Hydrogen Dominates CEC/ICMC’23 as Engineers Advocate Small-Scale Liquefaction, Storage
Read Time: 5 minutes
This is a repost of a Cold Facts article from the Cryogenic Society of America, Inc.
Interest in hydrogen is skyrocketing, but this new “hype cycle” is dramatically different. As the energy world turns its attention to viable hydrogen solutions, it’s increasingly clear that small-scale hydrogen infrastructure is a critical component to accelerate adoption. Why does small-scale matter? The current focus in hydrogen infrastructure revolves around large centralized hubs, but there’s an urgent need for smaller, modular solutions that are more flexible and quicker to deploy, meeting the surging market demand. This is especially vital for research, development and testing of new hydrogen products, where small quantities of hydrogen must be readily available for experimentation in various settings. Large-scale systems fall short in fulfilling this demand, underscoring the necessity of smaller systems to propel the hydrogen economy forward.
Furthermore, commercial markets will require hydrogen at the point of end use, particularly in areas where geographical constraints limit the feasibility of large-scale systems. Distributed liquid hydrogen infra- structure will play a pivotal role in catering to the needs of long-haul trucks, aviation, ships, trains and more. Industrial-scale liquefaction and storage systems offer space efficiency and the necessary flexibility to support the expansion of commercial hydrogen applications. The heightened demand for liquid hydrogen infrastructure has also given rise to innovative cryogenic solutions aimed at mitigating hydrogen loss during transfer and storage. Cutting-edge technology, combining advanced insulation systems with active refrigeration, has nearly eradicated these losses, rendering hydrogen more economically viable at the pump.
The recently concluded Cryogenic Engineering Conference and International Cryogenic Materials Conference (CEC/ ICMC’23) in Honolulu, Hawaii, served as a testament to the escalating interest in hydrogen and the growing need for small-scale and distributed solutions. The GenH2 team, composed of leading experts in hydrogen infrastructure and cryogenics research, including Executive Vice President and Chief Architect James Fesmire, Chief Technology Officer Dr. Jong Baik, Product Development Engineer Marco Guerrero, and Lead Mechanical/Fluid Systems Engineer Peter Higgins, actively participated in the event. The presentations delivered by Fesmire, Guerrero, and Higgins emphasized the significance of small-scale equipment, garnering significant attention from an audience more accustomed to large-scale hydrogen solutions. Their presentations elucidated how GenH2 has developed small-scale liquefaction capabilities to support the testing of new hydrogen technologies for storage and transfer. These small-scale solutions will play a pivotal role in expediting the expansion of hydrogen infrastructure.
Small-Scale Liquefaction and Storage
Guerrero’s presentation, titled “Mobile Hydrogen Liquefaction and Storage System,” provided a comprehensive overview of the current status of this technology, discussing system design, fabrication, operational methodology, and test performance results. A mobile hydrogen liquefaction and storage unit has been meticulously crafted to demonstrate the entire liquid hydrogen (LH2) value chain, encompassing hydrogen production, liquefaction, storage, transfer, and recovery. The LS20 mobile system, a unique LH2 technology demonstrator, serves as a primary component of a multipurpose LH2 test platform, designed to test liquefaction, controlled storage, and zero-loss transfer methodologies.
The LS20 system, meticulously designed, fabricated, and tested at GenH2, incorporates several primary subsystems, including an electrolyzer, gas precooler, Ortho-Para hydrogen converter, cryocoolerbased hydrogen liquefier, portable LH2 storage tank, ultralight LH2 fuel tank for aviation applications, safety devices, sensors, an automated venting system, and associated instrumentation and control systems. The system successfully demonstrated continuous hydrogen liquefaction in accordance with design specifications, facilitated by an automated control system that maintains the liquid at the desired level, minimizing boiloff loss.
Additionally, the system showcased the functions of zero-loss transfer, boiloff gas recovery, and re-liquefaction. These results provide proof-of-concept data critical for future LH2 infrastructure design and the essential LH2 refilling and servicing methodology for various hydrogen mobility applications.
Distributed Hydrogen Liquefaction
Higginsʼ presentation, “Small-scale Industrial Hydrogen Liquefaction,” divulged details about a small-scale industrial 1,000 kg/day hydrogen liquefaction plant (HLP), known as LS1000, currently in detailed design and scheduled for operation in 2024. This plant is set to achieve localized, efficient on-demand hydrogen production in remote or strategically advantageous locations for transportation, minimizing or eliminating the complications, costs, and evaporative losses associated with LH2 transportation logistics.
The LS1000’s chief advantages include safety, reliability, modularity, cost-effectiveness, freedom in site selection, and the ability to harness renewable energy sources. At its core, the LS1000 employs a closed-loop helium Brayton cycle to achieve temperatures well below the liquefaction threshold, followed by storage and maintenance of LH2 with zero losses or densification via a helium side stream from the refrigeration cycle. The system’s use of low pressure helium enhances safety compared to other hydrogen liquefaction cycles. The compact liquefier design with minimal major components inside the vacuum vessel simplifies the system, increasing reliability, enabling a high degree of automation, and simplifying maintenance to reduce downtime. The LS1000 is also scalable to accommodate varying production capacities per unit or to cool mega-scale LH2 storage tanks, without the need for LN2 pre-cooling, making it suitable for remote areas with available electricity or where local electricity production capacity exists, such as in natural gas fields.
LH2-Controlled Storage/Transfer
Fesmire’s presentation, “Simulation Test Platform for LH2 Controlled Storage/ Transfer,” underscored the growing necessity for clean energy propulsion machines, such as trucks, tractors, ships, and aircraft, to transition to onboard liquid hydrogen (LH2). However, the established methods of storage and transfer pose challenges due to losses, especially for sporadic or on/off duty-cycle applications.
Integral servicing system methodology is imperative for safety and cost-effectiveness, driven by time savings, product preservation, and minimized venting exposures. Modern controlled storage technology facilitates quick and effective vehicle servicing at the point of use. Simulations of controlled storage/transfer (CS/T) methodologies were conducted using a multipurpose LH2 simulation test platform featuring two primary systems: the Cryostat CS900 tank and transfer system and the LS20 liquefaction/refrigeration and storage system.
Testing covered both steady-state and transient operation modes, demonstrating zero boiloff (ZBO) and zero-loss transfer (ZLT) modes. These tests served diverse technical purposes, including product development for tanks, refrigeration, transfer systems (lines, dispensers, pumps, valves), experimental validation of analytical models and thermofluidic properties, thermal insulation performance testing under relevant conditions, thermophysical characterization of materials and structures, instrumentation and sensor development, and tank boiloff and heat flux engineering design data. The comprehensive paper provided detailed descriptions and preliminary test results, along with thermal performance analyses derived from real-world testing and experimentation.
Small-scale hydrogen liquefaction and storage solutions stand as the linchpin for propelling the widespread adoption of hydrogen and propelling the ongoing “hype cycle” to new heights. The recent CEC/ ICMC’23 event served as a vivid testament to the escalating enthusiasm surrounding hydrogen and underscored the urgent demand for small-scale, distributed solutions. These innovations hold the key to shaping a sustainable future powered by hydrogen.
