Publications

Hydrogen gas storage place has been increasing daily because of its consumption. Hydrogen gas is a dream fuel of the future with many social economic and environmental benefits to its credit. However many hydrogen storage tanks exploded accidentally and significantly lost the economy infrastructure and living beings. In this study a protection wall under a worst-case scenario explosion of a hydrogen gas tank was analyzed with commercial software LS-DYNA. TNT equivalent method was used to calculate the weight of TNT for Hydrogen. Reinforced concrete and composite protection wall under TNT explosion was analyzed with a different distance of TNT. The initial dimension of the reinforced concrete protection wall was taken from the Korea gas safety code book (KGS FP217) and studied the various condition. H-beam was used to make the composite protection wall. Arbitrary-Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) simulation from LS-DYNA and ConWep pressure had a good agreement. Used of the composite structure had a minimum displacement than a normal reinforced concrete protection wall. During the worst-case scenario explosion of a hydrogen gas 300 kg storage tank the minimum distance between the hydrogen gas tank storage and protection wall should be 3.6 m.

The green hydrogen industry highly efficient and safe is endowed with flexible production and low carbon emissions. It is conducive to building a low-carbon efficient and clean energy structure optimizing the energy industry system and promoting the strategic transformation of energy development and enhancing energy security. In order to achieve carbon emission peaking by 2030 and neutrality by 2060 (dual carbon goals) China is vigorously promoting the green hydrogen industry. Based on an analysis of the green hydrogen industry policies of the U.S. the EU and Japan this paper explores supporting policies issued by Chinese central and local authorities and examines the inherent advantages of China’s green hydrogen industry. After investigating and analyzing the basis for the development of the green hydrogen industry in China we conclude that China has enormous potential including abundant renewable energy resources as well as commercialization experience with renewable energy robust infrastructure and technological innovation capacity demand for large-scale applications of green hydrogen in traditional industries etc. Despite this China’s green hydrogen industry is still in its early stage and has encountered bottlenecks in its development including a lack of clarity on the strategic role and position of the green hydrogen industry low competitiveness of green hydrogen production heavy reliance on imports of PEMs perfluorosulfonic acid resins (PFSR) and other core components the development dilemma of the industry chain lack of installed capacity for green hydrogen production and complicated administrative permission etc. This article therefore proposes that an appropriate development road-map and integrated administration supervision systems including safety supervision will systematically promote the green hydrogen industry. Enhancing the core technology and equipment of green hydrogen and improving the green hydrogen industry chain will be an adequate way to reduce dependence on foreign technologies lowering the price of green hydrogen products through the scale effect and thus expanding the scope of application of green hydrogen. Financial support mechanisms such as providing tax breaks and project subsidies will encourage enterprises to carry out innovative technological research on and invest in the green hydrogen industry.

The steel sector currently accounts for 7% of global energy-related CO2 emissions and requires deep reform to disconnect from fossil fuels. Here we investigate the market competitiveness of one of the widely considered decarbonisation routes for primary steel production: green hydrogen-based direct reduction of iron ore followed by electric arc furnace steelmaking. Through analysing over 300 locations by combined use of optimisation and machine learning we show that competitive renewables-based steel production is located nearby the tropic of Capricorn and Cancer characterised by superior solar with supplementary onshore wind in addition to high-quality iron ore and low steelworker wages. If coking coal prices remain high fossil-free steel could attain competitiveness in favourable locations from 2030 further improving towards 2050. Large-scale implementation requires attention to the abundance of suitable iron ore and other resources such as land and water technical challenges associated with direct reduction and future supply chain configuration.

In the context of green aviation as an internationally recognized solution hydrogen energy is lauded as the “ultimate energy source of the 21st century” with zero emissions at the source. Developed economies with aviation industries such as Europe and the United States have announced hydrogen energy aviation development plans successively. The study and development of high-energy hydrogen fuel cells and hydrogen energy power systems have become some of the future aviation research focal points. As a crucial component of hydrogen energy storage and delivery the design and development of a safe lightweight and efficient hydrogen storage structure have drawn increasing consideration. Using a hydrogen-powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) as the subject of this article the crash characteristics of the UAV’s hydrogen storage structure are investigated in detail. The main research findings are summarized as follows: (1) A series of crash characteristics analyses of the hydrogen storage structure of a hydrogen-powered UAV were conducted and the Finite Element Analysis (FEA) response of the structure under different impact angles internal pressures and impact speeds was obtained and analyzed. (2) When the deformation of the hydrogen storage structure exceeds 50 mm and the strain exceeds 0.8 an initial crack will appear at this part of the hydrogen storage structure. The emergency release valve should respond immediately to release the gas inside the tank to avoid further damage. (3) Impact angle and initial internal pressure are the main factors affecting the formation of initial cracks.

Ammonia is a pollutant present in wastewater and is also a valuable carbon-free hydrogen carrier. Stripping recovery and anodic oxidation of ammonia to produce hydrogen via electrolysis is gaining momentum as a technology yet the development of an inexpensive stable catalytic material is imperative to reduce cost. Here we report on a new nickel copper (NiCu) catalyst electrodeposited onto a high surface area nickel felt (NF) as an anode for ammonia electrolysis. Cyclic voltammetry demonstrated that the catalyst/substrate combination reached the highest current density (200 mA cm2 at 20 C) achieved for a non-noble metal catalyst. A NiCu/NF electrode was tested in an anion exchange membrane electrolyser for 50 h; it showed good stability and high Faradaic efficiency for ammonia oxidation (88%) and hydrogen production (99%). We demonstrate that this novel electrode catalyst/substrate material combination can oxidise ammonia in a scaled system and hydrogen can be produced as a valuable by-product at industrial-level current densities and cell voltages lower than that for water electrolysis.

Further development of hydrogen-fuelled transport and associated infrastructure requires fundamentally based validated and publicly accepted models for fuelling protocol development particularly for heavy-duty transport applications where protocols are not available yet. This study aims to use computational fluid dynamics (CFD) for modelling the entire hydrogen refuelling station (HRS) including all its components starting from high-pressure (HP) tanks a mass flow meter pressure control valve (PCV) a heat exchanger (HE) nozzle hose breakaway and up to 3 separate onboard tanks. The paper focuses on the initial phase of the refuelling procedure in which the main purpose is to check for leaks in the fuelling line and determine if it is safe to start fuelling. The simulation results are validated against the only publicly available data on hydrogen fuelling by Kuroki and co-authors (2021) from the NREL hydrogen fuelling station experiment. The simulation results – mass flow rate dynamics as well as pressure and temperature at different station locations - show good agreement with the measured experimental data. The development of such models is crucial for the further advancement of hydrogen-fuelled transport and infrastructure and this study presents a step towards this goal.

Hydrogen as a clean zero-emission energy fuel will play a critical role in energy transition and achievement of the net-zero target in 2050. Hydrogen delivery is integral to the entire value chain of a full-scale hydrogen economy. This work conducted a systematic review and analysis of various hydrogen transportation methods including truck tankers for liquid hydrogen tube trailers for gaseous hydrogen and pipelines by identifying and ranking the main properties and affecting factors associated with each method. It is found that pipelines especially the existing natural gas pipelines provide a more efficient and cheaper means to transport hydrogen over long distances. Analysis was further conducted on Canadian natural gas pipeline network which has been operating for safe effective and efficient energy transport over six decades. The established infrastructure along with the developed operating and management experiences and skillful manpower makes the existing pipelines the best option for transport of hydrogen in either blended or pure form in the country. The technical challenges in repurposing the existing natural gas pipelines for hydrogen service were discussed and further work was analyzed.

Sustainability is one of the main challenges the aviation industry is currently facing. In a global context of energy transition towards cleaner and renewable sources the sector is developing technologies to fly more efficiently and mitigate its environmental impact. Innovative propulsion alternatives such as biofuels electric aircraft and hydrogen engines are already a reality or are close to becoming so. To assess their feasibility a study is conducted on specific routes and aircraft across different flight ranges. The analysis focuses on the Canary Islands an outermost region of the EU with high mobility and no comparable alternative means of transport. For three routes flight profiles are analyzed obtaining the fuel consumption and emissions generated by the conventional propulsion and later applying the sustainable alternatives. The results indicate optimistic perspectives with reductions in environmental impact ranging between 40% and 75% compared to the present.

In this review we want to explain how the burning of fossil fuels is pushing us towards green energy. Actually for a long time we have believed that everything is profitable that resources are unlimited and there are no consequences. However the reality is often disappointing. The use of non-renewable resources the excessive waste production and the abandonment of the task of recycling has created a fragile thread that once broken may never restore itself. Metaphors aside we are talking about our planet the Earth and its unique ability to host life including ourselves. Our world has its balance; when the wind erodes a mountain a beach appears or when a fire devastates an area eventually new life emerges from the ashes. However humans have been distorting this balance for decades. Our evolving way of living has increased the number of resources that each person consumes whether food shelter or energy; we have overworked everything to exhaustion. Scientists worldwide have already said actively and passively that we are facing one of the biggest problems ever: climate change. This is unsustainable and we must try to revert it or if we are too late slow it down as much as possible. To make this happen there are many possible methods. In this review we investigate catalysts for using water as an energy source or instead of water alcohols. On the other hand the recycling of gases such as CO2 and N2O is also addressed but we also observe non-catalytic means of generating energy through solar cell production.

Several countries have revised their targets in recent years to reach net-zero CO2 emissions across all sectors by 2050 and the transport sector is responsible for a significant share of these emissions. This study compares possible pathways to decarbonise the transport sector through electrification including passenger cars light commercial vehicles and heavy commercial vehicles. To do so we explore 125 scenarios by varying the share of battery and hydrogen-based fuel cell electric vehicles in each of the three categories above independently. We further model the decarbonisation of the industrial hydrogen demand using electrolysers with hydrogen storage. To explore the potential role of electric and hydrogen transport as well as their trade-offs we use GRIMSEL an open-source sector coupling energy system model of Switzerland which includes the residential commercial industrial and transport sectors with four energy carriers namely electricity heat hot water and hydrogen. The total costs are minimised from a social planner perspective. We find that the full electrification of the transport sector could lead on average to a 12% increase in costs by 2050 and 1.3 MtCO2/year which represents a 90% CO2 emissions reduction for the whole sector. Second the transport energy self-sufficiency (i.e. the share of domestic electricity generation in final transport demand) may reach up to 50% for the scenarios with the largest share of battery electric vehicles mainly due to a smaller energy demand than with hydrogen vehicles. Third more than three quarters of the industrial hydrogen production is met by local photovoltaic electricity coupled with battery at minimum costs i.e. green hydrogen. Finally the use of hydrogen as an energy carrier to store electricity over a long period is not cost-optimal.