Publications

The influence of isothermal aging at 620 °C in combination with subsequent electrochemical hydrogen charging at room-temperature was studied on quenched-and-tempered T92/TP316H martensitic/austenitic weldments in terms of their room-temperature tensile properties and fracture behavior. Hydrogen charging of the weldments did not significantly affect their strength properties; however it resulted in considerable deterioration of their plastic properties along with significant impact on their fracture characteristics and failure localization. The hydrogen embrittlement plays a dominant role in degradation of the plastic properties of the weldments already in their initial material state i.e. before thermal aging. After thermal aging and subsequent hydrogen charging mutual superposition of thermal and hydrogen embrittlement phenomena had led to clearly observable effects on the welds deformation and fracture processes. The measure of hydrogen embrittlement was clearly lowered for thermally aged material state since the contribution of thermal embrittlement to overall degradation of the weldments has dominated. The majority of failures of the weldments after hydrogen charging occurred in the vicinity of T92 BM/Ni weld metal (WM) fusion zone; mostly along the Type-II boundary in Ni-based weld metal. Thus regardless of aging exposure the most critical failure regions of the investigated weldments after hydrogen charging and tensile straining at room temperature are the T92 BM/Ni WM fusion boundary and Type-II boundary acting like preferential microstructural sites for hydrogen embrittling effects accumulation

The main objectives were to identify materials issues relating to the widespread use of hydrogen as a fuel.

MAIN FINDINGS

• Hydrogen is seen by many as the answer to the environmental problems of reliance on fossil fuels for energy needs. A great deal of effort is currently being invested in research into all areas of the hydrogen economy such as fuel cells hydrogen generation transportation and storage.
• Fuel cells have the potential to provide power for a very wide range of applications ranging from small portable electronics devices to large stationary electricity production and vehicles covering the whole range of road vehicles and possibly extending to rail marine and even aviation.
• The main obstacles to achieving a viable hydrogen economy are costs of producing hydrogen from renewable sources issues relating to transportation and storage due to the low energy density of hydrogen gas and the cost and reliability of fuel cells.
• The main material considerations relating to the use of hydrogen are hydrogen embrittlement material properties at cryogenic temperatures (due to use of liquid hydrogen) and permeability.
• A number of new materials are likely to come to prominence in a hydrogen economy; high performance composites are likely to be used extensively for high pressure hydrogen cylinders new materials or combinations of materials may be used for hydrogen pipelines and a range of new materials are currently being considered for hydrogen storage such as metal hydrides and carbon nanotubes.
• Due to the effect of hydrogen on materials it is important to test any materials in the environment in which they would be used. Depending on the type of test this could require the use of very specialist expensive equipment. 

This research project brought together members of the public from across the UK to participate in online workshops to explore:

• public understanding and perceptions of what reaching climate targets in the UK will mean for them individually and for society as a whole
• public attitudes and preferences towards the role that individual behaviour change should have in reaching net zero
• public perceptions of the easiest and toughest areas of change to help reach net zero
• public views on how they would prefer to engage with net zero policies and relevant initiatives that they feel could support the delivery of net zero

The current evidential effect of carbon emissions has become a societal challenge and the need to transition to cleaner energy sources/technologies has attracted wide research attention. Technologies that utilize low-grade heat like the organic Rankine cycle (ORC) and Kalina cycle have been proposed as viable approaches for fossil reduction/carbon mitigation. The development of renewable energy-based multigeneration systems is another alternative solution to this global challenge. Hence it is important to monitor the development of multigeneration energy systems based on low-grade heat. In this study a review of the ORC’s application in multigeneration systems is presented to highlight the recent development in ORC integrality/application. Beyond this a new ORC-CPVT (concentrated photovoltaic/thermal) integrated multigeneration system is also modeled and analyzed using the thermodynamics approach. Since most CPVT systems integrate hot water production in the thermal stem the proposed multigeneration system is designed to utilize part of the thermal energy to generate electricity and hydrogen. Although the CPVT system can achieve high energetic and exergetic efficiencies while producing thermal energy and electricity these efficiencies are 47.9% and 37.88% respectively for the CPVT-ORC multigeneration configuration. However it is noteworthy that the electricity generation from the CPVT-ORC configuration in this study is increased by 16%. In addition the hot water cooling effect and hydrogen generated from the multigeneration system are 0.4363 L/s 161 kW and 1.515 L/s respectively. The environmental analysis of the system also shows that the carbon emissions reduction potential is enormous.

This work focuses in investigating the effect of cold deformation on the cathodic hydrogen charging of 5083 aluminum alloy. The aluminium alloy was submitted to a cold rolling process until the average thickness of the specimens was reduced by 7% and 15% respectively. A study of the structure microhardness and tensile properties of the hydrogen charged aluminium specimens with and without cold rolling indicated that the cold deformation process led to an increase of hydrogen susceptibility of this aluminum alloy.

The Fuel Cells & Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) project ""Testing Hydrogen admixture for Gas Appliances"" aka THyGA is proud to release the second deliverable about the impact of hydrogen admixture on combustion processes. This time the report explores the expected impact of H2NG on a range of appliance designs installed in the EU.



After the deliverable D2.2 dedicated to the theorical estimation of the impact of H2 admixture THyGA reviews results from the litterature to evaluate available knowledge on CO and NOx formation overheating flame temperature flashback H₂ leakage operational implications and efficiency of appliances supplied with H2NG blends. Learn more and read deliverable D2.3.



Climate change is one of today’s most pressing global challenges. Since the emission of greenhouse gases is often closely related to the use and supply of energy the goal to avoid emissions requires a fundamental restructuring of the energy system including all parts of the technology chains from production to end-use. Natural gas is today one of the most important primary energy sources in Europe with utilization ranging from power generation and industry to appliances in the residential and commercial sector as well as mobility. As natural gas is a fossil fuel gas utilization is thus responsible for significant emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂₎ a greenhouse gas.



This is part two. Part one of this project can be found at this link

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) refers to a set of technologies that may offer the potential for large-scale removal of CO₂ emissions from a range of processes – potentially including the generation of electricity and heat industrial processes and the production of hydrogen and synthetic fuels. CCS has both proponents and opponents. Like other emerging low carbon technologies CCS is not without risks or uncertainties and there are various challenges that would need to be overcome if it were to be widely deployed. Policy makers’ decisions as to whether to pursue CCS should be based on a judgement as to whether the risks and uncertainties associated with attempting to deploy CCS outweigh the risks of not having it available as part of a portfolio of mitigation options in future years.

The full report can be found on the Global CSS Institute website at this link

The Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) commissioned a study to research the capacity of the manufacturing supply chain to meet expected future demand for heat pumps. This report contains analysis of the existing supply chain including component parts and also assesses the risks to and opportunities for growth in domestic heat pump manufacture and export.<br/><br/>Alongside a literature review the findings in this report were supported by interviews with organisations involved in the manufacture of heat pumps and an online workshop held with a range of businesses throughout the supply chain.

Achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement requires increased global climate action especially towards the production and use of synthetic e-fuels. This paper focuses on aviation and maritime transport and the role of green hydrogen for indirect electrification of industry sectors. Based on a sound analysis of existing multilateral cooperation the paper proposes four potential initiatives to increase climate ambition of the G20 countries in the respective policy field: a Sustainable e-Kerosene Alliance a Sustainable e-fuel Alliance for Maritime Shipping a Hard-to-Abate Sector Partnership and a Global Supply-demand-partnership.

The full report can be found here on the Umweltbundesamt website

A key issue in understanding and effectively managing hydrogen embrittlement in complex alloys is identifying and exploiting the critical role of the various defects involved. A chemo-mechanical model for hydrogen diffusion is developed taking into account stress gradients in the material as well as microstructural trapping sites such as grain boundaries and dislocations. In particular the energetic parameters used in this coupled approach are determined from ab initio calculations. Complementary experimental investigations that are presented show that a numerical approach capable of massive scale-bridging up to the macroscale is required. Due to the wide range of length scales accounted for we apply homogenisation schemes for the hydrogen concentration to reach simulation dimensions comparable to metallurgical process scales. Via a representative volume element approach an ab initio based scale bridging description of dislocation-induced hydrogen aggregation is easily accessible. When we extend the representative volume approach to also include an analytical approximation for the ab initio based description of grain boundaries we find conceptual limitations that hinder a quantitative comparison to experimental data in the current stage. Based on this understanding the development of improved strategies for further efficient scale bridging approaches is foreseen.

To inform our Sixth Carbon Budget advice the Climate Change Committee (CCC) asked the University of Leeds to undertake independent research to evaluate which policies (and combinations of policies) would enable industrial decarbonisation in line with the UK’s net zero target without inducing carbon leakage. The research focused on policies applicable to the manufacturing sector but with some consideration also given to the policies required to decarbonise the Fossil Fuel Production and Supply and Non-Road Mobile Machinery sectors. This report:

Sets out a comprehensive review of existing policies;

• Identifies future policy mechanisms that address key challenges in decarbonising industry;
• Explores how combinations of policies might work together strategically in the form of ‘policy packages’ and how these packages might evolve over the period to 2050;
• Evaluates a series of illustrative policy packages and considers any complementary policies required to minimise carbon leakage and deliver ‘just’ industrial decarbonisation.
• The findings were developed through a combination of literature review and extensive stakeholder engagement with industry government and academic experts. 

This supported the Sixth Carbon budget.

The paper can be downloaded from the CCC website

Evidence-based policy-making has been a much-debated concept. This paper builds on various insights for a novel perspective: policy-driven narrative-based evidence gathering. In a case study of UK priority setting for bioenergy innovation documents and interviews were analysed to identify links between diagnoses of the problem societal visions policy narratives and evidence gathering. This process is illuminated by the theoretical concept of sociotechnical imaginaries—technoscientific projects which the state should promote for a feasible desirable future. Results suggest that evidence has been selectively generated and gathered within a specific future vision whereby bioenergy largely provides an input-substitute within the incumbent centralised infrastructure. Such evidence is attributed to an external expertise thus helping to legitimise the policy framework. Evidence has helped to substantiate policy commitments to expand bioenergy. The dominant narrative has been reinforced by the government’s multi-stakeholder consultation favouring the incumbent industry and by incentive structures for industry co-investment.

Unlike four-wheel fuel-cell vehicles fuel-cell motorcycles have little semi-closure space corresponding to the engine compartment of four-wheel fuel-cell vehicles. Furthermore motorcycles may fall while parked or running. We conducted hydrogen concentration measurement and ignition tests to evaluate the feasibility of detecting leaks when hydrogen gas leaked from a fuel-cell motorcycle as well as the risk of ignition. We found that the installation of hydrogen leak detectors is effective because it is possible to detect minute hydrogen leaks by installing leak detectors at appropriate points on the fuel cell motorcycle and risks can be reduced by interrupting the hydrogen leak immediately after detection.

The 2015 Programme Review Report refers to the fifth review of the FCH JU project portfolio and covers 100 projects funded through annual calls for proposals from 2009 to 2013.<br/>The reviews began in 2011 following a recommendation arising from the interim evaluation of the FCH JU which identified the need to ensure that the overall project portfolio fulfilled the objectives of the FCH JU Multi-Annual Implementation and Work Plans.

We investigated hydrogen embrittlement in Fe20Mn20Ni20Cr20Co and Fe30Mn10Cr10Co (at.%) alloys pre-charged with 100 MPa hydrogen gas by tensile testing at three initial strain rates of 10⁻⁴ 10⁻³ and 10⁻² s⁻¹ at ambient temperature. The alloys are classified as stable and metastable austenite-based high-entropy alloys (HEAs) respectively. Both HEAs showed the characteristic hydrogen-induced degradation of tensile ductility. Electron backscatter diffraction analysis indicated that the reduction in ductility by hydrogen pre-charging was associated with localized plasticity-assisted intergranular crack initiation. It should be noted as an important finding that hydrogen-assisted cracking of the metastable HEA occurred not through a brittle mechanism but through localized plastic deformation in both the austenite and ε-martensite phases.

The FCH JU has with its industry and research partners worked since 2008 to develop and demonstrate FCH technologies along with development of the various business and environmental cases. It has involved a programme of increasingly ambitious demonstrations projects a consistent approach to research and development actions and a long term policy commitment. Developing the business and environmental cases for FCH technologies has created an increasingly compelling vision appealing to a range of stakeholders: to FCH technology businesses themselves assured by the long term commitment of the FCH JU to end users in terms of cost and operational performance potential and as critically to increasing numbers of policy and decision makers attracted by the substantial socio-economic benefits.

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) has legislated and aims to be net zero emissions by 2045. Such ambitious targets have implications for the contribution of hydrogen and its storage in gas distribution networks Therefore we need to understand now the impacts on the gas distribution network of the transition to 100% hydrogen. Assessment of the viability of decarbonising the ACT gas network will be partly based on the cost of reusing the gas network for the safe and reliable distribution of hydrogen. That task requires each element of the natural gas safety management system to be evaluated.

This article describes the construction of a test facility in Canberra Australia used to identify issues raised by 100% hydrogen use in the medium pressure distribution network consisting of nylon and polyethylene (PE) as a means of identifying measures necessary to ensure ongoing validity of the network's regulatory safety case.

Evoenergy (the ACT's gas distribution company) have constructed a Test Facility incorporating an electrolyser a gas supply pressure reduction and mixing skid a replica gas network and a domestic installation with gas appliances. Jointly with Australian National University (ANU) and Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT) the Company has commenced a program of “bench testing” initially with 100% hydrogen to identify gaps in the safety case specifically focusing on the materials work practices and safety systems in the ACT.

The facility is designed to assess:

•  Materials in use including aged network materials and components
•  Construction and installation techniques both greenfield and live gas work
•  Purging and filling techniques
•  Leak detection both underground and above ground
•  Emergency response and make safe techniques
•  Issues associated with use of hydrogen in light commercial and domestic appliances.

To educate and train:

•  Technicians and gas fitters on infrastructure installation and management
•  Emergency response services on responding to hydrogen related emergencies in a network environment; and
•  Manage public perceptions of hydrogen in a network environment.

Australia has an enviable safety record for the safe and reliable transport distribution and use of natural gas. The ACT natural gas network owned and operated by Evoenergy is one of the newest in Australia and has leveraged off the best materials and practices in Australia to build its network.

The paper addresses major safety issues relating to the production/storage distribution and consumer end use of hydrogen injected into existing gas distribution networks. The analysis is guided by the Safety Management System. The Hydrogen Testing Facility described in the paper provide tools for evaluation of hydrogen safety matters in the ACT and Australia-wide.

Testing to date has confirmed that polyethylene and nylon pipe and their respective jointing techniques can contain 100% hydrogen at pressures used for the distribution of natural gas. Testing has also confirmed that current installation work practices on polyethylene and nylon pipe and joints are suitable for hydrogen service. This finding is subject to variation attributable to staff training and skill levels and further testing has been programmed as outlined in this paper.

Testing of gas isolation by clamping and simulated repair on the hydrogen network has established that standard natural gas isolation techniques work with 100% hydrogen at natural gas pressures.

Climate change and global warming pose great sustainability challenges to the aviation industry. Alternatives to petroleum-based fuels (hydrogen natural gas etc.) have emerged as promising aviation fuels for future aircraft. The present study aimed to contribute to the understanding of the impact of material selection on aviation sustainability accounting for the type of fuel implemented and circular economy aspects. In this context a decision support tool was introduced to aid decisionmakers and relevant stakeholders to identify and select the best-performing materials that meet their defined needs and preferences expressed through a finite set of conflicting criteria associated with ecological economic and circularity aspects. The proposed tool integrates life-cycle-based metrics extending to both ecological and economical dimensions and a proposed circular economy indicator (CEI) focused on the material/component level and linked to its quality characteristics which also accounts for the quality degradation of materials which have undergone one or more recycling loops. The tool is coupled with a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) methodology in order to reduce subjectivity when determining the importance of each of the considered criteria.

Mechanical properties of metals and their alloys are most often determined by interstitial atoms. Hydrogen as one common interstitial element is often found to degrade the fracture behavior and lead to premature or catastrophic failure in a wide range of materials known as hydrogen embrittlement. This topic has been studied for more than a century yet the basic mechanisms of such degradation remain in dispute for many metallic systems. This work attempts to link experimentally and theoretically between failure caused by the presence of hydrogen and second phases lattice distortion and deformation levels.

This report provides an outlook for jointly achieving a commercialisation pathway.<br/>Building on the findings of the 2012 FCH JU technology study on alternative powertrains for urban buses this report provides an assessment of the commercialisation pathway from an operational perspective. It reflects the actual situation in which operators deploy large scale demonstration projects in the next years from a rather conservative angle and argues why it makes sense to deploy FC buses now. The insights are based on first-hand data and assessments of the coalition members from the hydrogen and fuel cell industry as well as local governments and public transport operators in Europe.

The study analyses the role of hydrogen in the National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) and identifies and highlights opportunities for hydrogen technologies to contribute to effective and efficient achievement of the 2030 climate and energy targets of the EU and its Member States.<br/>The study focuses on the potential and opportunities of renewable hydrogen produced by electrolysers using renewable electricity and of low-carbon hydrogen produced by steam methane reforming combined with CCS. The opportunities for and impacts of hydrogen deployment are assessed and summarised in individual fiches per Member State.<br/>The study analyses to what extent policy measures and industrial initiatives are already being taken to facilitate large-scale implementation of hydrogen in the current and the next decades. The study concludes by determining the CO2 reduction potential beyond what is foreseen in the NECPs through hydrogen energy technologies estimating the reduction of fossil fuel imports and reliance the prospective cost and the value added and jobs created. National teams working on decarbonisation roadmaps and updates of the NECPs are welcome to consider the opportunities and benefits of hydrogen deployment identified in this study.

The efficiency of gas sensor application for facilitating the safe use of hydrogen depends considerably on the sensor response to a change in hydrogen concentration. Therefore the response time has been measured for five different-type commercially available hydrogen sensors. Experiments showed that all these sensors surpass the ISO 26142 standard; for the response times t90 values of 2 s to 16 s were estimated. Results can be fitted with an exponential or sigmoidal function. It can be demonstrated that the results on transient behaviour depend on both the operating parameters of sensors and investigation methods as well as on the experimental conditions: gas change rate and concentration jump.

Egypt has one of the largest economies in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and several of its industries are large sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. As part of its contribution to mitigate GHG emissions within the framework of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change Egypt is focusing on the development of an ambitious renewable energy programme.

Some of Egypt’s main industries are big consumers of hydrogen which is produced locally using indigenous natural gas without abatement of the CO2 emissions resulting from this production process. In the long-term the production and consumption of this unabated hydrogen known as grey hydrogen could become a serious challenge for Egypt’s exports of manufactured products. Thus the Egyptian government is planning to develop low carbon hydrogen alternatives and has set up an inter-ministerial committee to prepare a national hydrogen strategy for Egypt.

This paper explores the prospects for low carbon hydrogen (blue and green hydrogen) developments in Egypt focusing on the potential replacement of Egypt’s large domestic production of grey hydrogen with cleaner low carbon hydrogen alternatives.

The research paper can be found on their website

Most experimental investigations of underexpanded hydrogen jets have been limited to circular nozzles in an attempt to better understand the fundamental jet-exit flow physics and model this behaviour with pseudo source models. However realistic compressed storage leak exit geometries are not always expected to be circular. In the present study jet dispersion characteristics from rectangular slot nozzles with aspect ratios from 2 to 8 were investigated and compared with an equivalent circular nozzle. Schlieren imaging was used to observe the jet-exit shock structure while quantitative Planar Laser Rayleigh Scattering was used to measure downstream dispersion characteristics. These results provide physical insight and much needed model validation data for model development.

Metal hydrides are known as a potential efficient low-risk option for high-density hydrogen storage since the late 1970s. In this paper the present status and the future perspectives of the use of metal hydrides for hydrogen storage are discussed. Since the early 1990s interstitial metal hydrides are known as base materials for Ni – metal hydride rechargeable batteries. For hydrogen storage metal hydride systems have been developed in the 2010s [1] for use in emergency or backup power units i. e. for stationary applications.<br/>With the development and completion of the first submarines of the U212 A series by HDW (now Thyssen Krupp Marine Systems) in 2003 and its export class U214 in 2004 the use of metal hydrides for hydrogen storage in mobile applications has been established with new application fields coming into focus.<br/>In the last decades a huge number of new intermetallic and partially covalent hydrogen absorbing compounds has been identified and partly more partly less extensively characterized.<br/>In addition based on the thermodynamic properties of metal hydrides this class of materials gives the opportunity to develop a new hydrogen compression technology. They allow the direct conversion from thermal energy into the compression of hydrogen gas without the need of any moving parts. Such compressors have been developed and are nowadays commercially available for pressures up to 200 bar. Metal hydride based compressors for higher pressures are under development. Moreover storage systems consisting of the combination of metal hydrides and high-pressure vessels have been proposed as a realistic solution for on-board hydrogen storage on fuel cell vehicles.<br/>In the frame of the “Hydrogen Storage Systems for Mobile and Stationary Applications” Group in the International Energy Agency (IEA) Hydrogen Task 32 “Hydrogen-based energy storage” different compounds have been and will be scaled-up in the near future and tested in the range of 500 g to several hundred kg for use in hydrogen storage applications.