Transmission, Distribution & Storage
Australian Hydrogen Hubs Study
Nov 2019
Publication
Arup have conducted interviews with targeted industry and government stakeholders to gather data and perspectives to support the development of this study. Arup have also utilised private and publicly available data sources building on recent work undertaken by Geoscience Australia and Deloitte and the comprehensive stakeholder engagement process to inform our research. This study considers the supply chain and infrastructure requirements to support the development of export and domestic hubs. The study aims to provide a succinct “Hydrogen Hubs” report for presentation to the hydrogen working group.
The hydrogen supply chain infrastructure required to produce hydrogen for export and domestic hubs was identified along with feedback from the stakeholder engagement process. These infrastructure requirements can be used to determine the factors for assessing export and domestic hub opportunities. Hydrogen production pathways transportation mechanisms and uses were also further evaluated to identify how hubs can be used to balance supply and demand of hydrogen.
A preliminary list of current or anticipated locations has been developed through desktop research Arup project knowledge and the stakeholder consultation process. Over 30 potential hydrogen export locations have been identified in Australia through desktop research and the stakeholder survey and consultation process. In addition to establishing export hubs the creation of domestic demand hubs will be essential to the development of an Australian hydrogen economy. It is for this reason that a list of criteria has been developed for stakeholders to consider in the siting and design of hydrogen hubs. The key considerations explored are based on demand supply chain infrastructure and investment and policy areas.
Based on these considerations a list of criteria were developed to assess the viability of export and domestic hydrogen hubs. Criteria relevant to assessing the suitability of export and domestic hubs include:
A framework that includes the assessment criteria has been developed to aid decision making rather than recommending specific locations that would be most appropriate for a hub. This is because there are so many dynamic factors that go into selecting a location of a hydrogen hub that it is not appropriate to be overly prescriptive or prevent stakeholders from selecting the best location themselves or from the market making decisions based on its own research and knowledge. The developed framework rather provides information and support to enable these decision-making processes.
The hydrogen supply chain infrastructure required to produce hydrogen for export and domestic hubs was identified along with feedback from the stakeholder engagement process. These infrastructure requirements can be used to determine the factors for assessing export and domestic hub opportunities. Hydrogen production pathways transportation mechanisms and uses were also further evaluated to identify how hubs can be used to balance supply and demand of hydrogen.
A preliminary list of current or anticipated locations has been developed through desktop research Arup project knowledge and the stakeholder consultation process. Over 30 potential hydrogen export locations have been identified in Australia through desktop research and the stakeholder survey and consultation process. In addition to establishing export hubs the creation of domestic demand hubs will be essential to the development of an Australian hydrogen economy. It is for this reason that a list of criteria has been developed for stakeholders to consider in the siting and design of hydrogen hubs. The key considerations explored are based on demand supply chain infrastructure and investment and policy areas.
Based on these considerations a list of criteria were developed to assess the viability of export and domestic hydrogen hubs. Criteria relevant to assessing the suitability of export and domestic hubs include:
- Health and safety provisions;
- Environmental considerations;
- Economic and social considerations;
- Land availability with appropriate zoning and buffer distances & ownership (new terminals storage solar PV industries etc.);•
- Availability of gas pipeline infrastructure;
- Availability of electricity grid connectivity backup energy supply or co-location of renewables;
- Road & rail infrastructure (site access);
- Community and environmental concerns and weather. Social licence consideration;
- Berths (berthing depth ship storage loading facilities existing LNG and/or petroleum infrastructure etc.);
- Port potential (current capacity & occupancy expandability & scalability);
- Availability of or potential for skilled workers (construction & operation);
- Availability of or potential for water (recycled & desalinated);
- Opportunity for co-location with industrial ammonia production and future industrial opportunities;
- Interest (projects priority ports state development areas politics etc.);
- Shipping distance to target market (Japan & South Korea);
- Availability of demand-based infrastructure (i.e. refuelling stations).
A framework that includes the assessment criteria has been developed to aid decision making rather than recommending specific locations that would be most appropriate for a hub. This is because there are so many dynamic factors that go into selecting a location of a hydrogen hub that it is not appropriate to be overly prescriptive or prevent stakeholders from selecting the best location themselves or from the market making decisions based on its own research and knowledge. The developed framework rather provides information and support to enable these decision-making processes.
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 ± 3 JK−1mol−1 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 additives’ 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 ± 3 JK−1mol−1 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 additives’ influence and to determine how a new system might be designed to make NaBH4 a more viable H2 fuel source.
Determination of Critical Hydrogen Concentration and Its Effect on Mechanical Performance of 2200 MPa and 600 HBW Martensitic Ultra-High-Strength Steel
Jun 2021
Publication
The influence of hydrogen on the mechanical performance of a hot-rolled martensitic steel was studied by means of constant extension rate test (CERT) and constant load test (CLT) followed with thermal desorption spectroscopy measurements. The steel shows a reduction in tensile strength up to 25% of ultimate tensile strength (UTS) at critical hydrogen concentrations determined to be about 1.1 wt.ppm and 50% of UTS at hydrogen concentrations of 2 wt.ppm. No further strength degradation was observed up to hydrogen concentrations of 4.8 wt.ppm. It was observed that the interplay between local hydrogen concentrations and local stress states accompanied with the presence of total average hydrogen reducing the general plasticity of the specimen are responsible for the observed strength degradation of the steel at the critical concentrations of hydrogen. Under CLT the steel does not show sensitivity to hydrogen at applied loads below 50% of UTS under continuous electrochemical hydrogen charging up to 85 h. Hydrogen enhanced creep rates during constant load increased linearly with increasing hydrogen concentration in the steel.
Solid State Hydrogen Storage in Alanates and Alanate-Based Compounds: A Review
Jul 2018
Publication
The safest way to store hydrogen is in solid form physically entrapped in molecular form in highly porous materials or chemically bound in atomic form in hydrides. Among the different families of these compounds alkaline and alkaline earth metals alumino-hydrides (alanates) have been regarded as promising storing media and have been extensively studied since 1997 when Bogdanovic and Schwickardi reported that Ti-doped sodium alanate could be reversibly dehydrogenated under moderate conditions. In this review the preparative methods; the crystal structure; the physico-chemical and hydrogen absorption-desorption properties of the alanates of Li Na K Ca Mg Y Eu and Sr; and of some of the most interesting multi-cation alanates will be summarized and discussed. The most promising alanate-based reactive hydride composite (RHC) systems developed in the last few years will also be described and commented on concerning their hydrogen absorption and desorption performance.
Stand-Alone Microgrid with 100% Renewable Energy: A Case Study with Hybrid Solar PV-Battery-Hydrogen
Mar 2020
Publication
A 100% renewable energy-based stand-alone microgrid system can be developed by robust energy storage systems to stabilize the variable and intermittent renewable energy resources. Hydrogen as an energy carrier and energy storage medium has gained enormous interest globally in recent years. Its use in stand-alone or off-grid microgrids for both the urban and rural communities has commenced recently in some locations. Therefore this research evaluates the techno-economic feasibility of renewable energy-based systems using hydrogen as energy storage for a stand-alone/off-grid microgrid. Three case scenarios in a microgrid environment were identified and investigated in order to select an optimum solution for a remote community by considering the energy balance and techno-economic optimization. The “HOMER Pro” energy modelling and simulating software was used to compare the energy balance economics and environmental impact amongst the proposed scenarios. The simulation results showed that the hydrogen-battery hybrid energy storage system is the most cost-effective scenario though all developed scenarios are technically possible and economically comparable in the long run while each has different merits and challenges. It has been shown that the proposed hybrid energy systems have significant potentialities in electrifying remote communities with low energy generation costs as well as a contribution to the reduction of their carbon footprint and to ameliorating the energy crisis to achieve a sustainable future.
Irreversible Hydrogen Embrittlement Study of B1500HS High Strength Boron Steel
Dec 2020
Publication
The reversible/irreversible recovery of mechanical properties and the microstructure characteristics of a typical hot-stamped steel B1500HS have been studied under different conditions of hydrogen permeation. Initially all tested specimens were permeated by hydrogen atoms through an electrochemical hydrogen charging scheme. Then the comparisons between different currents and charging time were performed. The influence of different storage time was compared as well. Additionally the effect of the plastic strain introduced by pre-stretching was also investigated. The experimental results showed that the negative impact of hydrogen embrittlement was altered from reversible to irreversible as the magnitude of the charging current increased. The hydrogen blistering and the hydrogen charging-induced cracks were both observed and inspected in the tested samples regarding the irreversible situation. Moreover the adverse influence of hydrogen embrittlement was enhanced by plastic pre-straining or extending the charging period. At the micro-level hydrogen charging-induced cracks generally were generated at defect locations such as the prior austenite grain boundaries and lath martensite interfaces. Particularly crack direction occurred perpendicular to the orientation of lath martensite and transgranular fracture occurred at the prior austenite grains.
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
Hydrogen vs. Battery in the Long-term Operation. A Comparative Between Energy Management Strategies for Hybrid Renewable Microgrids
Apr 2020
Publication
The growth of the world’s energy demand over recent decades in relation to energy intensity and demography is clear. At the same time the use of renewable energy sources is pursued to address decarbonization targets but the stochasticity of renewable energy systems produces an increasing need for management systems to supply such energy volume while guaranteeing at the same time the security and reliability of the microgrids. Locally distributed energy storage systems (ESS) may provide the capacity to temporarily decouple production and demand. In this sense the most implemented ESS in local energy districts are small–medium-scale electrochemical batteries. However hydrogen systems are viable for storing larger energy quantities thanks to its intrinsic high mass-energy density. To match generation demand and storage energy management systems (EMSs) become crucial. This paper compares two strategies for an energy management system based on hydrogen-priority vs. battery-priority for the operation of a hybrid renewable microgrid. The overall performance of the two mentioned strategies is compared in the long-term operation via a set of evaluation parameters defined by the unmet load storage efficiency operating hours and cumulative energy. The results show that the hydrogen-priority strategy allows the microgrid to be led towards island operation because it saves a higher amount of energy while the battery-priority strategy reduces the energy efficiency in the storage round trip. The main contribution of this work lies in the demonstration that conventional EMS for microgrids’ operation based on battery-priority strategy should turn into hydrogen-priority to keep the reliability and independence of the microgrid in the long-term operation.
Machine Learning Approach for Prediction of Hydrogen Environment Embrittlement in Austenitic Steels
Jun 2022
Publication
This study introduces a machine learning approach to predict the effect of alloying elements and test conditions on the hydrogen environment embrittlement (HEE) index of austenitic steels for the first time. The correlation between input features and the HEE index was analyzed with Pearson's correlation coefficient (PCC) and Maximum Information Coefficient (MIC) algorithms. The correlation analysis results identified Ni and Mo as dominant features influencing the HEE index of austenitic steels. Based on the analysis results the performance of the four representative machine learning models as a function of the number of top-ranked features was evaluated: random forest (RF) linear regression (LR) Bayesian ridge (BR) and support vector machine (SVM). Regardless of the type and the number of top-ranking features the RF model had the highest accuracy among various models. The machine learning-based approach is expected to be useful in designing new steels having mechanical properties required for hydrogen applications.
Underground Storage of Green Hydrogen—Boundary Conditions for Compressor Systems
Aug 2022
Publication
The large-scale storage of hydrogen in salt caverns modelled on today’s natural gas storage is a promising approach to storing renewable energy over a large power range and for the required time period. An essential subsystem of the overall gas storage is the surface facility and in particular the compressor system. The future design of compressor systems for hydrogen storage strongly depends on the respective boundary conditions. Therefore this work analyses the requirements of compressor systems for cavern storage facilities for the storage of green hydrogen i.e. hydrogen produced from renewable energy sources using the example of Lower Saxony in Germany. In this course a hydrogen storage demand profile of one year is developed in hourly resolution from feed-in time series of renewable energy sources. The injection profile relevant for compressor operation is compared with current natural gas injection operation modes
The Impact of Process Heat on the Decarbonisation Potential of Offshore Installations by Hybrid Energy Systems
Dec 2021
Publication
An opportunity to decarbonise the offshore oil and gas sector lies in the integration of renewable energy sources with energy storage in a hybrid energy system (HES). Such concept enables maximising the exploitation of carbon-free renewable power while minimising the emissions associated with conventional power generation systems such as gas turbines. Offshore plants in addition to electrical and mechanical power also require process heat for their operation. Solutions that provide low-emission heat in parallel to power are necessary to reach a very high degree of decarbonisation. This paper investigates different options to supply process heat in offshore HES while the electric power is mostly covered by a wind turbine. All HES configurations include energy storage in the form of hydrogen tied to proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysers and fuel cells stacks. As a basis for comparison a standard configuration relying solely on a gas turbine and a waste heat recovery unit is considered. A HES combined with a waste heat recovery unit to supply heat proved efficient when low renewable power capacity is integrated but unable to deliver a total CO2 emission reduction higher than around 40%. Alternative configurations such as the utilization of gas-fired or electric heaters become more competitive at large installed renewable capacity approaching CO2 emission reductions of up to 80%.
OIES Podcast – PolyGrid 2050: Integrating Hydrogen into the European Energy Transfer Infrastructure Landscape
Feb 2023
Publication
In this podcast David Ledesma talks with Rahmat Poudineh and Martin Palovic about their paper on integrating hydrogen into the European energy transfer infrastructure landscape. As hydrogen is expected to play an important role in European plans towards climate neutrality adequate hydrogen transport (and storage) infrastructure needs to be established. However hydrogen transport infrastructures are costly and have a long lead time. Furthermore hydrogen can be transported via a variety of means: it can be transported as a gas via pipelines or liquid via road rail and sea or even converted to derivatives such as ammonia or methanol for long distance transportation. It is also possible to transfer electrical energy instead of hydrogen and produce hydrogen in a decentralized way. From a system perspective all these infrastructures represent elements of a grand hydrogen ‘polygrid’ that will be the backbone of the future decarbonized energy system. This raises the fundamental question of how to prevent inefficiency and infrastructure redundancy across different modes of hydrogen transport. The task is made more challenging by technological uncertainty the unpredictability of future supply and demand for hydrogen network externality effects and investment irreversibility of grid-based infrastructures. In this podcast we discuss three possible coordination approaches to optimise future cross-sectoral investment into hydrogen transport infrastructure and highlight their strengths and shortcomings.
The podcast can be found on their website.
The podcast can be found on their website.
Solid Air Hydrogen Liquefaction, the Missing Link of the Hydrogen Economy
Mar 2023
Publication
The most challenging aspect of developing a green hydrogen economy is long-distance oceanic transportation. Hydrogen liquefaction is a transportation alternative. However the cost and energy consumption for liquefaction is currently prohibitively high creating a major barrier to hydrogen supply chains. This paper proposes using solid nitrogen or oxygen as a medium for recycling cold energy across the hydrogen liquefaction supply chain. When a liquid hydrogen (LH2) carrier reaches its destination the regasification process of the hydrogen produces solid nitrogen or oxygen. The solid nitrogen or oxygen is then transported in the LH2 carrier back to the hydrogen liquefaction facility and used to reduce the energy consumption cooling gaseous hydrogen. As a result the energy required to liquefy hydrogen can be reduced by 25.4% using N2 and 27.3% using O2. Solid air hydrogen liquefaction (SAHL) can be the missing link for implementing a global hydrogen economy.
Techno-economic Analysis of Developing an Underground Hydrogen Storage Facility in Depleted Gas Field: A Dutch Case Study
Apr 2023
Publication
Underground hydrogen storage will be an essential part of the future hydrogen infrastructure to provide flexibility and security of supply. Storage in porous reservoirs should complement storage in salt caverns to be able to meet the projected high levels of required storage capacities. To assess its techno-economic feasibility a case study of hydrogen storage in a depleted gas field in the Netherlands is developed. Subsurface modelling is performed and various surface facility design concepts are investigated to calculate the levelized cost of hydrogen storage (LCOHS). Our base case with hydrogen as cushion gas results in an LCOHS of 0.79 EUR/kg (range of 0.58–1.04 EUR/kg). Increasing the number of full-cycle equivalents from 1 to 6 lowers the storage cost to 0.25 EUR/kg. The investment cost of the cushion gas represents 76% of the total cost. With nitrogen as cushion gas LCOHS is reduced to 0.49 EUR/kg (range of 0.42–0.56 EUR/kg).
Does the United Kingdom Have Sufficient Geological Storage Capacity to Support a Hydrogen Economy? Estimating the Salt Cavern Storage Potential of Bedded Halite Formations
Jun 2022
Publication
Hydrogen can be used to enable decarbonisation of challenging applications such as provision of heat and as a fuel for heavy transport. The UK has set out a strategy for developing a new low carbon hydrogen sector by 2030. Underground storage will be a key component of any regional or national hydrogen network because of the variability of both supply and demand across different end-use applications. For storage of pure hydrogen salt caverns currently remain the only commercially proven subsurface storage technology implemented at scale. A new network of hydrogen storage caverns will therefore be required to service a low carbon hydrogen network. To facilitate planning for such systems this study presents a modelling approach used to evaluate the UK's theoretical hydrogen storage capacity in new salt caverns in bedded rock salt. The findings suggest an upper bound potential for hydrogen storage exceeding 64 million tonnes providing 2150 TWh of storage capacity distributed in three discrete salt basins in the UK. The modelled cavern capacity has been interrogated to identify the practical inter-seasonal storage capacity suitable for integration in a hydrogen transmission system. Depending on cavern spacing a peak load deliverability of between 957 and 1876 GW is technically possible with over 70% of the potential found in the East Yorkshire and Humber region. The range of geologic uncertainty affecting the estimates is approximately ±36%. In principle the peak domestic heating demand of approximately 170 GW across the UK can be met using the hydrogen withdrawn from caverns alone albeit in practice the storage potential is unevenly distributed. The analysis indicates that the availability of salt cavern storage potential does not present a limiting constraint for the development of a low-carbon hydrogen network in the UK. The general framework presented in this paper can be applied to other regions to estimate region-specific hydrogen storage potential in salt caverns.
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.
Operating Hydrogen-Based Energy Storage Systems in Wind Farms for Smooth Power Injection: A Penalty Fees Aware Model Predictive Control
Aug 2022
Publication
Smooth power injection is one of the possible services that modern wind farms could provide in the not-so-far future for which energy storage is required. Indeed this is one among the three possible operations identified by the International Energy Agency (IEA)-Hydrogen Implementing Agreement (HIA) within the Task 24 final report that may promote their integration into the main grid in particular when paired to hydrogen-based energy storages. In general energy storage can mitigate the inherent unpredictability of wind generation providing that they are deployed with appropriate control algorithms. On the contrary in the case of no storage wind farm operations would be strongly affected as well as their economic performances since the penalty fees wind farm owners/operators incur in case of mismatches between the contracted power and that actually delivered. This paper proposes a Model Predictive Control (MPC) algorithm that operates a Hydrogen-based Energy Storage System (HESS) consisting of one electrolyzer one fuel cell and one tank paired to a wind farm committed to smooth power injection into the grid. The MPC relies on Mixed-Logic Dynamic (MLD) models of the electrolyzer and the fuel cell in order to leverage their advanced features and handles appropriate cost functions in order to account for the operating costs the potential value of hydrogen as a fuel and the penalty fee mechanism that may negatively affect the expected profits generated by the injection of smooth power. Numerical simulations are conducted by considering wind generation profiles from a real wind farm in the center-south of Italy and spot prices according to the corresponding market zone. The results show the impact of each cost term on the performances of the controller and how they can be effectively combined in order to achieve some reasonable trade-off. In particular it is highlighted that a static choice of the corresponding weights can lead to not very effective handling of the effects given by the combination of the system conditions with the various exogenous’ while a dynamic choice may suit the purpose instead. Moreover the simulations show that the developed models and the set-up mathematical program can be fruitfully leveraged for inferring indications on the devices’ sizing.
Batteries and Hydrogen Storage: Technical Analysis and Commercial Revision to Select the Best Option
Aug 2022
Publication
This paper aims to analyse two energy storage methods—batteries and hydrogen storage technologies—that in some cases are treated as complementary technologies but in other ones they are considered opposed technologies. A detailed technical description of each technology will allow to understand the evolution of batteries and hydrogen storage technologies: batteries looking for higher energy capacity and lower maintenance while hydrogen storage technologies pursuing better volumetric and gravimetric densities. Additionally as energy storage systems a mathematical model is required to know the state of charge of the system. For this purpose a mathematical model is proposed for conventional batteries for compressed hydrogen tanks for liquid hydrogen storage and for metal hydride tanks which makes it possible to integrate energy storage systems into management strategies that aim to solve the energy balance in plants based on hybrid energy storage systems. From the technical point of view most batteries are easier to operate and do not require special operating conditions while hydrogen storage methods are currently functioning at the two extremes (high temperatures for metal and complex hydrides and low temperatures for liquid hydrogen or physisorption). Additionally the technical comparison made in this paper also includes research trends and future possibilities in an attempt to help plan future policies.
An Overview of the Recent Advances in Composite Materials and Artificial Intelligence for Hydrogen Storage Vessels Design
Mar 2023
Publication
The environmental impact of CO2 emissions is widely acknowledged making the development of alternative propulsion systems a priority. Hydrogen is a potential candidate to replace fossil fuels for transport applications with three technologies considered for the onboard storage of hydrogen: storage in the form of a compressed gas storage as a cryogenic liquid and storage as a solid. These technologies are now competing to meet the requirements of vehicle manufacturers; each has its own unique challenges that must be understood to direct future research and development efforts. This paper reviews technological developments for Hydrogen Storage Vessel (HSV) designs including their technical performance manufacturing costs safety and environmental impact. More specifically an up-to-date review of fiber-reinforced polymer composite HSVs was explored including the end-of-life recycling options. A review of current numerical models for HSVs was conducted including the use of artificial intelligence techniques to assess the performance of composite HSVs leading to more sophisticated designs for achieving a more sustainable future.
A Comparative Study for H2 –CH4 Mixture Wettability in Sandstone Porous Rocks Relevant to Underground Hydrogen Storage
Mar 2022
Publication
Characterizing the wettability of hydrogen (H2 )–methane (CH4 ) mixtures in subsurface reservoirs is the first step towards understanding containment and transport properties for underground hydrogen storage (UHS). In this study we investigate the static contact angles of H2 –CH4 mixtures in contact with brine and Bentheimer sandstone rock using a captive-bubble cell device at different pressures temperatures and brine salinity values. It is found that under the studied conditions H2 and CH4 show comparable wettability behaviour with contact angles ranging between [25◦–45◦ ]; and consequently their mixtures behave similar to the pure gas systems independent of composition pressure temperature and salinity. For the system at rest the acting buoyancy and surface forces allow for theoretical sensitivity analysis for the captive-bubble cell approach to characterize the wettability. Moreover it is theoretically validated that under similar Bond numbers and similar bubble sizes the contact angles of H2 and CH4 bubbles and their mixtures are indeed comparable. Consequently in large-scale subsurface storage systems where buoyancy and capillary are the main acting forces H2 CH4 and their mixtures will have similar wettability characteristics.
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