a much longer period. However almost every energy transition in human history was initiated by the residential sector. For example the transition from fuelwood to cheap coal in the 1700s first took place in residential houses due to urbanization and industrialization. The present review demonstrates the energy transitions in the residential sector during the past two centuries while portending an upcoming energy transition and future energy structure for the residential sector. The feasibility of the 100% electrification of residential buildings is discussed based on current residential appliance adoption and the analysis indicates a hybrid residential energy structure is preferred over depending on a single energy source. Technical considerations and suggestions are given to help incorporate more renewable energy into the residential fuel supply system. Finally it is observed that compared to the numerous regulations on large energy-consumption aspects standards for residential appliances are scarce. Therefore it is concluded that establishing appropriate testing methods is a critical enabling step to facilitate the adoption of renewable fuels in future appliances.
Recent Developments in State-of-the-art Hydrogen Energy Technologies â Review of Hydrogen Storage Materials
Jan 2023
Publication
Hydrogen energy has been assessed as a clean and renewable energy source for future energy demand. For harnessing hydrogen energy to its fullest potential storage is a key parameter. It is well known that important hydrogen storage characteristics are operating pressure-temperature of hydrogen hydrogen storage capacity hydrogen absorption-desorption kinetics and heat transfer in the hydride bed. Each application needs specific properties. Every class of hydrogen storage materials has a different set of hydrogenation characteristics. Hence it is required to understand the properties of all hydrogen storage materials. The present review is focused on the state-ofâ theâart hydrogen storage materials including metal hydrides magnesium-based materials complex hydride systems carbonaceous materials metal organic frameworks perovskites and materials and processes based on artificial intelligence. In each category of materialsâ discovery hydrogen storage mechanism and reaction crystal structure and recent progress have been discussed in detail. Together with the fundamental synthesis process latest techniques of material tailoring like nanostructuring nanoconfinement catalyzing alloying and functionalization have also been discussed. Hydrogen energy research has a promising potential to replace fossil fuels from energy uses especially from automobile sector. In this context efforts initiated worldwide for clean hydrogen production and its use via fuel cell in vehicles is much awaiting steps towards sustainable energy demand.
A Flexible Techno-economic Analysis Tool for Regional Hydrogen Hubs - A Case Study for Ireland
Apr 2023
Publication
The increasing urgency with which climate change must be addressed has led to an unprecedented level of interest in hydrogen as a clean energy carrier. Much of the analysis of hydrogen until this point has focused predominantly on hydrogen production. This paper aims to address this by developing a flexible techno-economic analysis (TEA) tool that can be used to evaluate the potential of future scenarios where hydrogen is produced stored and distributed within a region. The tool takes a full year of hourly data for renewables availability and dispatch down (the sum of curtailment and constraint) wholesale electricity market prices and hydrogen demand as well as other user-defined inputs and sizes electrolyser capacity in order to minimise cost. The model is applied to a number of case studies on the island of Ireland which includes Ireland and Northern Ireland. For the scenarios analysed the overall LCOH ranges from V2.75e3.95/kgH2. Higher costs for scenarios without access to geological storage indicate the importance of cost-effective storage to allow flexible hydrogen production to reduce electricity costs whilst consistently meeting a set demand.
Everything About Hydrogen Podcast: Easter Eggs
Feb 2023
Publication
On todayâs episode of Everything About Hydrogen we speak with Raffi Garabedian CEO and Co-Founder of Electric Hydrogen (EH2) a deep decarbonization company pioneering new technology for low cost high efficiency fossil free hydrogen systems. By using electrolyzers many times larger than the industry standard EH2 aims to help eliminate more than 30% of global GHG emissions from difficult to electrify sectors like steel ammonia and freight.
We are excited to learn more from Raffi about the EH2 technology lessons learned by scaling First Solar and what we might expect to see next.
The podcast can be found on their website.
We are excited to learn more from Raffi about the EH2 technology lessons learned by scaling First Solar and what we might expect to see next.
The podcast can be found on their website.
Quaternary Hydrides Pd1-y-zAgyCuzHx Embedded Atom Method Potentials for Hydrogen Energy Applications
Jan 2021
Publication
The Pd-H system has attracted extensive attention. Pd can absorb considerable amount of H at room temperature this ability is reversible so it is suitable for multiple energy applications. Pd-Ag alloys possess higher H permeability solubility and narrower miscibility gap with better mechanical properties than pure Pd but sulfur poisoning remains an issue. Pd-Cu alloys have excellent resistance to sulfur and carbon monoxide poisoning and hydrogen embrittlement good mechanical properties and broader temperature working environments over pure Pd but relatively lower hydrogen permeability and solubility than pure Pd and Pd-Ag alloys. This suggests that alloying Pd with Ag and Cu to create Pd-Ag-Cu ternary alloys can optimize the overall performance and substantially lowers the cost. Thus in this paper we provide the first embedded atom method potentials for the quaternary hydrides Pd1-y-zAgyCuzHx. The fully analytical potentials are fitted utilizing the central atom method without performing time-consuming molecular dynamics simulations.
Everything About Hydrogen Podcast: What's Brewing in the UK Clean Hydrogen Sector?
Dec 2021
Publication
Chris Jackson is the Founder and CEO of Protium Green Solutions based in London. Protium is a hydrogen energy services company that designs develops finances owns and operates clean hydrogen solutions for clients to achieve net zero energy emissions at their industrial/manufacturing sites. Chris will talk to us about the Protium story and also give us some insight into a major project that Protium recently announced in conjunction Budweiser Brewing Group UK&Ireland to explore the deployment of zero emission green hydrogen at Magor brewery in South Wales one of the largest breweries in the UK. To that end in order to get the full story about this project we are delighted to say that we have yet another great guest on this episode. Tom Brewer who leads Global Environmental Sustainability efforts at AB InBev the parent company of Budweiser Brewing Group will join us for the final segment of the show to talk about how hydrogen fits into AB InBevâs vision of a sustainable future for the company.
The podcast can be found on their website
The podcast can be found on their website
Everything About Hydrogen Podcast: Hydrogen, Net Zero and Circularity a Perfect Syzygy!
Jul 2020
Publication
On this week's show we speak with Trevor Best CEO of Syzygy Plasmonics a Houston area startup who is a pioneer in the field of photocatalytic based hydrogen production. The company has recently closed its series A funding round. We discuss with Trevor the potential applications of the Syzygy approach and where they are aiming to engage the market first as well as his view of the evolution of the hydrogen market today. All this and more on the show!
The podcast can be found on their website
The podcast can be found on their website
Materials for Hydrogen-based Energy Storage - Past, Recent Progress and Future Outlook
Dec 2019
Publication
Michael Hirscher,
Volodymyr A. Yartys,
Marcello Baricco,
JosĂŠ Bellosta von Colbe,
Didier Blanchard,
Robert C. Bowman Jr.,
Darren P. Broom,
Craig Buckley,
Fei Chang,
Ping Chen,
Young Whan Cho,
Jean-Claude Crivello,
Fermin Cuevas,
William I. F. David,
Petra E. de Jongh,
Roman V. Denys,
Martin Dornheim,
Michael Felderhoff,
Yaroslav Filinchuk,
George E. Froudakis,
David M. Grant,
Evan MacA. Gray,
Bjørn Christian Hauback,
Teng He,
Terry D. Humphries,
Torben R. Jensen,
Sangryun Kim,
Yoshitsugu Kojima,
Michel Latroche,
Hai-wen Li,
Mykhaylo V. Lototskyy,
Joshua W. Makepeace,
Kasper T. Møller,
Lubna Naheed,
Peter Ngene,
Dag Noreus,
Magnus Moe NygĂĽrd,
Shin-ichi Orimo,
Mark Paskevicius,
Luca Pasquini,
Dorthe B. RavnsbĂŚk,
M. Veronica Sofianos,
Terrence J. Udovic,
Tejs Vegge,
Gavin Walker,
Colin Webb,
Claudia Weidenthaler and
Claudia Zlotea
Globally the accelerating use of renewable energy sources enabled by increased efficiencies and reduced costs and driven by the need to mitigate the effects of climate change has significantly increased research in the areas of renewable energy production storage distribution and end-use. Central to this discussion is the use of hydrogen as a clean efficient energy vector for energy storage. This review by experts of Task 32 âHydrogen-based Energy Storageâ of the International Energy Agency Hydrogen TCP reports on the development over the last 6 years of hydrogen storage materials methods and techniques including electrochemical and thermal storage systems. An overview is given on the background to the various methods the current state of development and the future prospects. The following areas are covered; porous materials liquid hydrogen carriers complex hydrides intermetallic hydrides electro-chemical storage of energy thermal energy storage hydrogen energy systems and an outlook is presented for future prospects and research on hydrogen-based energy storage
Decarbonization of Australiaâs Energy System: Integrated Modelling of the Transformation of Electricity, Transportation, and Industrial Sectors
Jul 2020
Publication
To achieve the Paris Agreementâs long-term temperature goal current energy systems must be transformed. Australia represents an interesting case for energy system transformation modelling: with a power system dominated by fossil fuels and specifically with a heavy coal component there is at the same time a vast potential for expansion and use of renewables. We used the multi-sectoral Australian Energy Modelling System (AUSeMOSYS) to perform an integrated analysis of implications for the electricity transport and selected industry sectors to the mid-century. The state-level resolution allows representation of regional discrepancies in renewable supply and the quantification of inter-regional grid extensions necessary for the physical integration of variable renewables. We investigated the impacts of different CO2 budgets and selected key factors on energy system transformation. Results indicate that coal-fired generation has to be phased out completely by 2030 and a fully renewable electricity supply achieved in the 2030s according to the cost-optimal pathway implied by the 1.5 °C Paris Agreement-compatible carbon budget. Wind and solar PV can play a dominant role in decarbonizing Australiaâs energy system with continuous growth of demand due to the strong electrification of linked energy sectors.
Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles; Current Status and Future Prospect
Jun 2019
Publication
The hazardous effects of pollutants from conventional fuel vehicles have caused the scientific world to move towards environmentally friendly energy sources. Though we have various renewable energy sources the perfect one to use as an energy source for vehicles is hydrogen. Like electricity hydrogen is an energy carrier that has the ability to deliver incredible amounts of energy. Onboard hydrogen storage in vehicles is an important factor that should be considered when designing fuel cell vehicles. In this study a recent development in hydrogen fuel cell engines is reviewed to scrutinize the feasibility of using hydrogen as a major fuel in transportation systems. A fuel cell is an electrochemical device that can produce electricity by allowing chemical gases and oxidants as reactants. With anodes and electrolytes the fuel cell splits the cation and the anion in the reactant to produce electricity. Fuel cells use reactants which are not harmful to the environment and produce water as a product of the chemical reaction. As hydrogen is one of the most efficient energy carriers the fuel cell can produce direct current (DC) power to run the electric car. By integrating a hydrogen fuel cell with batteries and the control system with strategies one can produce a sustainable hybrid car
Technologies and Policies to Decarbonize Global Industry: Review and Assessment of Mitigation Drivers Through 2070
Mar 2020
Publication
Jeffrey Rissman,
Chris Bataille,
Eric Masanet,
Nate Aden,
William R. Morrow III,
Nan Zhou,
Neal Elliott,
Rebecca Dell,
Niko Heeren,
Brigitta Huckestein,
Joe Cresko,
Sabbie A. Miller,
Joyashree Roy,
Paul Fennell,
Betty Cremmins,
Thomas Koch Blank,
David Hone,
Ellen D. Williams,
Stephane de la Rue du Can,
Bill Sisson,
Mike Williams,
John Katzenberger,
Dallas Burtraw,
Girish Sethi,
He Ping,
David Danielson,
Hongyou Lu,
Tom Lorber,
Jens Dinkel and
Jonas Helseth
Fully decarbonizing global industry is essential to achieving climate stabilization and reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050â2070 is necessary to limit global warming to 2 °C. This paper assembles and evaluates technical and policy interventions both on the supply side and on the demand side. It identifies measures that employed together can achieve net zero industrial emissions in the required timeframe. Key supply-side technologies include energy efficiency (especially at the system level) carbon capture electrification and zero-carbon hydrogen as a heat source and chemical feedstock. There are also promising technologies specific to each of the three top-emitting industries: cement iron & steel and chemicals & plastics. These include cement admixtures and alternative chemistries several technological routes for zero-carbon steelmaking and novel chemical catalysts and separation technologies. Crucial demand-side approaches include material-efficient design reductions in material waste substituting low-carbon for high-carbon materials and circular economy interventions (such as improving product longevity reusability ease of refurbishment and recyclability). Strategic well-designed policy can accelerate innovation and provide incentives for technology deployment. High-value policies include carbon pricing with border adjustments or other price signals; robust government support for research development and deployment; and energy efficiency or emissions standards. These core policies should be supported by labeling and government procurement of low-carbon products data collection and disclosure requirements and recycling incentives. In implementing these policies care must be taken to ensure a just transition for displaced workers and affected communities. Similarly decarbonization must complement the human and economic development of low- and middle-income countries.
Using Additives to Control the Decomposition Temperature of Sodium Borohydride
May 2020
Publication
Hydrogen (H2) shows great promise as zero-carbon emission fuel but there are several challenges to overcome in regards to storage and transportation to make it a more universal energy solution. Gaseous hydrogen requires high pressures and large volume tanks while storage of liquid hydrogen requires cryogenic temperatures; neither option is ideal due to cost and the hazards involved. Storage in the solid state presents an attractive alternative and can meet the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) constraints to find materials containing > 7 % H2 (gravimetric weight) with a maximum H2 release under 125 °C.
While there are many candidate hydrogen storage materials the vast majority are metal hydrides. Of the hydrides this review focuses solely on sodium borohydride (NaBH4) which is often not covered in other hydride reviews. However as it contains 10.6% (by weight) H2 that can release at 133 Âą 3 JKâ1molâ1 this inexpensive material has received renewed attention. NaBH4 should decompose to H2g) Na(s) and B(s) and could be recycled into its original form. Unfortunately metal to ligand charge transfer in NaBH4 induces high thermodynamic stability creating a high decomposition temperature of 530 °C. In an effort make H2 more accessible at lower temperatures researchers have incorporated additives to destabilize the structure.
This review highlights metal additives that have successfully reduced the decomposition temperature of NaBH4 with temperatures ranging from 522 °C (titanium (IV) fluoride) to 379 °C (niobium (V) fluoride). We describe synthetic methods employed chemical pathways taken and the challenges of boron derivative formation on H2 cycling. Though no trends can be found across all additives it is our hope that compiling the data here will enable researchers to gain a better understanding of the additivesâ influence and to determine how a new system might be designed to make NaBH4 a more viable H2 fuel source.
While there are many candidate hydrogen storage materials the vast majority are metal hydrides. Of the hydrides this review focuses solely on sodium borohydride (NaBH4) which is often not covered in other hydride reviews. However as it contains 10.6% (by weight) H2 that can release at 133 Âą 3 JKâ1molâ1 this inexpensive material has received renewed attention. NaBH4 should decompose to H2g) Na(s) and B(s) and could be recycled into its original form. Unfortunately metal to ligand charge transfer in NaBH4 induces high thermodynamic stability creating a high decomposition temperature of 530 °C. In an effort make H2 more accessible at lower temperatures researchers have incorporated additives to destabilize the structure.
This review highlights metal additives that have successfully reduced the decomposition temperature of NaBH4 with temperatures ranging from 522 °C (titanium (IV) fluoride) to 379 °C (niobium (V) fluoride). We describe synthetic methods employed chemical pathways taken and the challenges of boron derivative formation on H2 cycling. Though no trends can be found across all additives it is our hope that compiling the data here will enable researchers to gain a better understanding of the additivesâ influence and to determine how a new system might be designed to make NaBH4 a more viable H2 fuel source.
Low Carbon Scenario Analysis of a Hydrogen-Based Energy Transition for On-Road Transportation in California
Nov 2021
Publication
Fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) are emerging as one of the prominent zero emission vehicle technologies. This study follows a deterministic modeling approach to project two scenarios of FCEV adoption and the resulting hydrogen demand (low and high) up to 2050 in California using a transportation transition model. The study then estimates the number of hydrogen production and refueling facilities required to meet demand. The impact of system scale-up and learning rates on hydrogen price is evaluated using standalone supply chain models: H2A HDSAM HRSAM and HDRSAM. A sensitivity analysis explores key factors that affect hydrogen prices. In the high scenario light and heavy-duty fuel cell vehicle stocks reach 12.5 million and 1 million by 2050 respectively. The resulting annual hydrogen demand is 3.9 billion kg making hydrogen the dominant transportation fuel. Satisfying such high future demands will require rapid increases in infrastructure investments starting now but especially after 2030 when there is an exponential increase in the number of production plants and refueling stations. In the long term electrolytic hydrogen delivered using dedicated hydrogen pipelines to larger stations offers substantial cost savings. Feedstock prices size of the hydrogen market and station utilization are the prominent parameters that affect hydrogen price.
Hydrogen Station Location Planning via Geodesign in Connecticut: Comparing Optimization Models and Structured Stakeholder Collaboration
Nov 2021
Publication
Geodesign is a participatory planning approach in which stakeholders use geographic information systems to develop and vet alternative design scenarios in a collaborative and iterative process. This study is based on a 2019 geodesign workshop in which 17 participants from industry government university and non-profit sectors worked together to design an initial network of hydrogen refueling stations in the Hartford Connecticut metropolitan area. The workshop involved identifying relevant location factors rapid prototyping of station network designs and developing consensus on a final design. The geodesign platform which was designed specifically for facility location problems enables breakout groups to add or delete stations with a simple point-and-click operation view and overlay different map layers compute performance metrics and compare their designs to those of other groups. By using these sources of information and their own expert local knowledge participants recommended six locations for hydrogen refueling stations over two distinct phases of station installation. We quantitatively and qualitatively compared workshop recommendations to solutions of three optimal station location models that have been used to recommend station locations which minimize travel times from stations to population and traffic or maximize trips that can be refueled on originâdestination routes. In a post-workshop survey participants rated the workshop highly for facilitating mutual understanding and information sharing among stakeholders. To our knowledge this workshop represents the first application of geodesign for hydrogen refueling station infrastructure planning.
Everything About Hydrogen Podcast: Rethinking Hydrogen Storage with H2GOPOWER
Sep 2019
Publication
For this episode we speak to Enass Abo-Hamed the CEO of H2GOPower about their cutting edge hydrogen storage technology. Below we have attached a few links to the content discussed on the show and some further background reading.
The podcast can be found on their website
The podcast can be found on their website
Modeling Hydrogen Refueling Infrastructure to Support Passenger Vehicles
May 2018
Publication
The year 2014 marked hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) first becoming commercially available in California where significant investments are being made to promote the adoption of alternative transportation fuels. A refueling infrastructure network that guarantees adequate coverage and expands in line with vehicle sales is required for FCEVs to be successfully adopted by private customers. In this paper we provide an overview of modelling methodologies used to project hydrogen refueling infrastructure requirements to support FCEV adoption and we describe in detail the National Renewable Energy Laboratoryâs scenario evaluation and regionalization analysis (SERA) model. As an example we use SERA to explore two alternative scenarios of FCEV adoption: one in which FCEV deployment is limited to California and several major cities in the United States; and one in which FCEVs reach widespread adoption becoming a major option as passenger vehicles across the entire country. Such scenarios can provide guidance and insights for efforts required to deploy the infrastructure supporting transition toward different levels of hydrogen use as a transportation fuel for passenger vehicles in the United States.
Economic Value of Flexible Hydrogen-based Polygeneration Energy Systems
Jan 2016
Publication
Polygeneration energy systems (PES) have the potential to provide a flexible high-efficiency and low-emissions alternative for power generation and chemical synthesis from fossil fuels. This study aims to assess the economic value of fossil-fuel PES which rely on hydrogen as an intermediate product. Our analysis focuses on a representative PES configuration that uses coal as the primary energy input and produces electricity and fertilizer as end-products. We derive a series of propositions that assess the cost competitiveness of the modeled PES under both static and flexible operation modes. The result is a set of metrics that quantify the levelized cost of hydrogen the unit profit-margin of PES and the real option values of âdiversificationâ and âflexibilityâ embedded in PES. These metrics are subsequently applied to assess the economics of Hydrogen Energy California (HECA) a PES currently under development in California. Under our technical and economic assumptions HECAâs levelized cost of hydrogen is estimated at 1.373 $/kgh. The profitability of HECA as a static PES increases in the share of hydrogen converted to fertilizer rather than electricity. However when configured as a flexible PES HECA almost breaks even on a pre-tax basis. Diversification and flexibility are valuable for HECA when polygeneration is compared to static monogeneration of electricity but these two real options have no value when comparing polygeneration to static monogeneration of fertilizers.
Everything About Hydrogen Podcast: Toyota's global hydrogen ambitions
Feb 2020
Publication
On this weeks episode the team are talking all things hydrogen with Craig Scott the Group Manager for Toyota North America a global automotive giant and a recognised pioneer in the field of fuel cell mobility. On the show we get into the story of Toyotaâs roll out of fuel cell mobility solutions in North America the challenges and opportunities that fuel cell vehicles can offer in the hydrogen market and the challenges around infrastructure. Importantly we also dive into the scaling up work that Toyota is undertaking and some of its plans for next steps on the mission to become the worldâs leader in fuel cell mobility solutions. All this and more on the show!
The podcast can be found on their website
The podcast can be found on their website
Everything About Hydrogen Podcast: Taking the Lead in the Hydrogen Economy
Sep 2021
Publication
On the season premier episode the EAH hosts are joined by the Governor of New Mexico Michelle Lujan Grisham. The State of New Mexico has the opportunity to lead the United States into the hydrogen era and the Governor and her team are poised to take the opportunity to make New Mexico the strategic center of the US hydrogen economy. The Governor is joined by New Mexico Environment Department Secretary James Kenney on the show to announce the forthcoming New Mexico Hydrogen Hub Act which her administration expects to drive investment in the state job growth in the energy sector and catapult New Mexico to top of the list of states driving the hydrogen revolution.
The podcast can be found on their website.
The podcast can be found on their website.
Spherically Expanding Flame Simulations in Cantera Using a Lagrangian Formulation
Sep 2021
Publication
A Lagrangian-based one-dimensional approach has been developed using Cantera to study the dynamics of spherically expanding flames. The detailed reaction model USC-Mech II has been employed to examine flame propagating in hydrogen-air mixtures. In the first part our approach has been validated against laminar flame speed and Markstein number data from the literature. It was shown that the laminar flame speed was predicted within 5% on average but that discrepancies were observed for the Markstein number especially for rich mixtures. In the second part a detailed analysis of the thermo-chemical dynamics along the path of Lagrangian particles propagating in stretched flames was performed. For mixtures with negative Markstein lengths it was found that at high stretch rates the mixture entering the reaction-dominated period is less lean with respect to the initial mixture than at low stretch rate. This induces a faster rate of chemical heat release and of active radical production which results in a higher flame propagation speed. Opposite effects were observed for mixtures with positive Markstein lengths for which slower flame propagation was observed at high stretch rates compared to low stretch rates."
H-Mat Hydrogen Compatibility of NBR Elastomers
Sep 2021
Publication
The H2@Scale program of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO) is supporting work on the hydrogen compatibility of polymers to improve the durability and reliability of materials for hydrogen infrastructure. The hydrogen compatibility program (H-Mat) seeks âto address the challenges of hydrogen degradation by elucidating the mechanisms of hydrogen-materials interactions with the goal of providing science-based strategies to design materials (micro)structures and morphology with improved resistance to hydrogen degradation.â Previous work on ethylene propylene diene indicated hydrogen interaction with plasticizer increased its migration to the surface and coalescing within the elastomer compound. New research on nitrile butadiene (NBR) has found hydrogen and pressure interactions with a series model rubber-material compounds to behave similarly in some compounds and improved in other compounds that is demonstrated through volume change and compression-set differences in the materials. Further studies were conducted using a helium-ion microscope (HeIM) which revealed significant morphological changes in the plasticizer-incorporating compounds after static exposure and pressure cycling as evidenced by time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry. Additional studies using x-ray chromatography revealed that more micro-voids/-cracks developed after gas decompression in unfilled materials than in filled materials; transmission electron microscopy (TEM) probed at the nano-meter level showing change in filler distribution and morphology around Zinc-based particles.
Everything About Hydrogen Podcast: Reaching for the Stars
Mar 2023
Publication
Today Everything About Hydrogen had a chance to speak with Paul Barrett the CEO of Hysata and dig into what makes this electrolysis company different.
The podcast can be found on their website.
The podcast can be found on their website.
Thermodynamic and Emission Analysis of a Hydrogen/Methane Fueled Gas Turbine
May 2023
Publication
The importance of hydrogen in the effort to decarbonize the power sector has grown immensely in recent years. Previous studies have investigated the effects of mixing hydrogen into natural gas for gas turbine combustors but limited studies have examined the resulting effects hydrogen addition has on the entire system. In this work a thermodynamic model of a gas turbine with combustion chemical kinetics integrated is created and the effects hydrogen addition (0-100 volume percent addition) has on the system performance emissions and combustion kinetics are analyzed. The maximum system performance is achieved when the maximum turbine inlet temperature is reached and the resulting optimal fuel/air equivalence ratio is determined. As hydrogen is added to the fuel mixture the optimal equivalence ratio shifts leaner causing non-linearity in emissions and system performance at optimal conditions. An analysis of variance is conducted and it is shown that isentropic efficiencies of the turbine and compressor influences the system performance the most out of any system parameter. While isentropic efficiencies of the turbine and compressor increase towards 100% an operating regime where the optimal system efficiency cannot be achieved is discovered due to the lower flammability limit of the fuel being reached. This can be overcome by mixing hydrogen into the fuel.
Experimental Investigation of Stress Corrosion on Supercritical CO2 Transportation Pipelines Against Leakage for CCUS Applications
Nov 2022
Publication
Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS) is one of the key technologies that will determine how humans address global climate change. For captured CO2 in order to avoid the complications associated with two-phase flow most carbon steel pipelines are operated in the supercritical state on a large scale. A pipeline has clear Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC) sensitivity under the action of stress and corrosion medium which will generally cause serious consequences. In this study X70 steel was selected to simulate an environment in the process of supercritical CO2 transportation by using high-temperature high-pressure Slow Strain Rate Tensile (SSRT) tests and high-temperature high-pressure electrochemical test devices with different O2 and SO2 contents. Studies have shown that 200 ppm SO2 shows a clear SCC sensitivity tendency which is obvious when the SO2 content reaches 600 ppm. The SCC sensitivity increases with the increase of SO2 concentration but the increase amplitude decreases. With the help of advanced microscopic characterization techniques such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) through the analysis of fracture and side morphology the stress corrosion mechanism of a supercritical CO2 pipeline containing SO2 and O2 impurities was obtained by hydrogen embrittlement fracture characteristics. With the increase of SO2 content the content of Fe element decreases and the corrosion increases demonstrating that SO2 plays a leading role in electrochemical corrosion. This study further strengthens the theoretical basis of stress corrosion of supercritical CO2 pipelines plays an important role in preventing leakage of supercritical CO2 pipelines and will provide guidance for the industrial application of CCUS.
Process of Transformation to Net Zero Steelmaking: Decarbonisation Scenarios Based on the Analysis of the Polish Steel Industry
Apr 2023
Publication
The European steel industry is experiencing new challenges related to the market situation and climate policy. Experience from the period of pandemic restrictions and the effects of Russiaâs armed invasion of Ukraine has given many countries a basis for including steel along with raw materials (coke iron ore electricity) in economic security products (CRMA). Steel is needed for economic infrastructure and construction development as well as a material for other industries (without steel factories will not produce cars machinery ships washing machines etc.). In 2022 steelmakers faced a deepening energy crisis and economic slowdown. The market situation prompted steelmakers to impose restrictions on production volumes (worldwide production fell by 4% compared to the previous year). Despite the difficult economic situation of the steel industry (production in EU countries fell by 11% in 2022 compared to the previous year) the EU is strengthening its industrial decarbonisation policy (âFit for 55â). The decarbonisation of steel production is set to accelerate by 2050. To sharply reduce carbon emissions steel mills need new steelmaking technologies. The largest global steelmakers are already investing in new technologies that will use green hydrogen (produced from renewable energy sources). Reducing iron ore with hydrogen plasma will drastically reduce CO2 emissions (steel production using hydrogen could emit up to 95% less CO2 than the current BF + BOF blast furnace + basic oxygen furnace integrated method). Investments in new technologies must be tailored to the steel industry. A net zero strategy (deep decarbonisation goal) may have different scenarios in different EU countries. The purpose of this paper was to introduce the conditions for investing in low-carbon steelmaking technologies in the Polish steel market and to develop (based on expert opinion) scenarios for the decarbonisation of the Polish steel industry.
Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning in Energy Management Systems, Control, and Optimization of Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles
Mar 2023
Publication
Environmental emissions global warming and energy-related concerns have accelerated the advancements in conventional vehicles that primarily use internal combustion engines. Among the existing technologies hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles and fuel cell hybrid electric vehicles may have minimal contributions to greenhouse gas emissions and thus are the prime choices for environmental concerns. However energy management in fuel cell electric vehicles and fuel cell hybrid electric vehicles is a major challenge. Appropriate control strategies should be used for effective energy management in these vehicles. On the other hand there has been significant progress in artificial intelligence machine learning and designing data-driven intelligent controllers. These techniques have found much attention within the community and state-of-the-art energy management technologies have been developed based on them. This manuscript reviews the application of machine learning and intelligent controllers for prediction control energy management and vehicle to everything (V2X) in hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. The effectiveness of data-driven control and optimization systems are investigated to evolve classify and compare and future trends and directions for sustainability are discussed.
Reduction in Greenhouse Gas and Other Emissions from Ship Engines: Current Trends and Future Options
Nov 2022
Publication
The impact of ship emission reductions can be maximised by considering climate health and environmental effects simultaneously and using solutions fitting into existing marine engines and infrastructure. Several options available enable selecting optimum solutions for different ships routes and regions. Carbon-neutral fuels including low-carbon and carbon-negative fuels from biogenic or non-biogenic origin (biomass waste renewable hydrogen) could resemble current marine fuels (diesel-type methane and methanol). The carbon-neutrality of fuels depends on their Well-to-Wake (WtW) emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) including carbon dioxide (CO2) methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide emissions (N2O). Additionally non-gaseous black carbon (BC) emissions have high global warming potential (GWP). Exhaust emissions which are harmful to health or the environment need to be equally removed using emission control achieved by fuel engine or exhaust aftertreatment technologies. Harmful emission species include nitrogen oxides (NOx) sulphur oxides (SOx) ammonia (NH3) formaldehyde particle mass (PM) and number emissions (PN). Particles may carry polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heavy metals which cause serious adverse health issues. Carbon-neutral fuels are typically sulphur-free enabling negligible SOx emissions and efficient exhaust aftertreatment technologies such as particle filtration. The combinations of carbon-neutral drop-in fuels and efficient emission control technologies would enable (near-)zero-emission shipping and these could be adaptable in the short- to mid-term. Substantial savings in external costs on society caused by ship emissions give arguments for regulations policies and investments needed to support this development.
Everything About Hydrogen Podcast: Plotting the Course for a Decarbonized Global Maritime Industry
Jan 2023
Publication
On this episode of EAH we sat down with Dr. Bo Cerup-Simonsen Chief Executive Officer of the Maersk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping. Bo holds a PHD in Naval Architecture and Mechanical Engineering and spent seven years as a research engineer at MIT.
Bo explains the Center's work and we discuss decarbonization of shipping using hydrogen derived green fuels.
The podcast can be found on their website.
Bo explains the Center's work and we discuss decarbonization of shipping using hydrogen derived green fuels.
The podcast can be found on their website.
Electric Aircraft Fueled by Liquid Hydrogen and Liquefied Natural Gas
Jul 2021
Publication
The paper is a review of the opportunities and challenges of cryogenic power devices of electric aircraft and the ongoing research and development efforts of the government agencies and the industry. Liquid Hydrogen (LH2) and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) are compared to support high temperature superconducting (HTS) and normal metal devices respectively. The power devices were assumed to operate at the normal boiling point of the fuel used. The efficiencies of the electrical devices are estimated based on state-of-the-art technology. The mass flow rates and total fuel requirements for both the cryogenic fuels required to maintain the operating temperatures of the devices were simulated using thermal network models. A twin-aisle 300 passenger aircraft with a 5.5 h flight duration was used for the models. The results show that the required masses of LH2 and LNG are 744 kg and 13638 kg respectively for the cooling requirement. The corresponding volumes of LH2 and LNG required are 9760 and 30300 L respectively. In both cases the estimated mass of the fuel needed for the aircraft is more than what is needed to maintain the cryogenic environment of the power devices. It was concluded that an electric aircraft with LNG cooled normal metal devices is feasible. However an aircraft with HTS devices and cooled with LH2 is more attractive if the ongoing R&D efforts on HTS devices and LH2 infrastructure are successful. The emission reductions would be substantially higher with LH2 particularly when H2 is produced using renewable energy sources.
Everything About Hydrogen Podcast: Manufacturing the Components of a Hydrogen Economy
Dec 2022
Publication
On todayâs episode Alicia Chris and Patrick are chatting with Vonjy Rakajoba UK Managing Director at Robert Bosch. The Bosch Group is a leading global supplier of technology and services and employs roughly 402600 associates worldwide. Its operations are divided into four business sectors: Mobility Solutions Industrial Technology Consumer Goods and Energy and Building Technology. Bosch believes that hydrogen has a bright future as an energy carrier and is making considerable upfront investments in this area. From 2021 to 2024 the company plans to invest around 600 million euros in mobile fuel-cell applications and a further 400 million euros in stationary ones for the generation of electricity and heat. Vonjy is here with us to discuss more about what Boschâs expansion into the hydrogen energy sector will look like and how the company expects the market to grow moving forward.
The podcast can be found on their website.
The podcast can be found on their website.
Deep Decarbonisation Pathways of the Energy System in Times of Unprecedented Uncertainty in the Energy Sector
May 2023
Publication
Unprecedented investments in clean energy technology are required for a net-zero carbon energy system before temperatures breach the Paris Agreement goals. By performing a Monte-Carlo Analysis with the detailed ETSAPTIAM Integrated Assessment Model and by generating 4000 scenarios of the worldâs energy system climate and economy we find that the uncertainty surrounding technology costs resource potentials climate sensitivity and the level of decoupling between energy demands and economic growth influence the efficiency of climate policies and accentuate investment risks in clean energy technologies. Contrary to other studies relying on exploring the uncertainty space via model intercomparison we find that the CO2 emissions and CO2 prices vary convexly and nonlinearly with the discount rate and climate sensitivity over time. Accounting for this uncertainty is important for designing climate policies and carbon prices to accelerate the transition. In 70% of the scenarios a 1.5 âŚC temperature overshoot was within this decade calling for immediate policy action. Delaying this action by ten years may result in 2 âŚC mitigation costs being similar to those required to reach the 1.5 âŚC target if started today with an immediate peak in emissions a larger uncertainty in the medium-term horizon and a higher effort for net-zero emissions.
Risk of the Hydrogen Economy for Atmospheric Methane
Dec 2022
Publication
Hydrogen (H2) is expected to play a crucial role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However hydrogen losses to the atmosphere impact atmospheric chemistry including positive feedback on methane (CH4) the second most important greenhouse gas. Here we investigate through a minimalist model the response of atmospheric methane to fossil fuel displacement by hydrogen. We find that CH4 concentration may increase or decrease depending on the amount of hydrogen lost to the atmosphere and the methane emissions associated with hydrogen production. Green H2 can mitigate atmospheric methane if hydrogen losses throughout the value chain are below 9 Âą 3%. Blue H2 can reduce methane emissions only if methane losses are below 1%. We address and discuss the main uncertainties in our results and the implications for the decarbonization of the energy sector.
Prediction of Transient Hydrogen Flow of Proton Exchange Membrane Electrolyzer Using Artificial Neural Network
Aug 2023
Publication
A proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer is fed with water and powered by electric power to electrochemically produce hydrogen at low operating temperatures and emits oxygen as a by-product. Due to the complex nature of the performance of PEM electrolyzers the application of an artificial neural network (ANN) is capable of predicting its dynamic characteristics. A handful of studies have examined and explored ANN in the prediction of the transient characteristics of PEM electrolyzers. This research explores the estimation of the transient behavior of a PEM electrolyzer stack under various operational conditions. Input variables in this study include stack current oxygen pressure hydrogen pressure and stack temperature. ANN models using three differing learning algorithms and time delay structures estimated the hydrogen mass flow rate which had transient behavior from 0 to 1 kg/h and forecasted better with a higher count (>5) of hidden layer neurons. A coefficient of determination of 0.84 and a mean squared error of less than 0.005 were recorded. The best-fitting model to predict the dynamic behavior of the hydrogen mass flow rate was an ANN model using the LevenbergâMarquardt algorithm with 40 neurons that had a coefficient of determination of 0.90 and a mean squared error of 0.00337. In conclusion optimally fit models of hydrogen flow from PEM electrolyzers utilizing artificial neural networks were developed. Such models are useful in establishing an agile flow control system for the electrolyzer system to help decrease power consumption and increase efficiency in hydrogen generation.
Numerical Simulation of Hydrogen Diffusion in Cement Sheath of Wells Used for Underground Hydrogen Storage
Jul 2023
Publication
The negative environmental impact of carbon emissions from fossil fuels has promoted hydrogen utilization and storage in underground structures. Hydrogen leakage from storage structures through wells is a major concern due to the small hydrogen molecules that diffuse fast in the porous well cement sheath. The second-order parabolic partial differential equation describing the hydrogen diffusion in well cement was solved numerically using the finite difference method (FDM). The numerical model was verified with an analytical solution for an ideal case where the matrix and fluid have invariant properties. Sensitivity analyses with the model revealed several possibilities. Based on simulation studies and underlying assumptions such as non-dissolvable hydrogen gas in water present in the cement pore spaces constant hydrogen diffusion coefficient cement properties such as porosity and saturation etc. hydrogen should take about 7.5 days to fully penetrate a 35 cm cement sheath under expected well conditions. The relatively short duration for hydrogen breakthrough in the cement sheath is mainly due to the small molecule size and high hydrogen diffusivity. If the hydrogen reaches a vertical channel behind the casing a hydrogen leak from the well is soon expected. Also the simulation result reveals that hydrogen migration along the axial direction of the cement column from a storage reservoir to the top of a 50 m caprock is likely to occur in 500 years. Hydrogen diffusion into cement sheaths increases with increased cement porosity and diffusion coefficient and decreases with water saturation (and increases with hydrogen saturation). Hence cement with a low water-to-cement ratio to reduce water content and low cement porosity is desirable for completing hydrogen storage wells.
Solar Water Splitting by Photovoltaic-electrolysis with a Solar-to-hydrogen Efficiency over 30%
Oct 2016
Publication
Hydrogen production via electrochemical water splitting is a promising approach for storing solar energy. For this technology to be economically competitive it is critical to develop water splitting systems with high solar-to-hydrogen (STH) efficiencies. Here we report a photovoltaic-electrolysis system with the highest STH efficiency for any water splitting technology to date to the best of our knowledge. Our system consists of two polymer electrolyte membrane electrolysers in series with one InGaP/GaAs/GaInNAsSb triple-junction solar cell which produces a large-enough voltage to drive both electrolysers with no additional energy input. The solar concentration is adjusted such that the maximum power point of the photovoltaic is well matched to the operating capacity of the electrolysers to optimize the system efficiency. The system achieves a 48-h average STH efficiency of 30%. These results demonstrate the potential of photovoltaic-electrolysis systems for cost-effective solar energy storage.
Techno-economic Feasibility of Hybrid PV/wind/battery/thermal Storage Trigeneration System: Toward 100% Energy Independency and Green Hydrogen Production
Dec 2022
Publication
With the clear adverse impacts of fossil fuel-based energy systems on the climate and environment ever-growing interest and rapid developments are taking place toward full or nearly full dependence on renewable energies in the next few decades. Estonia is a European country with large demands for electricity and thermal energy for district heating. Considering it as the case study this work explores the feasibility and full potential of optimally sized photovoltaic (PV) wind and PV/wind systems equipped with electric and thermal storage to fulfill those demands. Given the large excess energy from 100% renewable energy systems for an entire country this excess is utilized to first meet the district heating demand and then to produce hydrogen fuel. Using simplified models for PV and wind systems and considering polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolysis a genetic optimizer is employed for scanning Estonia for optimal installation sites of the three systems that maximize the fulfillment of the demand and the supplyâdemand matching while minimizing the cost of energy. The results demonstrate the feasibility of all systems fully covering the two demands while making a profit compared to selling the excess produced electricity directly. However the PV-driven system showed enormous required system capacity and amounts of excess energy with the limited solar resources in Estonia. The wind system showed relatively closer characteristics to the hybrid system but required a higher storage capacity by 75.77%. The hybrid PV/wind-driven system required a total capacity of 194 GW most of which belong to the wind system. It was also superior concerning the amount (15.05 Ă 109 tons) and cost (1.42 USD/kg) of the produced green hydrogen. With such full mapping of the installation capacities and techno-economic parameters of the three systems across the country this study can assist policymakers when planning different country-scale cogeneration systems.
Repurposing Pipelines for Hydrogen: Legal and Policy Considerations
Nov 2022
Publication
As the world looks to implement the Energy Transition repurposing existing fossil fuel infrastructure to produce or distribute âcleanâ energy will be critical. The most promising is using natural gas pipelines for moving hydrogen. This is the cheapest and fastest method of transport and reducing the cost of transporting hydrogen is a key step in making it economically viable. However while there are technical challenges the greater challenge is in the legal arena. This paper seeks to outline the numerous legal â treaty statutory and contractual â and regulatory obstacles to repurposing natural gas pipelines for hydrogen transport. Gas pipelines exist in a complex microclimate of international public and private law and domestic law and contracts. Ownership is often layered and tangled; financing doubly so; and myriad state interests compound the private interests including national security concerns energy supply imperatives and geopolitical balance. State aid â investment subsidies and tax breaks â may encumber the project with additional legal obligations. And the contracts that control the development of a pipeline project may inject further legal complexity such as dispute mediation procedures and fora and applicable law. This paper seeks to map all the likely areas of future conflict or difficulty so that work on developing the requisite legal regime and remedies to permit use of natural gas pipelines for hydrogen transport can begin now. For policy and lawmakers as well as the private sector evaluating these known unknowns is a good starting point for reconsidering legislation regulation contracts and project risk in preparation for the future probability of hydrogen pipelines.
Grid Ancillary Services using Electrolyzer-based Power-to-Gas Systems with Increasing Renewable Penetration
Nov 2023
Publication
Increasing penetrations of renewable-based generation have led to a decrease in the bulk power system inertia and an increase in intermittency and uncertainty in generation. Energy storage is considered to be an important factor to help manage renewable energy generation at greater penetrations. Hydrogen is a viable long-term storage alternative. This paper analyzes and presents use cases for leveraging electrolyzer-based power-to-gas systems for electric grid support. The paper also discusses some grid services that may favor the use of hydrogenbased storage over other forms such as battery energy storage. Real-time controls are developed implemented and demonstrated using a power-hardware-in-the-loop(PHIL) setup with a 225-kW proton-exchange-membrane electrolyzer stack. These controls demonstrate frequency and voltage support for the grid for different levels of renewable penetration (0% 25% and 50%). A comparison of the results shows the changes in respective frequencies and voltages as seen as different buses as a result of support from the electrolyzers and notes the impact on hydrogen production as a result of grid support. Finally the paper discusses the practical nuances of implementing the tests with physical hardware such as inverter/electrolyzer efficiency as well as the related constraints and opportunities.
Cost of Long-Distance Energy Transmission by Different Carriers
Nov 2021
Publication
This paper compares the relative cost of long-distance large-scale energy transmission by electricity and by gaseous and liquid carriers (e-fuels). The results indicate that the cost of electrical transmission per delivered MWh can be up to eight times higher than for hydrogen pipelines about eleven times higher than for natural gas pipelines and twenty to fifty times higher than for liquid fuels pipelines. These differences generally hold for shorter distances as well. The higher cost of electrical transmission is primarily due to lower carrying capacity (MW per line) of electrical transmission lines compared to the energy carrying capacity of the pipelines for gaseous and liquid fuels. The differences in the cost of transmission are important but often unrecognized and should be considered as a significant cost component in the analysis of various renewable energy production distribution and utilization scenarios.
Numerical Predictions of a Swirl Combustor Using Complex Chemistry Fueled with Ammonia/Hydrogen Blends
Jan 2020
Publication
Ammonia a chemical that contains high hydrogen quantities has been presented as a candidate for the production of clean power generation and aerospace propulsion. Although ammonia can deliver more hydrogen per unit volume than liquid hydrogen itself the use of ammonia in combustion systems comes with the detrimental production of nitrogen oxides which are emissions that have up to 300 times the greenhouse potential of carbon dioxide. This factor combined with the lower energy density of ammonia makes new studies crucial to enable the use of the molecule through methods that reduce emissions whilst ensuring that enough power is produced to support high-energy intensive applications. Thus this paper presents a numerical study based on the use of novel reaction models employed to characterize ammonia combustion systems. The models are used to obtain Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) simulations via Star-CCM+ with complex chemistry of a 70%â30% (mol) ammoniaâhydrogen blend that is currently under investigations elsewhere. A fixed equivalence ratio (1.2) medium swirl (0.8) and confined conditions are employed to determine the flame and species propagation at various operating atmospheres and temperature inlet values. The study is then expanded to high inlet temperatures high pressures and high flowrates at different confinement boundary conditions. The results denote how the production of NOx emissions remains stable and under 400 ppm whilst higher concentrations of both hydrogen and unreacted ammonia are found in the flue gases under high power conditions. The reduction of heat losses (thus higher temperature boundary conditions) has a crucial impact on further destruction of ammonia post-flame with a raise in hydrogen water and nitrogen through the system thus presenting an opportunity of combustion efficiency improvement of this blend by reducing heat losses. Final discussions are presented as a method to raise power whilst employing ammonia for gas turbine systems.
Analysis to Support Revised Distances between Bulk Liquid Hydrogen Systems and Exposures
Sep 2021
Publication
The minimum distances between exposures and bulk liquid hydrogen listed in the National Fire Protection Agencyâs Hydrogen Technology Code NFPA 2 are based on historical consensus without a documented scientific analysis. This work follows a similar analysis as the scientific justification provided in NFPA 2 for exposure distances from bulk gaseous hydrogen storage systems but for liquid hydrogen. Validated physical models from Sandiaâs HyRAM software are used to calculate distances to a flammable concentration for an unignited release the distance to critical heat flux values and the visible flame length for an ignited release and the overpressure that would occur for a delayed ignition of a liquid hydrogen leak. Revised exposure distances for bulk liquid hydrogen systems are calculated. These distances are related to the maximum allowable working pressure of the tank and the line size as compared to the current exposure distances which are based on system volume. For most systems the exposure distances calculated are smaller than the current distances for Group 1 they are similar for Group 2 while they increase for some Group 3 exposures. These distances could enable smaller footprints for infrastructure that includes bulk liquid hydrogen storage tanks especially when using firewalls to mitigate Group 3 hazards and exposure distances. This analysis is being refined as additional information on leak frequencies is incorporated and changes have been proposed to the 2023 edition of NFPA 2.
The NREL Sensor Laboratory: Status and Future Directions for Hydrogen Detection
Sep 2021
Publication
The NREL Hydrogen Sensor Laboratory was commissioned in 2010 as a resource for the national and international hydrogen community to ensure the availability and proper use of hydrogen sensors. Since then the Sensor Laboratory has provided unbiased verification of hydrogen sensor performance for sensor developers end-users and regulatory agencies and has also provided active support for numerous code and standards development organizations. Although sensor performance assessment remains a core capability the mission of the NREL Sensor Laboratory has expanded toward a more holistic approach regarding the role of hydrogen detection and its implementation strategy for both assurance of facility safety and for process control applications. Active monitoring for detection of unintended releases has been identified as a viable approach for improving facility safety and lowering setbacks. The current research program for the Sensor Laboratory addresses both conventional and advanced developing detection strategies in response to the emerging large-scale hydrogen markets such as those envisioned by H2@Scale. These emerging hydrogen applications may require alternative detection strategies that supplement and may ultimately supplant the use of traditional sensors for monitoring hydrogen releases. Research focus areas for the NREL Sensor Laboratory now encompass the characterization of released hydrogen behavior to optimize detection strategies for both indoor and outdoor applications assess advanced methods of hydrogen leak detection such as hydrogen wide area monitoring for large scale applications implement active monitoring as a risk reduction strategy to improve safety at hydrogen facilities and to provide continuing support of hydrogen safety codes and standards. In addition to assurance of safety detection will be critical for process control applications such as hydrogen fuel quality verification for fuel cell vehicle applications and for monitoring and controlling of hydrogen-natural gas blend composition.
Everything About Hydrogen Podcast: Catching up on the State of Scale in PEM Electrolysis
Feb 2022
Publication
This episode of EAH is a chance for the team to catch up with one of our early guests on the show Graham Cooley - CEO of ITM Power. For the past twenty years ITM Power PLC has been designing and manufacturing electrolyser systems that generate hydrogen based on proton exchange membrane (PEM) technology. As the first hydrogen related company to be listed on the London Stock Exchange ITM are globally recognised experts in the field of electrolysis. In 2021 the company opened its first Gigafactory in Bessemer Park Sheffield: the worldâs largest electrolyser production factory.
The podcast can be found on their website
The podcast can be found on their website
Safety and Other Considerations in the Development of a Hydrogen Fueling Protocol for Heavy-duty Vehicles
Sep 2021
Publication
Several manufacturers are developing heavy duty (HD) hydrogen stations and vehicles as zeroemissions alternatives to diesel and gasoline. In order to meet customer demands the new technology must be comparable to conventional approaches including safety reliability fueling times and final fill levels. For a large HD vehicle with a storage rated to 70 MPa nominal working pressure the goal to meet liquid fuel parity means providing 100 kg of hydrogen in 10 minutes. This paper summarizes the results to date of the PRHYDE project efforts to define the concepts of HD fueling which thereby lays the groundwork for the development of the safe and effective approach to filling these large vehicles. The project starts by evaluating the impact of several different assumptions such as the availability of static vehicle data (e.g. vehicle tank type and volume) and station data (e.g. expected station precooling capability) but also considers using real time dynamic data (e.g. vehicle tank gas temperature and pressure station gas temperature etc.) for optimisation to achieve safety and efficiency improvements. With this information the vehicle or station can develop multiple maps of fill time versus the hydrogen delivery temperature which are used to determine the speed of fueling. This will also allow the station or vehicle to adjust the rate of fueling as the station pre-cooling levels and other conditions change. The project also examines different steps for future protocol development such as communication of data between the vehicle and station and if the vehicle or station is controlling the fueling.
Addressing the Low-carbon Million-gigawatt-hour Energy Storage Challenge
Nov 2021
Publication
The energy system of the United States requires several million gigawatt hours of energy storage to meet variable demand for energy driven by (1) weather (heating and cooling) (2) social patterns (daily and weekday/weekend) of work play and sleep (3) weather-dependent energy production (wind and solar) and (4) industrial requirements. In a low-carbon world four storage options can meet this massive requirement at affordable costs: nuclear fuels heat storage hydrocarbon liquids made from biomass and hydrogen. Because of the different energy sector characteristics (electrical supply transportation commercial and industrial) each of these options must be developed. Capital costs associated with electricity storage at this scale using for example batteries and hydroelectric technologies are measured in hundreds of trillions of dollars for the United States alone and thus are not viable.
Everything About Hydrogen Podcast: Digging into the Mining Industry
Jan 2021
Publication
On this episode of Everything About Hydrogen Jan Klawitter Head of International Policy for Anglo American speaks with Andrew Chris and Patrick about Anglo American's strategy for decarbonizing its mining operations and how they plan to use hydrogen and fuel cell technologies as a key part of their approach.
The podcast can be found on their website
The podcast can be found on their website
Deep Decarbonization of the Indian Economy: 2050 Prospects for Wind, Solar, and Green Hydrogen
May 2022
Publication
The paper explores options for a 2050 carbon free energy future for India. Onshore wind and solar sources are projected as the dominant primary contributions to this objective. The analysis envisages an important role for so-called green hydrogen produced by electrolysis fueled by these carbon free energy sources. This hydrogen source can be used to accommodate for the intrinsic variability of wind and solar complementing opportunities for storage of power by batteries and pumped hydro. The green source of hydrogen can be used also to supplant current industrial uses of grey hydrogen produced in the Indian context largely from natural gas with important related emissions of CO2. The paper explores further options for use of green hydrogen to lower emissions from otherwise difficult to abate sectors of both industry and transport. The analysis is applied to identify the least cost options to meet Indiaâs zero carbon future.
A Brief History of Process Safety Management
Sep 2021
Publication
Common root causes are often to be found in many if not most process safety incidents. Whilst largescale events are relatively rare such events can have devastating consequences. The subsequent investigations often uncover that the risks are rarely visible the direct causes are often hidden and that a ânormalization of deviationâ is a common human characteristic. Process Safety Management (PSM) builds on the valuable lessons learned from past incidents to help prevent future recurrences. An understanding of how PSM originated and has evolved as a discipline over the past 200 years can be instructive when considering the safety implications of emerging technologies. An example is hydrogen production where risks must be effectively identified mitigated and addressed to provide safe production transportation storage and use .
Everything About Hydrogen Podcast: The Oracle of Hydrogen
Oct 2019
Publication
Nel Hydrogen is one of the largest electrolysis companies in the world with an array of Alkaline and PEM solutions that have been used in an array of energy and industrial applications. On the show we ask Bjørn Simonsen Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Communication at Nel Hydrogen to talk through how Nel has seen the green hydrogen market evolve and where Nel fits into this sector transition.
The podcast can be found on their website
The podcast can be found on their website
Hydrogen Wide Area Monitoring of LH2 Releases at HSE for the PRESLHY Project
Sep 2021
Publication
The characterization of liquid hydrogen (LH2) releases has been identified as an international research priority to facilitate the safe use of hydrogen as an energy carrier. Empirical field measurements such as those afforded by Hydrogen Wide Area Monitoring can elucidate the behavior of LH2 releases which can then be used to support and validate dispersion models. Hydrogen Wide Area Monitoring can be defined as the quantitative three-dimensional spatial and temporal profiling of planned or unintentional hydrogen releases. The NREL Sensor Laboratory developed a Hydrogen Wide Area Monitor (HyWAM) based upon a distributed array of hydrogen sensors. The NREL Sensor Laboratory and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) formally committed to collaborate on profiling GH2 and LH2 releases which allowed for the integration of the NREL HyWAM into the HSE LH2 release behavior investigation supported by the FCH JU Prenormative Research for the Safe Use of Liquid Hydrogen (PRESLHY) program. A HyWAM system was deployed consisting of 32 hydrogen measurement points and co-located temperature sensors distributed downstream of the LH2 release apparatus developed by HSE. In addition the HyWAM deployment was supported by proximal wind and weather monitors. In a separate presentation at this conference âHSE Experimental Summary for the Characterisation Dispersion and Electrostatic Hazards of LH2 for the PRESLHY Projectâ HSE researchers summarize the experimental apparatus and protocols utilized in the HSE LH2 releases that were performed under the auspices of PRESLHY. As a supplement to the HSE presentation this presentation will focus on the spatial and temporal behavior LH2 releases as measured by the NREL HyWAM. Correlations to ambient conditions such as wind speed and direction plume temperature and hydrogen concentrations will be discussed in addition to the design and performance of the NREL HyWAM and its potential for improving hydrogen facility safety.
Water Electrolysis: From Textbook Knowledge to the Latest Scientific Strategies and Industrial Developments
May 2022
Publication
Replacing fossil fuels with energy sources and carriers that are sustainable environmentally benign and affordable is amongst the most pressing challenges for future socio-economic development. To that goal hydrogen is presumed to be the most promising energy carrier. Electrocatalytic water splitting if driven by green electricity would provide hydrogen with minimal CO2 footprint. The viability of water electrolysis still hinges on the availability of durable earth-abundant electrocatalyst materials and the overall process efficiency. This review spans from the fundamentals of electrocatalytically initiated water splitting to the very latest scientific findings from university and institutional research also covering specifications and special features of the current industrial processes and those processes currently being tested in large-scale applications. Recently developed strategies are described for the optimisation and discovery of active and durable materials for electrodes that ever-increasingly harness first principles calculations and machine learning. In addition a technoeconomic analysis of water electrolysis is included that allows an assessment of the extent to which a large-scale implementation of water splitting can help to combat climate change. This review article is intended to cross-pollinate and strengthen efforts from fundamental understanding to technical implementation and to improve the âjunctionsâ between the fieldâs physical chemists materials scientists and engineers as well as stimulate much-needed exchange among these groups on challenges encountered in the different domains.
Everything About Hydrogen Podcast: M&A in the Modern Hydrogen Economy
Sep 2021
Publication
This week we have Christopher Jackson in the hot seat as he catches up with BayoTech CEO Mo Vargas and BayoTechâs new President Michael Koonce to discuss the acquisition of IGX Group. Mergers & Acquisition activity has been growing in the hydrogen space with commentators suggesting the market is maturing faster than expected and customers seeking more integrated solutions. In this episode we look at the IGX acquisition by BayoTech and ask why the deal made sense what it means for the market and other participants and what listeners can learn from the deal to foreshadow future activity.
The podcast can be found on their website
The podcast can be found on their website
Is Hydrogen the Future of Nuclear Energy?
Jan 2008
Publication
The traditionally held belief is that the future of nuclear energy is electricity production. However another possible future exists: nuclear energy used primarily for the production of hydrogen. The hydrogen in turn would be used to meet our demands for transport fuels (including liquid fuels) materials such as steel and fertilizer and peak-load electricity production. Hydrogen would become the replacement for fossil fuels in these applications that consume more than half the worldâs energy. Such a future would follow from several factors: (a) concerns about climatic change that limit the use of fossil fuels (b) the fundamental technological differences between hydrogen and electricity that may preferentially couple different primary energy sources with either hydrogen or electricity and (c) the potential for other technologies to competitively produce electricity but not hydrogen. Electricity (movement of electrons) is not fundamentally a large-scale centralized technology that requires centralized methods of production distribution or use. In contrast hydrogen (movement of atoms) is intrinsically a large-scale centralized technology. The large-scale centralized characteristics of nuclear energy as a primary energy source hydrogen production systems and hydrogen storage systems naturally couple these technologies. This connection suggests that serious consideration be given to hydrogen as the ultimate product of nuclear energy and that nuclear systems be designed explicitly for hydrogen production.
Everything About Hydrogen Podcast: Hydrogen from Waste
Mar 2021
Publication
On this episode of EAH the team is joined by Tim Yeo Chairman of Powerhouse Energy to talk about the work they are doing in the waste-to-energy space and how they see the sector evolving in the coming years.
The podcast can be found on their website
The podcast can be found on their website
Everything About Hydrogen Podcast: Is Small the Perfect Answer for SMRs?
Jun 2020
Publication
On this weekâs episode the team discuss the appeal of modular reforming of biogas and natural gas with Mo Vargas from Bayotech. The company use a proprietary modular reformer technology to help provide low cost decentralise hydrogen production units for onsite demand at various scales using biogas waste gases and natural gas with carbon capture. With large scale steam methane reforming accounting for 95% of hydrogen production in major markets like the US and Europe today the team dive into the good the bad and the unusual considerations behind the growing international demand for modular methane reforming technologies and how Bayotech see the transition from a CO2 intensive process today to a net zero emission future. All this and more on the show!
The podcast can be found on their website
The podcast can be found on their website
Effect of Wind on Cryogenic Hydrogen Dispersion from Vent Stacks
Sep 2021
Publication
Liquid hydrogen vent stacks often release hydrogen for example due to pressure relief from an underutilized tank boiling off hydrogen or after hydrogen delivery and transfer (trucks often depressurize through the tank vent stack to meet pressure regulations for on-road transport).<br/>A rapid release of cryogenic hydrogen through a vent stack will condense moisture from the entrained air forming a visible cloud. It is often assumed that the extent of the cold hydrogen is concurrent with the cloud. In this work a laser-based Raman scattering diagnostic was used to map out the hydrogen location during a series of vent stack release experiments. A description of the diagnostic instrument is given followed by a comparison of hydrogen signals to the visible cloud for releases through a liquid hydrogen vent stack. A liquid hydrogen pump was used to vary the flowrate of hydrogen through the vent stack and tests were performed under low and high wind conditions as well as low and high humidity conditions. The hydrogen was observed only where the condensed moisture was located regardless of the humidity level or wind. These measurements are being used to validate models such as those included in Sandaâs HyRAM toolkit and inform safety codes and standards.
Everything About Hydrogen Podcast: Storage for the Future!
Jan 2022
Publication
For our first episode of 2022 we invited Jørn Helge Dahl Global Director of Sales&Marketing at Hexagon Purus to talk about hydrogen storage with the EAH podcast and to explain the types of solutions available today Hexagon's history and plans for the future alongside some commentary on US hydrogen strategy from the gang.
The podcast can be found on their website
The podcast can be found on their website
Optimization of Component Sizing for a Fuel Cell-Powered Truck to Minimize Ownership Cost
Mar 2019
Publication
In this study we consider fuel cell-powered electric trucks (FCETs) as an alternative to conventional medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. FCETs use a battery combined with onboard hydrogen storage for energy storage. The additional battery provides regenerative braking and better fuel economy but it will also increase the initial cost of the vehicle. Heavier reliance on stored hydrogen might be cheaper initially but operational costs will be higher because hydrogen is more expensive than electricity. Achieving the right tradeoff between these power and energy choices is necessary to reduce the ownership cost of the vehicle. This paper develops an optimum component sizing algorithm for FCETs. The truck vehicle model was developed in Autonomie a platform for modelling vehicle energy consumption and performance. The algorithm optimizes component sizes to minimize overall ownership cost while ensuring that the FCET matches or exceeds the performance and cargo capacity of a conventional vehicle. Class 4 delivery truck and class 8 linehaul trucks are shown as examples. We estimate the ownership cost for various hydrogen costs powertrain components ownership periods and annual vehicle miles travelled.
Everything About Hydrogen Podcast: Costs, Cost, Costs!
Aug 2020
Publication
On this week's episode of Everything About Hydrogen the team are celebrating the show's one year anniversary with Randy MacEwen the CEO of Ballard Power Systems. On the show the team ask Randy to explain the stunning rise of hydrogen over the last 12-24 months how the use cases for hydrogen are evolving and how the growing capitalisation of listed businesses like Ballard is driving a change in the investor base across the hydrogen & fuel cell sector. We also dive into the future for Ballard where the challenges and focuses for the business lie while the team reflect on what has been a very intense year for the show and the hydrogen industry. All this and more!
The podcast can be found on their website
The podcast can be found on their website
Development of Risk Mitigation Guidance for Sensor Placement Inside Mechanically Ventilated Enclosures â Phase 1
Sep 2019
Publication
Guidance on Sensor Placement was identified as the top research priority for hydrogen sensors at the 2018 HySafe Research Priority Workshop on hydrogen safety in the category Mitigation Sensors Hazard Prevention and Risk Reduction. This paper discusses the initial steps (Phase 1) to develop such guidance for mechanically ventilated enclosures. This work was initiated as an international collaborative effort to respond to emerging market needs related to the design and deployment equipment for hydrogen infrastructure that is often installed in individual equipment cabinets or ventilated enclosures. The ultimate objective of this effort is to develop guidance for an optimal sensor placement such that when integrated into a facility design and operation will allow earlier detection at lower levels of incipient leaks leading to significant hazard reduction. Reliable and consistent early warning of hydrogen leaks will allow for the risk mitigation by reducing or even eliminating the probability of escalation of small leaks into large and uncontrolled events. To address this issue a study of a real-world mechanically ventilated enclosure containing GH2 equipment was conducted where CFD modelling of the hydrogen dispersion (performed by AVT and UQTR and independently by the JRC) was validated by the NREL Sensor laboratory using a Hydrogen Wide Area Monitor (HyWAM) consisting of a 10-point gas and temperature measurement analyzer. In the release test helium was used as a hydrogen surrogate. Expansion of indoor releases to other larger facilities (including parking structures vehicle maintenance facilities and potentially tunnels) and incorporation into QRA tools such as HyRAM is planned for Phase 2. It is anticipated that results of this work will be used to inform national and international standards such as NFPA 2 Hydrogen Technologies Code Canadian Hydrogen Installation Code (CHIC) and relevant ISO/TC 197 and CEN documents.
Everything About Hydrogen Podcast: Where Does Hydrogen Fit in the Global Energy Transition?
Apr 2022
Publication
On this episode the EAH team discusses the role of hydrogen in the energy transition with Michael Liebreich Chairman and CEO of Liebreich Associates. Michael is an acknowledged thought leader on clean energy mobility technology climate sustainability and finance. He is the founder and senior contributor to Bloomberg New Energy Finance a member of numerous industry governmental and multilateral advisory boards an angel investor a former member of the board of Transport for London and an Advisor to the UK Board of Trade.
The podcast can be found on their website
The podcast can be found on their website
Hydrogen is Essential for Sustainability
Nov 2018
Publication
Sustainable energy conversion requires zero emissions of greenhouse gases and criteria pollutants using primary energy sources that the earth naturally replenishes quickly like renewable resources. Solar and wind power conversion technologies have become cost effective recently but challenges remain to manage electrical grid dynamics and to meet end-use requirements for energy dense fuels and chemicals. Renewable hydrogen provides the best opportunity for a zero emissions fuel and is the best feedstock for production of zero emission liquid fuels and some chemical and heat end-uses. Renewable hydrogen can be made at very high efficiency using electrolysis systems that are dynamically operated to complement renewable wind and solar power dynamics. Hydrogen can be stored within the existing natural gas system to provide low cost massive storage capacity that (1) could be sufficient to enable a 100% zero emissions grid; (2) has sufficient energy density for end-uses including heavy duty transport; (3) is a building block for zero emissions fertilizer and chemicals; and (4) enables sustainable primary energy in all sectors of the economy.
Life-Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions Of Biomethane And Hydrogen Pathways In The European Union
Oct 2021
Publication
Gaseous fuels with low life-cycle emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) play a prominent role in the European Unionâs (EU) decarbonization plans. Renewable and low-GHG hydrogen are highlighted in the ambitious goals for a cross-sector hydrogen economy laid out in the European Commissionâs Hydrogen Strategy. Renewable hydrogen and biomethane are given strong production incentives in the Commissionâs proposed revision to the Renewable Energy Directive (REDII). The EU uses life-cycle analysis (LCA) to determine whether renewable gas pathways meet the GHG reduction thresholds for eligibility in the REDII. This study aims to support European policymakers with a better understanding of the uncertainties regarding gaseous fuelsâ roles in meeting climate goals. Life-cycle GHG analysis is complex and differences in methodology as well as data inputs and assumptions can spell the difference between a renewable gas pathway qualifying or not for REDII eligibility at the 50% to 80% GHG reduction level. It is thus important for European policymakers to use robust LCA to ensure that policy only supports gas pathways consistent with a vision of deep decarbonization. For this purpose we conduct sensitivity analysis of the life-cycle GHG emissions of a number of low-GHG gas pathways including biomethane produced from four feedstocks: wastewater sludge manure landfill gas (LFG) and silage maize; and hydrogen produced from eight sources: natural gas combined with carbon capture and storage (CCS) coal with CCS biomass gasification renewable electricity 2030 EU grid electricity wastewater sludge biomethane manure biomethane and LFG biomethane. For each pathway we estimate the life-cycle GHG intensity using a default central case identify key parameters that strongly affect the fuelâs GHG intensity and conduct a sensitivity analysis by changing these key parameters according to the range of possible values collected from the literature. Figure ES1 summarizes the full range of possible GHG intensities for each gaseous pathway we analyzed in this studyâbiomethane is depicted in the top figure and hydrogen is shown in the bottom. The bars represent the GHG intensity of the central case and vertical error bars indicate the maximum and minimum GHG intensity of each pathway according to our sensitivity analysis. The dotted orange horizontal line illustrates the fossil comparator which is 94 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent per megajoule (gCO2e/MJ) for transport fuels in the REDII. The dotted yellow line represents the GHG intensity of a 65% GHG reduction goal for biomethane used in the transportation sector or 70% GHG reduction for hydrogen. Pathways are situated from left to right in increasing order of GHG intensity of the central case. Comparing the central cases of the four biomethane pathways the waste-based biomethane pathways generally have negative GHG intensity. However considering the uncertainty in these GHG intensities manure biomethane might have more limited carbon reduction potential in the 100-year timeframe if methane leakage from its production process is high. In contrast wastewater sludge biomethane and LFG biomethane even after accounting for uncertainties retain relatively low GHG emissions. On the other hand biomethane produced from silage maize can have much higher emissions; in the central case we find that silage maize biogas only reduces GHG emissions by 30% relative to the fossil comparatorâthe low carbon reduction potential is due to the significant emissions emerging from direct and indirect land use change involved in growing maize. Taking into account the variation in assumptions silage maize biomethane can be worse for the climate than fossil fuels.
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