Lawrence Livermore researchers develop new hydrogen tank
When it comes to using hydrogen as a fuel, one of the big issues is on-board storage. Most companies working on hydrogen application for cars are using compressed hydrogen gas because they don't have to deal with the issue of keeping the gas at cold temperatures to prevent boil-off. Liquid hydrogen has three time the density of compressed gas, but it must be kept below -252C. Until now, the insulated liquid hydrogen tanks have not been designed to contain the pressure of compressed gas and have had to vent off the gas as the hydrogen warms. A team at Lawrence Livermore lab has now developed a carbon-fiber wrapped and better-insulated tank that can take either gaseous or liquefied hydrogen. The new tank design has passed safety tests including impact and flame tests. When installed in a Toyota Prius modified to run on hydrogen, compressed gas gives it a range of 80 miles. If it's filled with liquid hydrogen the range goes to 200 miles. The thermal performance has improved from venting fuel vapor after 3-4 days to going at least 6 days and perhaps as much as 15 days. Unfortunately, even 15 days really isn't particularly good. While the extra density of liquid hydrogen is desirable, it simply doesn't seem like a very viable option.
[Source: Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, via EcoGeek]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
stevefazek 8:54PM (6/09/2008)
since pure hydrogen is very hard to store in liquid form what if we some how bonded it to another atom like carbon?
yes thats a joke
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Luke 9:17PM (6/09/2008)
Hydrogen fuel will never take off unless the naked people get behind it (an allusion to yesterday's article about naked bikers).
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Joseph 11:59PM (6/09/2008)
This is a good step forward, but it's still behind the curve.
Maybe most hydrogen stations will carry compressed hydrogen gas and
then some on the highway will carry liquid hydrogen gas. The
lower-range compressed hydrogen gas can be used for everyday
commuting, and the liquid hydrogen can be used for long trips.
Still, 15 days to boil away liquid hydrogen tank? So in a week, half
your fuel is already gone?
By the time hydrogen is viable for mass-market, EVs will have already
taken the lead.
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Paolo 12:33AM (6/10/2008)
But where will I put my golf clubs?
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John Baldwin 5:23AM (6/10/2008)
Is hydrogen a global warming gas? I know that methane is 21 times worse that CO2 (and so running vehicles on biomethane that was being vented has a global cooling impact), does anyone know about H2?
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Snowdog 7:12AM (6/10/2008)
Liquefying Hydrogen takes yet more energy than just compressing it to 10 000 psi, pushing the Well to wheel efficiency from the twenties into the teens.
And that is without accounting for losses due to boil off.
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Peekoyle 9:05AM (6/10/2008)
I hate advocating Hydrogen but logically Hydrogen makes sense in larger vehicles such as Large Aircraft, Buses, Trucks and Ocean Vessels.
It makes no sense for small vehicles.
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ECD4ME 11:01AM (6/11/2008)
readers should e aware that a lot of research has gone into stroing hydrogen as a solid. it is bonded to metal hydride powders and stored in a canister. three times the quantity can be stored in the metal hydride as can be stored in an empty cylinder of the same size. pressure is low of course and not an issue. Heat is absorbed and released as hydrogen is stored or withdrawn. the canisters are reusable and its not that far from being competitive with gas or liquid storage. I wouldnt write off hydrogen so quickly.
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pkuhl 9:55AM (6/10/2008)
Because of thermodynamics, hydrogen cannot compete with electric cars. The only upside to hydrogen cars is that they will eventually figure out they can replace the fuel cell with a battery and get HUGE efficiency gains... huge.
http://www.efcf.com/reports/E17.pdf
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Bill 10:06AM (6/10/2008)
Sorry, but that ain't out of the lab yet.
For the next several years, the only practical way to store it is either compressed (to 10,000 psi for any decent range) or liquified (but then you lose fuel to boil-off) - and you use a lot of energy compressing or liquifying.
>it is bonded to metal hydride powders and stored in a canister
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Tim 10:15AM (6/10/2008)
Don't tell me. Let me guess...
Lawrence Livermore lab is using tax payer funds.
Ohhhh, life on the gravy train!
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Tim 11:01AM (6/12/2008)
This article has incorrect information.
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