MIT Research Could Lead to Improved Hydrogen Storage

September 24th, 2011 by Nicholas Brown

Sow-Hsin Chen, left, and Yun Liu SM ’03, PhD ’05, right.

Hydrogen has, for a long time, been considered by many a potential alternative to fossil fuels such as gasoline for cars, but it has to be stored as a liquid under extremely high pressures ranging from 5,000 to 10,000 psi (pounds per square inch), and in a very expensive container which has to be insulated to keep as much outside heat as possible away from the hydrogen it contains.

The alternative to high-pressure storage is the hydrogen has to be cooled to and permanently kept at -423° Fahrenheit by a very energy-intensive refrigerator. This also requires very heavy insulation.

The more heat the hydrogen is exposed to, the more it expands, and as hydrogen and gases, in general, expand, their pressure increases too, and this increases the likelihood of the storage tank exploding or leaking.

The higher the pressure, the stronger the tank has to be to withstand that pressure. Hydrogen atoms are so small that they escape from many types of containers very easily by slipping out through tiny holes in them, and a consequence of that is even tiny inconspicuous leaks are a major problem.

In general, when storing any liquid or gas under pressure, leaks are much harder to contain because the high pressure inside the storage container forces particles through small holes that something under low pressure would not leak through.

MIT researchers say that they may have found a way to store it using charcoal (activated carbon) with an incorporated platinum catalyst (which suggests that there could be a potential sustainability and cost problem, although this is still a step closer to something potentially better that does not need platinum).

Hydrogen atoms will actually bond to the sponge-like charcoal material, making it possible to store it at ambient pressure and room temperature in tanks. Normally, the problem with this concept is bonding the hydrogen atoms to the charcoal tightly enough that they don’t leak away, but at the same time, not too tightly because they will need to be released for use later.

This is an unusual technological advancement and a sign of out-of-the-box thinking. I will keep an eye out for future advancements of this idea.

Photo Credit: MIT News Office

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Tags: hydrogen economy, liquified hydrogen storage, low pressure hydrogen tank

About the Author

Nicholas Brown writes on CleanTechnica, Gas2, Kleef&Co, and Green Building Elements. He has a keen interest in physics-intensive topics such as electricity generation, refrigeration and air conditioning technology, energy storage, and geography. His website is: Kompulsa.com.

Adam

i saw the headline and thought, “Cool, hydrogen might actually get a cost-effective storage technology to come close to the performance of batteries.”

But platinum?? Really??? Come on people, this “breakthrough” is ridiculous.

Battery technology marches forward, the Tesla will have up to 300 mile range, costs are dropping rapidly, lithium battery production is booming, and performance is soaring with breakthroughs like low-cost nanotube lithium anodes (Derek Fray and Electrovaya), self-assembling nanotech cathodes (Yet-Ming Chiang and his new post-A123 startup) and even lithium-free magnesium batteries (Gerbrandt Ceder and Pellion).

Hydrogen still needs platinum in the fuel cell, multiple breakthroughs in storage, and trillions of dollars in distribution infrastructure to be practical.

So no big news here, hydrogen is still the transportation technology of the far-distant future and always will be.
http://www.facebook.com/ward.tipton Mark Tipton

I find it highly ironic that AGW alarmists often tout Hydrogen power as an alternative to “fight” global warming when the Hydrogen “exhaust” (Water vapor) is substantially more effective at generating global warming than the CO2 particles are. Still, while I may not agree with their position, I do believe in Hydrogen power and this along with the metal “sponges” both look to be very promising avenues to explore.
- Anonymous
  
  I find it amazing that someone who can form a proper sentence would not be able to understand the fairly simple physics which explain why our planet has been warming and how we are going to bake our butts if we don’t quit burning fossil fuels.
  
  And I don’t understand why otherwise literate people would not take a bit of time to educate themselves.
  
  That said, the amount of moisture in our atmosphere is controlled mainly by atmospheric temperature. Warmer air holds more moisture than does cooler air.
  
  Were we to figure out how to power our transportation with hydrogen for an affordable price the water vapor emitted would not be taken up by the atmosphere. If hydrogen consumption could drive atmospheric moisture higher then we should avoid considering it as part of our next energy source.
  
  The extra moisture that’s creating our recent massive snow storms and 100, 500 and 1000+ year floods are coming from simple evaporation and our warmer atmosphere is holding approximately 4% more moisture than was up over our heads a few years back. When conditions are right that extra moisture is causing enormous precipitation.
  
  Just think how bad it’s going to be after we spend another five years of heating up the air.