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StorHy Subproject Team Shows New Liquid Hydrogen Tank
4 June 2008
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| Liquid Hydrogen (LH2) lightweight formtank with integrated auxiliary systems. Click to enlarge. |
BMW Group Forschung und Technik, the company’s research and technology arm, and other partners in the EU’s StorHy project, including some from the European aerospace industry, have developed a novel type of tank made of composite material for storing liquid hydrogen.
The weight of the entire new tank system can be reduced to a third compared with conventional cylindrical steel tanks. Its adaptable form lends it a high degree of flexibility, allowing for significant energy savings. The subsidiary systems, moreover, are integrated inside the tank’s casing, which means the tank takes up less room in the car and maintenance is also made much easier.
The inner tank is designed on a modular basis, simplifying the production process in comparison with existing hydrogen tanks.
The demonstration model of the new free-form tank being presented marks an important step forward into the hydrogen future. Filled with ten kilograms of hydrogen, it could allow a range well in excess of 500 kilometers [311 miles] in a future vehicle.
—Prof. Dr.-Ing. Raymond Freymann, Director of BMW Group Forschung und Technik
BMW Group Forschung und Technik presented the prototype of this liquid hydrogen storage tank at the final event of the StorHy EU project in Poissy near Paris on 3 and 4 June 2008. In the past four and a half years BMW Group Forschung und Technik, along with 34 partners from the European aerospace industry, the automotive and supply industry, and leading universities and research institutes, has been investigating ways of advancing current hydrogen storage technologies (high-pressure, liquid and solid storage). The cost of the project was €18.7 million (US$29 million), with EU funding to the sum of €10.7 million (US$17 million).
BMW Forschung und Technik GmbH is a 100% subsidiary of BMW AG and has been responsible for research within the BMW Group since 2003. Its subject areas cover VehicleTechnology, CleanEnergy (hydrogen technology), EfficientDynamics (intelligent energy management/alternative drive systems), ConnectedDrive (driver assistance/active safety) and ITDrive (IT and communications technology).
StorHy (Hydrogen Storage Systems for Automotive Application) was an integrated project within the EU 6th Framework Programme coordinated by Magna Steyr Fahrzeugtechnik AG & Co KG. The StorHy consortium included:
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Resources
The Cryogenic Liquid Hydrogen Tank (StorHy SP Cryo)
June 4, 2008 in Hydrogen Storage | Permalink | Comments (17) | TrackBack (0)
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Comments
Three problems for automotive applications.
1) If you leave your car unused for a week or two the hydrogen would have evaporated.
2) Liquid hydrogen can only be made available at central gas stations. Home refueling is out of the question.
3) It will be prohibitively expensive to set up liquid hydrogen stations and the vehicle tank is also too expensive.
The thing may work out for small hydrogen powered air planes though.
Posted by: Henrik | Jun 4, 2008 5:56:39 AM
What sort of small plane? A private Cessna is likely to sit for a week at a time between usages and so waste fuel. A commercial jet is never on the ground very long, and while it is the demands of auxiliary systems could use the boil off.
Posted by: DavidJ | Jun 4, 2008 9:11:59 AM
What a freaking boondoggle. When green liquid fuels are available (e.g. biodiesel, which can potentially be carbon neutral), why focus on something so exotic and impractical? What a waste of expensive research!
Posted by: | Jun 4, 2008 9:22:13 AM
Henrik
Do you know why ethanol is not being considered as a source for the fuel cell ev? I have read articles in the past that say you can convert ethanol to hydrogen on demand. If you search on "ethanol to hydrogen"
Here is a snipit:
"MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (AP) -- Researchers say they have produced hydrogen from ethanol in a prototype reactor small enough and efficient enough to heat small homes and power cars."
This was taken from an article in CNN.
Posted by: | Jun 4, 2008 9:33:52 AM
Sorry, I forgot to sign this.Henrik
Do you know why ethanol is not being considered as a source for the fuel cell ev? I have read articles in the past that say you can convert ethanol to hydrogen on demand. If you search on "ethanol to hydrogen"
Here is a snipit:
"MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (AP) -- Researchers say they have produced hydrogen from ethanol in a prototype reactor small enough and efficient enough to heat small homes and power cars."
This was taken from an article in CNN.
Posted by: Jerry | Jun 4, 2008 9:35:06 AM
The problem with hydrogen, even liquid hydrogen, as aircraft fuel is this: If (and this is a very important if) you could carry as many pounds of hydrogen on board a typical jetliner as you would carry if it were Jet-A (commercial jet fuel), you could fly further.
Unfortunately, hydrogen (including liquid) takes up so much room that even if you could substitute it for Jet-A you wouldn't be able to fly as far - let alone further - with hydrogen as you can with today's jet fuel.
The rocket industry has long been aware of this, and at one time particles of solid hydrogen suspended in liquid H2 (i.e., hydrogen slush) was proposed as a rocket fuel. Perhaps we should revive that idea. If an industry consortium were to study solid-liquid hydrogen, that would be the kind of slush fund we wouldn't mind hearing about.
Posted by: Alex Kovnat | Jun 4, 2008 9:54:32 AM
Jerry ethanol is being considered for fuel cell use in cars both by use of an ethanol to hydrogen reformer as you mention but also by use of direct ethanol fuel cells (DEFC) that can use ethanol directly without a reformer. I am not an expert on the issue though.
For a website of a successful student application of direct ethanol fuel cells see http://www.schluckspecht.net/Eng/HomePage
Their vehicle did 3198 km by using the equivalent energy of just one liter petrol!
A problem with DEFC is that they are expensive and not jet power dense enough for real world vehicles. An ICE running on ethanol is much cheaper and also more power dense but not as efficient.
Posted by: Henrik | Jun 4, 2008 10:31:07 AM
What a freaking boondoggle
The chaotic turbulence in vehicle product development that will have been precipitated by peak oil will spawn a menagerie of both effective and unproductive efforts to meet the challenge. It is too early to judge this effort, but I am predisposed to agree.
Posted by: Axil | Jun 4, 2008 11:25:25 AM
These lightweight tanks could be used for compressed natural gas. No need to get to liquification pressure just keep the weight saving.
Posted by: Aussie | Jun 4, 2008 2:36:14 PM
1) Someone said:
"What a waste of expensive research!"
I knew that many people said the same about relativity...
The research is never a Waste!
2) Demand for fuel in rich countries is now competing against demand for food in poor countries. Cars, not people, used most of the increase in world grain consumption in 2006. The grain required to fill a 25-gallon SUV gas tank with ethanol will feed one person for a year.
Several factors combine to make recent grain and oilseed price increases impact poor countries: I think fuel-food competition is a vry very bad thing.
Posted by: Paul | Jun 4, 2008 3:10:17 PM
@paul
Every direction in the development of fuel utilization technology has unintended consequences, both benign and harmful. It will take a wise corporate leader to make the least harmful decision. That’s why profit margin will be the ultimate factor. That’s easy.
Posted by: Berserker | Jun 4, 2008 4:03:05 PM
Two words NUCLEAR HYDROGEN....NOW! nuclear power is the only base line power source that can produce h2 be it in gas or liquid form at anything close to an economically viable price. solar hydrogen would be on the order of $10 a GGE (gallon of gas equivalent) nukes can do it for less than $4 all day every day. which last time i checked is pretty much market value for fuel now a days. so again NUCLEAR HYDROGEN NOW
Posted by: JD | Jun 4, 2008 5:07:58 PM
Paul wrote: 1) Someone said:
"What a waste of expensive research!"
I knew that many people said the same about relativity...
The research is never a Waste!
No one ever said that about "relativity". I hate to break it to you, but some research is more productive than other research. When an area of research is extremely unproductive, it is legitimate to call it a "waste". If you peruse the archives of GCC, you can find all the arguments for why H2 is a lousy way to power cars. BMW's efforts with H2 are pure marketing. In that regard, it's not a waste, as their demographic can be easily bamboozled by greenwashing.
Posted by: George | Jun 4, 2008 10:21:15 PM
Dear George:
Do you know Arthur Eddington ?
Have you ever heard something about the myth of general relativity in the late 1910? The opposition to relativity was so strong that Eistein took the nobel for the photoelectric effect and not for general relattivity !!!!
Eistein has bee accused of Einstein of "scientific dadaism" !!!
How far , dear George we are from your "waste" concept?
George , friendly the real waste is that every day we waste fuel
Hydrogen and fuel cells could be a interesting solution taht must be investigated.
In GCC you can find everything clever peolple as you and strange as me ....
Bye Paul
Posted by: | Jun 5, 2008 2:25:17 AM
Fuel cells are a known technology. Even if all practicality issues are resolved, you are still left with a not quite efficient engine, of a high maintenance cost item.
Hydrogen's only name of fame is carbon neutrality, but once the energy source is examined, neutrality is probably lost.
Posted by: Lulu | Jun 5, 2008 5:50:07 PM
Howdy all.
I have an idea about liquid H2 boil off.
- a compressed tank for H2, which suppose to store H2 for longer period, good enough for you to look for a pump.
- a super insulated liquid H2 tank.
- liquid H2 station offer a buy back mechanism that can recover H2 from storage, for anyone who gonna leave their H2 cars at home for extended time, perhaps apply some operation charges, but we can prevent H2 wastage by boil off, and you got some refund.
"What a freaking boondoggle. When green liquid fuels are available (e.g. biodiesel, which can potentially be carbon neutral), why focus on something so exotic and impractical? What a waste of expensive research!"
- how could you be so sure that biodiesel is the answer? Is it a good idea to make your vege oil 10 times more expensive?
Posted by: rexis | Jun 5, 2008 6:02:25 PM
The Hydrogen highway is mostly highway robbery. As soon as the Chinese let loose with BEV's running on advanced batteries, the entire scam will soon be forgotten.
One good place does exist for hydrogen, and this is in stationary power plants that transfer power from night overproduction to daytime peaking power. For this purpose, storage tanks will be stationary, large, heavy and at low pressure.
As for original energy production? Look at wind, and how fast it is growing. We see exponential power generation figures, doubling production capacity each year.
Within 10 years all other power plants could be converted to emergency and peaking, and energy shifting, with hydrogen as the energy storage medium.
Posted by: John Taylor | Jun 8, 2008 3:15:33 PM
