Transmission, Distribution & Storage
Material Compatibility in Hydrogen Infrastructure: Challenges, Advances, and Future Prospects
Oct 2025
Publication
The adoption of hydrogen as a clean energy carrier depends heavily on the development of materials capable of enduring the extreme conditions associated with its production storage and transportation. This review critically evaluates the performance of metals polymers and composites in hydrogen-rich environments focusing on degradation mechanisms such as hydrogen embrittlement rapid gas decompression and long-term fatigue. Metals like carbon steels and high-strength alloys can experience a 30–50 % loss in tensile strength due to hydrogen exposure while polymers suffer from permeability increases and sealing degradation. Composite materials though strong and lightweight may lose up to 15 % of their mechanical properties over time in hydrogen environments. The review highlights current mitigation strategies including hydrogen-resistant alloys polymer blends protective coatings composite liners and emerging technologies like predictive modeling and AI-based material design. With hydrogen production expected to reach 500 GW globally by 2030 improving material compatibility and developing international standards are essential for scaling hydrogen infrastructure safely and cost-effectively. This work presents an integrated analysis of material degradation mechanisms highlights key challenges across metals polymers and composites in hydrogen environments and explores recent innovations and future strategies to enhance durability and performance in hydrogen infrastructure.
Computational Fluid Dynamic Modeling and Parametric Optimization of Hydrogen Adsorption in Stationary Hydrogen Tanks
Nov 2025
Publication
A. Ousegui and
B. Marcos
This study investigates hydrogen storage enhancement through adsorption in porous materials by coupling the Dubinin–Astakhov (D-A) adsorption model with H2 conservation equations (mass momentum and energy). The resulting system of partial differential equations (PDEs) was solved numerically using the finite element method (FEM). Experimental work using activated carbon as an adsorbent was carried out to validate the model. The comparison showed good agreement in terms of temperature distribution average pressure of the system and the amount of adsorbed hydrogen (H2). Further simulations with different adsorbents indicated that compact metal–organic framework 5 (MOF-5) is the most effective material in terms of H2 adsorption. Additionally the pair (273 K 800 s) remains the optimal combination of injection temperature and time. The findings underscore the prospective advantages of optimized MOF-5-based systems for enhanced hydrogen storage. These systems offer increased capacity and safety compared to traditional adsorbents. Subsequent research should investigate multi-objective optimization of material properties and system geometry along with evaluating dynamic cycling performance in practical operating conditions. Additionally experimental validation on MOF-5-based storage prototypes would further reinforce the model’s predictive capabilities for industrial applications.
A Comprehensive Review on the Compatability of Polymeric Materials for Hydrogen Transportation and Storage
Nov 2025
Publication
This review evaluates the current state of the art on polymeric materials for hydrogen transportation and storage highlighting the importance of developing a sustainable hydrogen infrastructure worldwide. It analyses different polymeric materials used for hydrogen transportation and storage applications including high-density polyethylene (HDPE) polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) polyimides (PI) polyether ether ketone (PEEK) polyamide ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP). These materials are assessed using key characteristics such as hydrogen permeability mechanical strength chemical resistance and thermal stability. The review finds that while PEEK and polyimides exhibit the highest thermal stability (up to 400 °C) and pressure resistance (300–400 bar) HDPE remains the most cost-effective option for low-pressure applications. PTFE and FEP offer the lowest hydrogen permeability (<0.01 cm3 mm/m2·day·bar) making them ideal for sealing and lining in hydrogen storage systems. Furthermore key research gaps are identified and suggestions for future research and development directions are outlined. This comprehensive review is a valuable resource for researchers and engineers working towards sustainable hydrogen infrastructure development.
Unlocking Hydrogen Carrier Potential of the Yangtze River in China
Oct 2025
Publication
The Yangtze River as the world’s largest clean energy corridor links key economic regions and plays a crucial role in inland waterway transportation. However few studies have comprehensively evaluated the potential of the Yangtze River for cross-regional hydrogen transport. Here we develop a comprehensive integrated power and hydrogen supply chain (IPHSC) optimization model to evaluate the potential of cross-regional hydrogen transport via the Yangtze River. The IPHSC optimization model covers the entire hydrogen production-storage-transportation-utilization chain through cross-sector modeling of energy transportation water scheduling and environmental protection. Results show that in the 2060 carbon neutrality scenario the deployment of 62.2 kilotons of 574 differentiated liquid hydrogen (LH2) carrier ships could enable the transportation of 5018 kilotons (1512 million ton-km) of hydrogen annually meeting nearly 20% of the total electrolytic hydrogen demand across eight riverine provinces. Unlike west-to-east electricity transmission in China the central Yangtze River region is expected to become the main hub for hydrogen exports in the future. Compared with alternative methods such as transmission lines or pipelines LH2 carrier ships offer the lowest energy supply costs at 3 US cents/kWh for electricity and 5 US cents/kWh for hydrogen. Additionally a full-parameter attribution analysis of over 40 factors is conducted to assess variations in supply costs. Our study offers a thorough evaluation of the feasibility and economic benefits of hydrogen transportation via inland waterways providing a comprehensive multi-sectoral coupling assessment framework for regions with well-established inland waterway networks such as Europe and the United States.
Quantifying Conservatism in ASME B31.12 Option A for Hydrogen Pipeline Repurposing
Nov 2025
Publication
Hydrogen is a key enabler of the energy transition and repurposing existing natural gas pipelines offers a costeffective pathway for large-scale hydrogen transport. However hydrogen embrittlement raises integrity concerns and current design standards such as ASME B31.12 Option A adopt highly conservative safety margins without a quantified reliability basis. This study evaluates whether the conservative safety margins in ASME B31.12 Option A for hydrogen pipelines can be safely relaxed. A semi-elliptical flaw (depth 0.25t length 1.5t) is assessed using the Failure Assessment Diagram (FAD) method and Monte Carlo simulations with up to 2.5 × 107 iterations. Fracture toughness is fixed at 69.3 MPa√m while wall thickness and yield strength vary statistically. Three design scenarios explore safety factor products from 0.388 to 0.720 at 0 ◦C and 20 ◦C. Results show that flaw acceptability is maintained in all deterministic cases and the probability of failure remains below 10− 6 . No failures occur when the safety factor product drops below 0.637. The analysis uses only codified flaw assumptions and public material data. These findings confirm that Option A provides a highly conservative envelope and demonstrate the value of a reliability-based approach for assessing hydrogen pipeline repurposing while addressing the gap between prescriptive standards and quantified reliability. This integrated FAD–probabilistic framework demonstrates that Option A includes significant conservatism and supports a reliability-based approach to evaluate hydrogen pipeline repurposing without experimental inputs.
No more items...