Institution of Gas Engineers & Managers

Reversible solid oxide fuel cell (RSOFC) is an energy device that flexibly interchanges between electrical and chemical energy according to people’s life and production needs. The development of cell materials affects the stability and cost of the cell but also restricts its market-oriented development. After decades of research by scientists a lot of achievements and progress have been made on RSOFC materials. According to the composition and requirements of each component of RSOFC this article summarizes the research progress based on materials and discusses the merits and demerits of current cell materials in electrochemical performance. According to the efficiency of different materials in solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC mode) and solid oxide electrolyzer (SOEC mode) the challenges encountered by RSOFC in the operation are evaluated and the future development of RSOFC materials is boldly prospected.

Underground hydrogen storage (UHS) has attracted increasing attention as a promising technology for the largescale storage of renewable energy resources and the decarbonization of energy systems. This study aimed to identify critical parameters influencing UHS performance particularly the role of hydrogen conversion via in situ methanation and hydrogen recovery during production cycles. The main focus is the Lehen field in Upper Austria where a pilot hydrogen storage project was conducted under the leadership of RAG Austria AG. A layered reservoir model was developed on the basis of well-log data to simulate the field trials that occurred in 2016. A sensitivity analysis was performed with the one-parameter-at-a-time (OPAAT) method and the response surface methodology (RSM) to evaluate the impacts of different parameters on hydrogen methanation and hydrogen recovery. The RSM results indicate the activation energy as the most influential factor on methanation that accounts for ~20000 moles variation in generated methane significantly higher than the 6000 moles variance observed in OPAAT. However initial CO2 content contributes up to 15000 moles of methane gener ation as per RSM whereas OPAAT results in a larger impact of up to 32000 moles. These discrepancies demonstrate the limitations of isolated parameter analyses like OPAAT which may not accurately capture the complex interactions between factors influencing the methanation process. This research provides valuable in sights for optimizing UHS performance by emphasizing the influence of reservoir parameters on storage effi ciency. In addition a robust workflow for conducting comprehensive sensitivity analyses of UHS systems is established. By understanding these key factors the potential and predictability of large-scale UHS systems can be significantly improved.

In the pursuit of greener and more self-sufficient healthcare operations this study presents an integrated eco nomic and environmental analysis of on-site co-production of oxygen and hydrogen through proton exchange membrane electrolysis specifically designed for the Santa Maria Hospital in Lisbon Portugal. The proposed system aims to meet the hospital’s oxygen demand while simultaneously producing hydrogen for use in fuel cell electric vehicles such as ambulances. A 1.5 MW PEM electrolyser is found to be sufficient to meet the hospital’s O2 needs while generating hydrogen at a levelized cost of hydrogen of 4.6 €/kgH2. When considering the implementation costs of an on-site hydrogen refueling station an O2 drying and storage unit as well as the avoided costs in bulk liquid O2 purchases the break-even point for the sale of H2 at the refueling stations is 2.4 €/kgH2. Apart from the economic benefits that could be achieved by selling the produced H2 above this price the environmental analysis showed that 1874 tons of CO2 emissions per year could be avoided by the imple mentation of the concept proposed here. This integrated system not only contributes to the hospital’s energy independence but also serves as a model for sustainable solutions in the healthcare sector with significant environmental and financial benefits.

The team sits down with Rishi Jain to discuss Cross River’s marquee wind hydro nuclear hydrogen ammonia project in the revitalized heavy industrial Port of Belledune New Brunswick Canada.

The podcast can be found on their website.

Climate change and environmental degradation are growing concerns in today’s society which has led to greater awareness and responsibility regarding the need to adopt sustainable practices. The European Union has established the goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050 which implies a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in all sectors. To achieve this goal renewable energies the circular economy and energy efficiency are being promoted. A major source of emissions is the use of fossil fuels in different types of ships (from transport ships to those used by national navies). Among these it highlights the growing interest of the defense sector in trying to reduce these emissions. The Spanish Ministry of Defense is also involved in this effort and is taking steps to reduce the carbon footprint in military operations and improve sustainability in equipment acquisition and maintenance. The objective of this study is to identify the most promising alternative fuel among those under development for possible implementation on Spanish Navy ships in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve its capabilities. To achieve this a multi-criteria decision-making method will be used to determine the most viable fuel option. The data provided by the officers of the Spanish Navy is of great importance thanks to their long careers in front of the ships. The analysis revealed that hydrogen was the most suitable fuel with the highest priority ahead of LNG and scored the highest in most of the sections of the officials’ ratings. These fuels are less polluting and would allow a significant reduction in emissions during the navigation of ships. However a further study would also have to be carried out on the costs of adapting to their use and the safety of their use.

During the driving of a fuel cell car the expansion of the hydrogen along the emptying of the high pressure storage tank produces a cooling of the gas. The hydrogen vessel can experience a fast depressurization during acceleration or under an emergency release. This can result on the one hand in exceeding the low safety temperature limit of 40 C inside the on-board compressed hydrogen tank and on the other hand in the cooling of its walls. In the present paper defueling experiments of two different types of on-board hydrogen tanks (Type III and Type IV) have been performed in all the range of expected defueling rates. The lowest temperatures have been found on the bottom part of the Type IV tank in very fast defuelings. For average driving conditions in both types of vessels the inside gas temperature gets closer to that of the walls and the tank would arrive to the refuelling station at a temperature significantly lower than the ambient temperature.

The increasing global residential energy demand causes carbon emissions and ecological impacts necessitating cleaner efficient solutions. This study presents an innovative hybrid energy system integrating wind power and gas turbines for a four-story 16-unit residential building. The system generates electricity heating cooling and hydrogen using a Proton Exchange Membrane electrolyzer and a compression chiller. Integrating the electrolyzer enables hydrogen production and demonstrates hydrogen’s potential as a versatile clean energy carrier for systems contributing to advancements in hydrogen utilization. Simulations with Engineering Equation Solver software coupled with neural network-based multi-objective optimization fine-tuned parameters such as gas turbine efficiency wind turbine count and gas turbine inlet temperature to enhance exergy efficiency and reduce operational costs. The optimized system achieves an energy efficiency of 33.69% and an exergy efficiency of 36.95% and operates at $446.04 per hour demonstrating economic viability. It produces 51061 MWh annually exceeding the building’s energy demands and allowing surplus energy use elsewhere. BEopt simulations confirm the system meets residential needs by providing 2.52 GWh of electricity 3.36 GWh of heating and 5.11 GWh of cooling annually. This system also generates 10 kg of hydrogen per hour and achieves a CO₂ reduction of 10416 tons/year. The wind farm (25 turbines) provides most of the energy at 396.7 dollars per hour while the gas turbine operates at 80% efficiency. By addressing the challenges of intermittent renewable energy in residential Zero-Energy Buildings this research offers a scalable and environmentally friendly solution contributing to sustainable urban living and advancing hydrogen energy applications.

In this study we employ an optimization model to optimally design a self-sufficient independent of any imports and exports hydrogen infrastructure for Austria by 2030. Our approach integrates key hydrogen technologies within a detailed spatial investment and operation model – coupled with a European scale electricity market model. We focus on optimizing diverse infrastructure componentsincluding trailers pipelines electrolyzers and storages to meet Austria's projected hydrogen demand. To accurately estimate this demand in hourly resolution we combine existing hydrogen strategies and projections to account for developments in various industrial sectors consider demand driven by the transport sector and integrate hydrogen demand arising from its use in gas-powered plants. Accounting for the inherent uncertainty linked to such projections we run the analysis for two complementary scenarios. Our approach addresses the challenges of integrating large quantities of renewable hydrogen into a future energy system by recognizing the critical role of domestic production in the early market stages. The main contribution of this work is to address the gap in optimizing hydrogen infrastructure for effective integration of domestic renewable hydrogen production in Austria by 2030 considering sector coupling potentials optimal electrolyzer placement and the design of local hydrogen networks.

The emergence and design of hydrogen transport infrastructures are crucial steps towards the development of a hydrogen economy. However pipeline routing remains underdeveloped in hydrogen infrastructure design models despite its significant impact on the resultant cost and network configuration. Many previous studies assume uniform cost surfaces on which pipelines are designed. Studies that consider a variable cost surface focus on designing candidate networks rather than bespoke routes for a given infrastructure. This study proposes a novel multi-stage approach based on a graph-based Steiner tree with Obstacles Genetic Algorithm (StObGA) to route pipelines on a complex cost surface for multi-source multi-sink hydrogen networks. The application of StObGA results in cost savings of 20–40% compared to alternative graph-based methods that assume uniform cost surfaces. Furthermore this publication presents an in-depth methodological comparative analysis of different pipeline routing and sizing methods used in the literature and discusses their impact. Finally we demonstrate how this model can generate design variations and provide practical insights to inform industry and policymakers.

Energy storage is essential to address the intermittent issues of renewable energy systems thereby enhancing system stability and reliability. This paper presents the design and operation optimisation of hydrogen/battery/ hybrid energy storage systems considering component degradation and energy cost volatility. The study ex amines a real-world case study which is a grid-connected warehouse located in a tropical climate zone with a photovoltaic solar system. An accurate and robust Multi-Objective Modified Firefly Algorithm (MOMFA) is proposed for the optimal design and operation of the energy storage systems of the case study. To further demonstrate the robustness and versatility of the optimisation method another synthetic case is tested for a location in a temperate climate zone that has a high seasonal mismatch. The modelling results show that the system in the tropical zone always provides a superior return when compared to a similar system in the temperate zone due to abundant solar resources. When comparing battery-only and hydrogen-only systems battery systems perform better than hydrogen systems in many situations with a higher self-sufficient ratio and net present value. However if there is high seasonal variation and a high requirement for using renewable energy (the penetration of renewable energy is >80 %) using hydrogen for energy storage is more beneficial. Furthermore the hybrid system (i.e. combining battery and hydrogen) outperforms battery-only and hydrogenonly systems. This is attributed to the complementary combination of hydrogen which can be used as a longterm energy storage option and battery which is utilised as a short-term option. This study also shows that storing hydrogen in a long-term strategy can lower component degradation enhance efficiency and increase the total economic performance of hydrogen and hybrid storage systems. The developed optimisation method and findings of this study can support the implementation of energy storage systems for renewable energy.