Switzerland
A New Technology for Hydrogen Safety: Glass Structures as a Storage System
Sep 2011
Publication
The storage of hydrogen poses inherent weight volume and safety obstacles. An innovative technology which allows for the storage of hydrogen in thin sealed glass capillaries ensures the safe infusion storage and controlled release of hydrogen gas under pressures up to 100 MPa. Glass is a non-flammable material which also guarantees high burst pressures. The pressure resistance of single and multiple capillaries has been determined fo Read More
Magnetic Field Enhancement of Electrochemical Hydrogen Evolution Reaction Probed by Magneto-optics
Nov 2020
Publication
External magnetic fields affect various electrochemical processes and can be used to enhance the efficiency of the electrochemical water splitting reaction. However the driving forces behind this effect are poorly understood due to the analytical challenges of the available interface-sensitive techniques. Here we present a set-up based on magneto- and electro-optical probing which allows to juxtapose the magnetic properties of the electrode with the electr Read More
Hydrogen Embrittlement Evaluation of Micro Alloyed Steels by Means of J-Integral Curve
Jun 2019
Publication
The aim of this work is the evaluation of the hydrogen effect on the J-integral parameter. It is well-known that the micro alloyed steels are affected by Hydrogen Embrittlement phenomena only when they are subjected at the same time to plastic deformation and hydrogen evolution at their surface. Previous works have pointed out the absence of Hydrogen Embrittlement effects on pipeline steels cathodically protected under static load conditions. On t Read More
Power-to-fuels Via Solid-oxide Electrolyzer: Operating Window and Techno-economics
May 2019
Publication
Power-to-fuel systems via solid-oxide electrolysis are promising for storing excess renewable electricity by efficient electrolysis of steam (or co-electrolysis of steam and CO2) into hydrogen (or syngas) which can be further converted into synthetic fuels with plant-wise thermal integration. Electrolysis stack performance and durability determine the system design performance and long-term operating strategy; thus solid-oxide electrolyzer based powe Read More
A Cost Estimation for CO2 Reduction and Reuse by Methanation from Cement Industry Sources in Switzerland
Feb 2018
Publication
The Swiss government has signed the Paris Climate Agreement and various measures need to be implemented in order to reach the target of a 50% reduction in CO2 emissions in Switzerland by 2030 compared with the value for 1990. Considering the fact that the production of cement in Switzerland accounts around 2.5 million ton for CO2 emissions of which corresponds to roughly 7% of the country's total CO2 emissions the following article ex Read More
Hydrogen Production from Natural Gas and Biomethane with Carbon Capture and Storage – A Techno-environmental Analysis
Mar 2020
Publication
This study presents an integrated techno-environmental assessment of hydrogen production from natural gas and biomethane combined with CO2 capture and storage (CCS). We have included steam methane reforming (SMR) and autothermal reforming (ATR) for syngas production. CO2 is captured from the syngas with a novel vacuum pressure swing adsorption (VPSA) process that combines hydrogen purification and CO2 separation in one cycle. As c Read More
Materials for Hydrogen Storage
Aug 2003
Publication
Hydrogen storage is a materials science challenge because for all six storage methods currently being investigated materials with either a strong interaction with hydrogen or without any reaction are needed. Besides conventional storage methods i.e. high pressure gas cylinders and liquid hydrogen the physisorption of hydrogen on materials with a high specific surface area hydrogen intercalation in metals and complex hydrides and storage of hy Read More
Environmental Degradation Effect of High-Temperature Water and Hydrogen on the Fracture Behavior of Low-Alloy Reactor Pressure Vessel Steels
Dec 2019
Publication
Structural integrity of reactor pressure vessel (RPV) in light water reactors (LWR) is of highest importance regarding operation safety and lifetime. The fracture behaviour of low-alloy RPV steels with different dynamic strain aging (DSA) & environmental assisted cracking (EAC) susceptibilities in simulated LWR environments was evaluated by elastic plastic fracture mechanics tests (EPFM) and by metallo- and fractographic post-test analysis. Exposure to h Read More
Balancing Wind-power Fluctuation Via Onsite Storage Under Uncertainty Power-to-hydrogen-to-power Versus Lithium Battery
Oct 2019
Publication
Imbalance costs caused by forecasting errors are considerable for grid-connected wind farms. In order to reduce such costs two onsite storage technologies i.e. power-to-hydrogen-to-power and lithium battery are investigated considering 14 uncertain technological and economic parameters. Probability density distributions of wind forecasting errors and power level are first considered to quantify the imbalance and excess wind power. Then robust optimal Read More
Optimal Hydrogen Production in a Wind-dominated Zero-emission Energy System
May 2021
Publication
The role of hydrogen in future energy systems is widely acknowledged: from fuel for difficult-to-decarbonize applications to feedstock for chemicals synthesis to energy storage for high penetration of undispatchable renewable electricity. While several literature studies investigate such energy systems the details of how electrolysers and renewable technologies optimally behave and interact remain an open question. With this work we study the interplay betw Read More
Electrochemical Conversion Technologies for Optimal Design of Decentralized Multi-energy Systems: Modeling Framework and Technology Assessment
Apr 2018
Publication
The design and operation of integrated multi-energy systems require models that adequately describe the behavior of conversion and storage technologies. Typically linear conversion performance or fixed data from technology manufacturers are employed especially for new or advanced technologies. This contribution provides a new modeling framework for electrochemical devices that bridges first-principles models to their simplified implementatio Read More
Enabling Low-carbon Hydrogen Supply Chains Through Use of Biomass and Carbon Capture and Storage: A Swiss Case Study
Jul 2020
Publication
This study investigates the optimal design of low-carbon hydrogen supply chains on a national scale. We consider hydrogen production based on several feedstocks and energy sources namely water with electricity natural gas and biomass. When using natural gas we couple hydrogen production with carbon capture and storage. The design of the hydrogen biomass and carbon dioxide (CO2 ) infrastructure is performed by solving an optimization proble Read More
Electrolyzer Modeling and Real-time Control for Optimized Production of Hydrogen Gas
Oct 2020
Publication
We present a method that operates an electrolyzer to meet the demand of a hydrogen refueling station in a cost-effective manner by solving a model-based optimal control problem. To formulate the underlying problem we first conduct an experimental characterization of a Siemens SILYZER 100 polymer electrolyte membrane electrolyzer with 100 kW of rated power. We run experiments to determine the electrolyzer’s conversion efficiency and the Read More
Risk-adjusted Preferences of Utility Companies and Institutional Investors for Battery Storage and Green Hydrogen Investment
Feb 2022
Publication
Achieving climate-neutrality requires considerable investment in energy storage systems (ESS) to integrate variable renewable energy sources into the grid. However investments into ESS are often unprofitable in particular for grid-scale battery storage and green hydrogen technologies prompting many actors to call for policy intervention. This study investigates investor-specific risk-return preferences for ESS investment and derives policy recommendation Read More
Spin Pinning Effect to Reconstructed Oxyhydroxide Layer on Ferromagnetic Oxides for Enhanced Water Oxidation
Jun 2021
Publication
Producing hydrogen by water electrolysis suffers from the kinetic barriers in the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) that limits the overall efficiency. With spin-dependent kinetics in OER to manipulate the spin ordering of ferromagnetic OER catalysts (e.g. by magnetization) can reduce the kinetic barrier. However most active OER catalysts are not ferromagnetic which makes the spin manipulation challenging. In this work we report a strategy with spin pinnin Read More
Mobility from Renewable Electricity: Infrastructure Comparison for Battery and Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles
May 2018
Publication
This work presents a detailed breakdown of the energy conversion chains from intermittent electricity to a vehicle considering battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). The traditional well-to-wheel analysis is adapted to a grid to mobility approach by introducing the intermediate steps of useful electricity energy carrier and on-board storage. Specific attention is given to an effective coupling with renewable electricity sources and as Read More
Life Cycle Assessment Integration into Energy System Models: An Application for Power-to-Methane in the EU
Nov 2019
Publication
As the EU energy system transitions to low carbon the technology choices should consider a broader set of criteria. The use of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) prevents burden shift across life cycle stages or impact categories while the use of Energy System Models (ESM) allows evaluating alternative policies capacity evolution and covering all the sectors. This study does an ex-post LCA analysis of results from JRC-EU-TIMES and estimates the environme Read More
Life Cycle Environmental and Cost Comparison of Current and Future Passenger Cars under Different Energy Scenarios
Apr 2020
Publication
In this analysis life cycle environmental burdens and total costs of ownership (TCO) of current (2017) and future (2040) passenger cars with different powertrain configurations are compared. For all vehicle configurations probability distributions are defined for all performance parameters. Using these a Monte Carlo based global sensitivity analysis is performed to determine the input parameters that contribute most to overall variability of results. Read More
Feasibility of Renewable Hydrogen Based Energy Supply for a District
Sep 2017
Publication
Renewable generation technologies (e.g. photovoltaic panels (PV)) are often installed in buildings and districts with an aim to decrease their carbon emissions and consumption of non-renewable energy. However due to a mismatch between supply and demand at an hourly but also on a seasonal timescale; a large amount of electricity is exported to the grid rather than used to offset local demand. A solution to this is local storage of electricity for subsequent Read More
Design and Cost Considerations for Practical Solar-hydrogen Generators
Oct 2014
Publication
Solar-hydrogen generation represents a promising alternative to fossil fuels for the large-scale implementation of a clean-fuel transportation infrastructure. A significant amount of research resources has been allocated to the development of photoelectrochemical components (i.e. photovoltaic and water splitting catalysts) that are able to spontaneously split water in the presence of solar irradiation which has led to major advances in the solar-fuels field. At Read More
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