US DOE Awards $7M to Hydrogen Storage Projects
13 Dec 2011
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded more than $7 million to fund four hydrogen storage projects in California, Washington and Oregon. The hydrogen storage technologies are being developed for use in fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV). Over the course of three years, the projects aim to lower the cost and increase the performance of compressed hydrogen storage systems through the development of innovative materials and advanced tanks for efficient and safe transportation.
The selected organisations will also provide almost $2 million in cost share. They are:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (Richland, Washington): Up to $2.1 million
- Collaborating with: Ford Motor Company, Lincoln Composites, Toray Carbon Fibers America, Inc. and AOC Inc.
- Project focus: improved carbon fibre composite materials and the design and manufacture of hydrogen storage tanks.
- Aim: lower the cost of manufacturing high-pressure hydrogen storage vessels by more than a third relative to current projections.
HRL Laboratories, LLC ( Malibu, California): Up to $1.2 million
- Project focus: investigation of an innovative approach to hydrogen storage using engineered liquids that can efficiently absorb and release hydrogen gas.
- Aim: develop composite materials capable of dissolving up to 50 times greater quantities of hydrogen than in the bulk liquid, with the goal of enabling a high density, compact hydrogen storage option.
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley, California): Up to $2.1 million
- Collaborating with: National Institute of Standards and Technology and General Motors.
- Project focus: use a theory-guided approach to synthesise novel materials with high hydrogen adsorption capacities, develop and test metal–organic framework materials and materials with engineered pores.
- Aim: high density storage of hydrogen at near-ambient temperatures.
University of Oregon (Eugene, Oregon): Up to $2.0 million
- Collaborating with: The University of Alabama, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and Protonex Technology Corporation.
- Project focus: develop and test promising new materials for chemical hydrogen storage
- Aim: enable liquid refuelling, and regeneration of the hydrogen storage material, within temperature and pressure ranges suitable for both on-board mobile and stationary fuel cell applications.
(Image: John Lloyd)
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