Liquid carriers will enable high-volume hydrogen transport over long distances

The EKARRIH2 project, in which CIDETEC Energy Storage is participating, aims to address the limitations of the current hydrogen carriers.

Research in the field of hydrogen storage, transport and distribution has become a crucial race to lay the foundations for an infrastructure to enable a Hydrogen Economy, in which it will be necessary to transport it from those areas where it is possible to produce green hydrogen at low cost. In this sense, current solutions in the form of pressurized gas or cryogenic liquid have certain disadvantages, such as high cost or the safety issues, associated with the physical properties of hydrogen. Moreover, the construction of a new hydrogen pipeline infrastructure raises a number of questions and would be limited to short distances. At this juncture, the use of liquid carriers is emerging as a solution for high-volume hydrogen transport over long distances.

CIDETEC Energy Storage is participating in the EKARRIH2 project, which is researching solutions based on liquid carriers, made up of molecules capable of chemically incorporating hydrogen in a reversible manner, which will allow it to be transported in large quantities over long distances, at a competitive cost, in a safe and environmentally sustainable manner.

Throughout the 19 months the project will last, the development of liquid carriers will be addressed, such as liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHC), of low toxicity, CO₂ free in the cycle, with a high hydrogen uptake and low degradation in hydrogenation/dehydrogenation cycles. Laboratory-scale catalytic and/or electrochemical reactors will also be developed.

Within the framework of the EKARRIH2 project, CIDETEC Energy Storage coordinates the activity in research and development of hydrogenation carrier technologies, aiming to develop innovative chemical and electrochemical hydrogenation carrier technologies, and also culminate in the assembly of electrochemical and catalytic reactors (fixed-bed and millistructured).

In the final phase of the project, thanks to the developments carried out, at least one innovative hydrogen carrier will be available, as well as two laboratory-scale prototypes, either catalytic, or microwave or electrochemical hydrogenation/dehydrogenation carrier reactors.

Funded by the ELKARTEK Program, in addition to CIDETEC Energy Storage, TECNALIA (coordinator), CIC ENERGIGUNE, UPV/EHU, TEKNIKER, Petronor Innovación and the Asociación de Promoción e Investigación Cluster de Energía (Basque Energy Cluster) participate in the project.