Liquefying hydrogen significantly increases its storage density. Hydrogen in liquid form is particularly well suited for long distance transport and compact storage as a fuel for energy intensive applications, such as maritime transport.
Liquid hydrogen is also well suited for transport to filling stations serving the transport sector, as well as for industrial deliveries. Transporting liquid hydrogen to the filling station provides full flexibility. At the vehicle, the hydrogen can be stored in compressed form, as a liquid for larger vehicles, or potentially in the future in a partially cooled and compressed state. Transporting hydrogen in liquid form also reduces the volume that needs to be transported, resulting in fewer tanker trucks on the roads and avoiding costly and energy intensive compression at filling stations.
Hydrogen liquefaction is energy intensive with today’s standard technology. Developing more efficient liquefaction processes is therefore essential if hydrogen is to be used as an energy carrier. Through the EU project IDEALHY, SINTEF Energy Research contributed to the development of liquefaction concepts with around 50% lower energy consumption than conventional plants. The project focused primarily on producing liquid hydrogen for industrial applications. Key industry partners included Shell Hydrogen, Linde Kryotechnik, WEKA, TU Dresden and Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Since then, this expertise and technology have been further developed through projects such as Hyper and, more recently, FME HYDROGENi.
SINTEF Energy Research also has extensive activities related to liquid hydrogen storage tanks and bunkering. The LH2Pioneer project is one example.
We work in the following areas
- Concept and system development
- Liquefaction processes and concepts for LH2 transport
- Component development and testing
- Heat exchangers
- Assessment of hydrogen production concepts combined with CCS
- Integration of hydrogen production from fossil and renewable sources
- Assessment of hydrogen value chains using liquid hydrogen
Method
Our work is largely based on in depth thermodynamic knowledge and an understanding of components and processes in cryogenic applications. This is combined with tools for modelling, simulation and thermodynamic loss analysis, as well as experimental verification where relevant, to assess future concepts in terms of energy and cost efficiency.
Typical assignments include
- Multi client projects funded by industry, the Research Council of Norway and the EU
- Direct industry projects involving development, testing and consultancy
- Projects ranging from basic competence building to applied research
- Assessment of different concepts and value chains based on detailed evaluations of various technological elements, such as liquefaction processes
Relevant projects
- idealhy - Integrated Design for Efficient Advanced Liquefaction of Hydrogen
- Liquid wind and gas to Japan?
- Hyper-SINTEF
- hydrogeni.no - Norwegian R&I centre for hydrogen and ammonia
- LH2 Pioneer - SINTEF