Techno-Economics of Hydrogen Storage Technologies for Green Hydrogen Economy
Key Ideas
  • Hydrogen storage technologies like gaseous, liquid, metal hydride, LOHCs, and cavern storage offer varying storage densities and costs.
  • The challenges in hydrogen storage include energy consumption, capital costs, storage duration, and diffusivity issues.
  • Each storage method has its unique applications ranging from fuel cell vehicles to stationary energy storage systems.
  • Cavern storage in salt caverns and natural gas fields proves to be a cost-effective and high-capacity solution for large-scale hydrogen storage.
As the world shifts towards decarbonization, green hydrogen has emerged as a crucial energy carrier. This article explores the significance of green hydrogen in the global transition to sustainability, focusing on the challenges and advancements in hydrogen storage technologies. Various methods such as gaseous storage, liquid hydrogen storage, metal hydride storage, LOHCs, and cavern storage are evaluated based on their storage densities, costs, energy efficiencies, and applications. Gaseous storage involves storing compressed hydrogen in tanks with storage densities ranging from 23-42 kg H2/m3, making it suitable for applications like hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and industrial gas supply. However, challenges such as high storage costs, energy consumption during compression, and leakage issues need to be addressed. Liquid hydrogen storage, with a higher storage density of 70.8 kg H2/m3, is commonly used in aerospace and some transport systems. Despite its medium-term storage capacity, concerns about energy-intensive liquefaction processes and boil-off losses remain. Metal hydride storage offers a substantially high storage density of 40-120 kg H2/m3 and long storage times suitable for stationary energy storage systems and portable fuel cells. However, the high costs of metal alloys and energy requirements for hydrogen release are key drawbacks. Liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHCs) provide a competitive storage density of 57 kg H2/m3 at a relatively lower cost. This method is favored for long-range hydrogen delivery but faces complexities in operation due to catalytic processes. Cavern storage in salt caverns or natural gas fields emerges as a cost-effective solution for large-scale hydrogen storage, with minimal hydrogen loss and unlimited storage duration. The low-cost storage options make cavern storage a promising avenue for the mass implementation of hydrogen technology in a developing green hydrogen economy.
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