Assessment of an Innovative Way to Store Hydrogen in Vehicles

Andresa Baptista, Carlos Pinho, Gustavo Pinto, Leonardo Ribeiro, Joaquim Monteiro and Tiago Santos
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Andresa Baptista: ISEP—School of Engineering, Polytechnic of Porto, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal
Carlos Pinho: FEUP—Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
Gustavo Pinto: ISEP—School of Engineering, Polytechnic of Porto, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal
Leonardo Ribeiro: ISEP—School of Engineering, Polytechnic of Porto, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal
Joaquim Monteiro: ISEP—School of Engineering, Polytechnic of Porto, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal
Tiago Santos: ISEP—School of Engineering, Polytechnic of Porto, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 9, 1-19

Abstract: The use of hydrogen as an alternative to fossil fuels for vehicle propulsion is already a reality. However, due to its physical characteristics, storage is still a challenge. There is an innovative way, presented in this study, to store hydrogen in conventional vehicles propelled by spark-ignition reciprocating engines and fuel cells, using hydrogen as fuel; the storage of hydrogen will be at high pressure within small spheres randomly packed in a tank, like the conventional tank of fuel used nowadays in current vehicles. Therefore, the main purpose of the present study is to assess the performance of this storage system and compare it to others already applied by car manufacturers in their cars. In order to evaluate the performance of this storage system, some parameters were taken into account: The energy stored by volume and stored by weight, hydrogen leakage, and compliance with current standards. This system is safer than conventional storage systems since hydrogen is stored inside small spheres containing small amounts of hydrogen. Besides, its gravimetric energy density (GED) is threefold and the volumetric energy density (VED) is about half when compared with homologous values for conventional systems, and both exceed the targets set by the U.S. Department of Energy. Regarding the leakage of hydrogen, it complies with the European Standards, provided a suitable choice of materials and dimensions is made.

Keywords: energy storage system; hydrogen; permeation; packing factor; vehicle propulsion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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