Recent Challenges of

Hydrogen Storage
Technologies for Fuel Cell
Vehicles
Presented by Kareem El-Aswad on 12/4/2012
Article & Research by D. Mori & K. Hirose
 Some Background Information…
Carbon emissions from factories and vehicles have
harmed the environment in recent years.
Excessive Amounts of energy consumption in gasoline
(very inefficient energy output).
Mobility requirements will increase in the future;
therefore energy sources must be safe and clean.
Due to these requirements, and the fact that relatively
clean Hydrogen gas can be used, fuel cell technologies
are an ideal solution!
However…
 Two Major Problems!
Hydrogen gas (H2) has an extremely low density; thus
limiting how much can be stored in a vehicle.
Hydrogen gas only has 1/10th the energy as gasoline;
which limits how far a vehicle can travel.
Therefore, efficiency and the amount of storable
hydrogen must be increased.
However, since all of the hydrogen can’t be stored, it is
required to either compress hydrogen gas or to absorb
it into a form of solid material.
 Potential Solution
A new tank design that allows for maximum hydrogen
gas efficiency must consider all the following:
Material Density
Heat Conductivity
Volumetric Change
Heat Absorption
Gravimetric Density
Hydrogen Uptake
 Potential Solution

A new vehicle must consider

the following:
Safety
Performance
Cost
Technical adaptation
Scalability
 Methods
Three Main Proposals
were tested & a hybrid
was created using the
following as a basis:
High-Pressure Tank
System
Liquid Hydrogen Tank
Hydrogen-Absorbing
Alloy Tank
 High-Pressure Tank System
Most common tank used for on-road testing currently.
Pressurized at 35-70 MPa; although there is a tendency
to use 70MPa so that more hydrogen gas is carried.
Simple structure; easy to charge / discharge.
 High-Pressure Tank System
Uses V3 & V4 types of tanks. Natural gas tanks use V1
& V2.
GFRP = Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer.
CFRP = Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer.
CFRP is required in
higher pressure tanks
because it’s much
stronger and more
resilient.
 High-Pressure Tank System
Problems include:
Pressure & hydrogen volume is non-linear. Doubling
pressure only increase volume by 40-50%.
Weight of the tank is still relatively heavy. Further
testing for tank durability is required to make a lighter
tank.
Volume of the tank can’t be shrunken down even
further due to physical properties (i.e. dramatic
increase in pressure & lower vehicle range).
 Liquid Hydrogen Tank
At 20K (-253.15oC), hydrogen becomes a liquid.
Capable of storing much more hydrogen due to
significantly higher density than gaseous hydrogen.
Liquids are potentially easier to handle and store.
Tanks require a double wall to keep low temperatures
insulated.
Vacuum Multi-Layered
Insulation (MLI) is used
to prevent radiation and
thermal intrustion.
 Hydrogen-Absorbing Alloy Tank
Can utilize smallest tank size since it can store
hydrogen more dense than liquid hydrogen.
Absorbs up to 2.8% hydrogen.
Reversible hydrogen charge and discharge capacities.
Several critical issues:
Low gravimetric density (% of hydrogen).
Can’t handle large amount of heat.
Inefficient hydrogen release in colder environments.
Still largely in the experimental phase. Optimal
materials have not even been determined yet, although
various metal alloys are primarily used.
 The Hybrid Containment System
Designed to improve charge-discharge variables.
4x45L high-pressure tanks combined with high-
pressure absorptive alloys (promotes high volumetric
density) which absorbs 1.9% hydrogen.
Metal hydride (Ti1.1CrMn) used.
Cooling system (radiator or fan)
 Results
7.3 kg of hydrogen stored @ 35 MPa; 2.5x more than a
typical 35 MPa tank.
Can be charged with hydrogen up to 80% in 5 min.
At -30oC, still capable of supplying hydrogen.
Can actually be applied to a
vehicle(i.e. size and
performance)
 Results
High-pressure hydrogen environment allows MH to
absorb hydrogen quickly.
This solves the issues with classical metal hydrides and
creates a method of hydrogen storage for vehicles.
 Results
Comparison of high-pressure tank, hydrogen-
absorbing alloy tank and high-pressure hydrogen-
absorbing alloy tank system as follows:
 Discussion
Hybrid Containment is an effective hybrid of the
simpler containment systems mentioned previously.
There is a noted relationship between hydrogen
uptake and ΔH, energy to
take out hydrogen from
hydride; but no concrete
theory for this relationship.
 Possible Future Goals
To reach a 4% absorption rate
To open the possibilities for other chemical
containment methods.
 Conclusion
Very thoroughly well-thought out.
Many different ideas and proposals were considered.
Reservations:
They should’ve used 70MPa, since that’s the most used
for hydrogen gas fuel cells.
Using a more efficient cooling system probably could
have speeded the hydrogen charge capacity even more.
 References
D. Mori & K. Hirose. “Recent Challenges of Hydrogen
Storage Technologies for Fuel Cell
Vehicles" International Journal of Hydrogen Energy. 34
(2009): Pages 4569-4574.
“Why CFRP?” Composites World. 30 Nov 2010.
Composites Technology. 2 Dec. 2012
< http://www.compositesworld.com/articles/why-cfrp>
“GFRP – Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer.” Stromberg. 2
Dec. 2012
< http://strombergarchitectural.com/materials/gfrp>