On November 8, several researchers from Fondazione Bruno Kessler – FBK and ENGIE travelled to Hamburg to visit Stühff GmbH, the company in charge of realizing the system integration for HyCARE project.

The main purpose of the business trip was to realise the Factory Acceptance Test (i.e. FAT) on the system. The test aimed at giving the green light to transfer the tank to Paris, at ENGIE Lab Crigen, a research and operational expertise center, in a Living Lab where innovative energy storage solutions are explored.

The FAT consisted in (i) the revision of the installation according to the P&ID – by ENGIE and Stühff GmbH, (ii) the realisation of the leakage test – by ENGIE and Stühff GmbH, (iii) the evaluation of the correct functioning of critical alarms – by FBK, ENGIE and Stühff GmbH, and finally (iv) the check on the correct functioning of the state machine and of the control loops – by FBK, ENGIE and Stühff GmbH.

On this occasion, the project partners had the chance to work together, exchange views and strenghten relationship.

Prof Paola Rizzi, from the Department Of Chemistry at the University of Torino (Italy) focused on the study of advanced materials for hydrogen storage and of hydrides for solid state hydrogen compression.

Prof. Rizzi participated as invited speaker at the 17th International Symposium on Metal-Hydrogen System, with the presentation “HyCARE project: hydrogen storage from lab to industrial scale“.

MH2022 is the most important International conference on metal hydrides and took place in Perth, Western Australia, from October 30 to November 4, 2022.

Read the programme here. More information on the conference, at this link.

Every year, the international and non-profit association Hydrogen Europe Research organises a competition that aims at rewarding and give visibility to the work of young researchers, who have personally contributed to a hydrogen-related project.

The initiative wishes to encourage the involvement of students and researchers in the Clean Hydrogen Partnership projects, and attract young talents to work in the field of hydrogen and fuel cells.

This year, the Award Cerimony took place in Brussels during the European Hydrogen Week, the biggest annual event dedicated to hydrogen.

Erika Michela Dematteis, researcher at the University of Turin (Italy) won the title of Best Researcher of the Year.

Michele Bolognese, researcher at Fondazione Bruno Kessler (Italy) received the Young Scientist Award 2022.

“Idrogeno verde, lo stoccaggio trova nuove vie sostenibili” is the title of the article that was published well-known Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 ORE.

Following a brief introduction on the hydrogen characteristics and potential, the article draws the attention on the metal hybrid which can solve the on the issues that are often encountered through the storage process.

In this occasion, the articles indicates the project HyCARE and outlines the studies that are being done on the metal hybrid and the sustainable storage solutions explored by the project.

Read the article here: https://www.ilsole24ore.com

A new article is now in the Tech4Future online Italian magazine: “Stoccaggio idrogeno: le tecnologie per renderlo più sostenibile (Hydrogen storage: technologies to make it more sustainable)”.

The hydrogen storage is a process which is capturing attention due to the crucial role that it might have to develop this energy carrier, and contribute to solving fundamental questions and boosting the sustainability of the entire hydrogen system.

In the article, the research group from Università degli Studi di Torino explains the main project objectives and results, focusing on the metal hydrides potentials.

Read the article online, at this link.

Erika Michela Dematteis presented the hydrogen storage tank developed within HYCARE project at the online event “INSTM al servizio del sistema produttivo e della società”, which tool place last 13th of October.

The conference was organised by INSTM Consorzio Interuniversitario Nazionale per la Scienza e Tecnologia dei Materiali, and was connected to the at the Regional Forum for Sustainable Development of Regione Lombardia.

More information on the INSTM event here.

Download of the poster in the Poster Session, at this link.

Erika Michela Dematteis, researcher at the University of Turin, tried to reply to this question, in occasion of the Park Festival in Monza.

The event took place on Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th of September 2022, gathered numerous associations and institution that organised a moltitude of activities which space from artistic performances and guided tours to laboratories, workshops and meetings.

Erika M. Dematteis gave the presentation “Will hydrogen save the world?” as part of the Sustainability section of the Festival.

Read more about the Park Festival at this link.

On the 24th of August 2022, the official cerimony of the German Renewables Award took place at Altonaer Kaispeicher in Hamburg (Germany).

The initiative of the Renewable Energy Cluster Agency (EEHH) aims to “honour individuals and companies who are advancing the energy transition with novel products and projects”. The awards are presented annually in several categories: Project of the Year, Product Innovation, Student Work, Hydrogen Innovation of the Year, Lifetime Achievement and Best Media Work.

Patrick Kloss, Master’s graduate at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon, won the award in the “Student Work of the Year” category for his master thesis entitled “Development of a digital model of a stationary hydrogen storage tank based on room temperature (TiFe) hydride”, which was pursued in the broad frame of HyCARE project.

More information here (DE) and at this link (EN).

HyCARE’s researchers Jussara Barale of the Univerity of Turin (Italy) published the results on the alloy TiFe0.85Mn0.05 and

Abstract:

Moving from basic research to the implementation of hydrogen storage system based on metal hydride, the industrial production of the active material is fundamental. The alloy TiFe0.85Mn0.05 was selected as H2-carrier for a storage plant of about 50 kg of H2. In this work, a batch of 5 kg of TiFe0.85Mn0.05 alloy was synthesized at industrial level and characterized to determine the structure and phase abundance. The H2 sorption properties were investigated, performing studies on long-term cycling study and resistance to poisoning. The alloy absorbs and desorbs hydrogen between 25 bar and 1 bar at 55 °C, storing 1.0H2 wt.%, displaying fast kinetic, good resistance to gas impurities, and storage stability over 250 cycles. The industrial production promotes the formation of a passive layer and a high amount of secondary phases, observing differences in the H2 sorption behaviour compared to samples prepared at laboratory scale. This work highlights how hydrogen sorption properties of metal hydrides are strictly related to the synthesis method.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2022.06.295

The article is available in Open access at this link.

Interview with Holger Stühff, managing director of Stühff GmbH’s

Author: Marrianna Franchino (Environment Park)

Holger Stühff is the project leader of the development, design and manufacturing of the HyCARE metal hydride hydrogen-storage tanks. Stühff has been working on the assembly of the HyCARE system, integrating multiple components in the container, from the MH (metal hydrides) and the PCM (phase changing materials) tanks to the other components such as measuring instruments, safety devices, electrical cabinet and control unit, needed for the system running. In this interview, we will discover Stühff experience, challenges and next steps as HyCARE partner.

Stühff is in charge to design and manufacturing the HyCARE’s tank, what are the main steps you performed and what was the main challenge overall?

Our role in the HyCARE project is to integrate the system components, design and build the tank which contains all of them. What we found challenging was the refinishing of the process parameters and the step of design and dimension size of the pressure vessels, together with the PCM tank configuration inside the container. During the process, a lot of ideas and suggestions came out from all the project partners. It has been a long way before to find out the final MH and PCM tanks configuration inside the HyCARE plant in order to reach the final goal to store up to 40 kg the hydrogen in the metal hydride. In this process, it was crucial the cooperation with the other partners, specifically with Tecnodelta and GKN for the identification of the right volume of the metal hydride to supply inside the tank and its behaviour, CNRS for what concern the final storage parameters to consider.

Did you perform some changes compared to the initial design?

As I said, it took a long time and efforts to identify the final HyCARE tank layout, specifically waiting for the PCM tank information. Indeed, inside the container, the main volume is occupied by the PCM tank. Our question was if it was better to have the two tanks inside the container or install the PCM outside, since its significant volume at the expense of the heat exchanger system performance. Finally, we decided to confirm both of the tanks to be placed inside the HyCARE container, enabling the best conditions for the heat management operations.

Did Stühff find some issues during this period of materials scarcity and how did you manage them?

As Stühff, we started to have troubles with some products supply since the beginning of 2022, especially for some electrical components coming from China and causing problems to the European supply chain. Currently, we are still waiting for one of these electrical products which is crucial for the system finalisation. Thinking to another solution, we concluded together with the Consortium that replacing it with another one was not worth the efforts. The consequences would be a redefinition of the design, other expenditures without the assurance to receive it in time. Right now, the best solution is to wait for the defined missing component and finish the HyCARE tank later on the planned time, hoping next October. Anyway, considering the global situation and the Ukraine-Russian conflict, it is not surprising a cost increase for these materials and their scarcity in the next future.

What are the last steps to improve e finalize the hydrogen-heat tank? The commissioning of the system is planned at the ENGIE site, how you coordinate each other and what are the planned time?

After the last electrical component installation next autumn, we will perform last tests for the pre-commissioning step in our Geesthacht site in Germany. If the tests results will be positive, the system will be ready to be sent to Paris at the ENGIE site. Here, the installation will be completed with all the components: besides the MH and the PCM tanks and the pumping system, the Engie’s electrolyser and the fuel cell will be connected to the plant, while the cabinet and the heat management system will be integrated outside the container for safety reasons. Nevertheless the system is very innovative, the operation procedures are not affected by specific risks that are not already mentioned in the HAZOP analysis already taken. Beside these considerations, we look forward to the final event planned on 21st April 2023 at ENGIE Lab Crigen, where the HyCARE demonstration plant will be presented.

What is the added value to work and cooperate with the international team of HyCARE for the final results of the project and the system manufacturing from your point of view?

For Stühff is the first time in an international project and our experience within the Consortium is really positive. It was a true learning process for all of us in these months of activities, on which we have also discovered more on the metal hydrides capacities and on the PCM approach. We hope to replicate again this collaboration in further projects. A special thanks to Marcello Baricco, who played an important role as project coordinator and made the work all together very fruitful.