Development of an Advanced Hydrogen Energy Storage System using Aerogel in a Cryogenic Flux Capacitor

Technical Report · Fri Oct 27 04:00:00 EDT 2023

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/2203739· OSTI ID:2203739

Schmitt, Joshua ^[1]; Khlyapov, Yakym ^[2]; Swanger, Adam ^[3]; Otto, Marcel ^[2]; Kapat, Jayanta ^[2]

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1. Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX (United States); Southwest Research Institute
2. Univ. of Central Florida, Orlando, FL (United States)
3. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Washington, DC (United States)

The Cryogenic Flux Capacitor (CFC) is a cold, dense fluid storage core with integrated design features that afford the designer flexibility and provide new possibilities for the storage and discharge of energy. The stored energy, in this case, is represented by hydrogen physically bonded within the nanoscale pores within the aerogel composite blanket material, and the process of bonding or debonding is governed by the principles of physical adsorption (physisorption) and thermodynamics. The large surface area afforded by the nanoporous aerogel (~1,000 m²/g) allows for storage densities close to, or in some cases exceeding, that of normal boiling point liquids. Its performance easily exceeds what can be achieved via ambient temperature and high-pressure gas storage for an equivalent volume. CFC storage is predicted to be easily scalable, constructed from readily available commercial materials, and lends itself to a range of pressure applications. The project team designed and manufactured the CFC, integrating it into a set of temperature-controlled flow loops. The CFC test setup was validated against existing data from previous NASA work. Tests used bottled hydrogen gas for test validation. A cryogenic fluid, nitrogen, flowed through a metered control system. Hydrogen temperature, pressure, and flow rates, as well as the temperature control targets, provided all necessary control targets. The team analyzed the recorded data and updated the Technology Maturation Plan based on the results of the test, making recommendations for a follow-up test, scale-up, and maturation pathway. For the engineering development and maturation of CFC hydrogen storage technology, a Techno-Economic Assessment (TEA) and Commercialization Plan for the integration of this technology with various power generation assets were produced. A companion analytical model was developed, experimentally validated, compared against performance metric, and used to tune the model and scale up the technology.

• Research Organization: Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM)
• DOE Contract Number: FE0032003
• OSTI ID: 2203739
• Report Number(s): DOE-SWRI--FE32003-1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

08 HYDROGEN
25 ENERGY STORAGE
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
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