idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

Nachrichten, Termine, Experten

Grafik: idw-Logo
Science Video Project
idw-Abo

idw-News App:

AppStore

Google Play Store



Instance:
Share on: 
09/28/2021 16:58

Storing hydrogen safely: Fraunhofer IWM evaluates materials for tubular storage systems

Katharina Hien Öffentlichkeitsarbeit
Fraunhofer-Institut für Werkstoffmechanik IWM

    Hydrogen has an important role to play in the energy transition. Science and industry are currently working on storage and transport systems for hydrogen. The basis for this is to precisely describe and assess the behavior of metallic materials, especially steels, when they are in contact with hydrogen. As part of the BMBF lead project H2Mare, the Fraunhofer IWM will develop and evaluate criteria for assessing materials and components for so-called tubular storage systems in the joint project H2Wind. The findings will contribute to the accident-proof and durable operation of a real storage infrastructure for hydrogen.

    To store hydrogen safely, materials such as steel must be able to consistently withstand the long-term effects of hydrogen. Above all, weld seams, which have a different structure to the base material, must not show any increased susceptibility to damage when in contact with hydrogen. The storage systems must be able to operate safely and reliably under mechanical, thermal, chemical and electromagnetic loads. To prevent uncontrolled material damage, it is important to evaluate materials and components with a view to accident safety and durability. "Our research and development work in our hydrogen laboratory aims to describe interactions of atomic or molecular hydrogen in contact with materials using experimental methods and theoretical models," explains Prof. Dr. Christian Elsässer, Scientific Coordinator for Future Topics at Fraunhofer IWM. "This enables us to provide a detailed mechanistic description of damage processes, a reliable evaluation of material and component behavior, and the derivation of design guidelines and lifetime predictions for components."
    The Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM receives funding of around 800,000 euros from the BMBF. "Building on our diverse experience and know-how, we can thus make an important contribution to a safe hydrogen infrastructure," says Prof. Dr. Christian Elsässer.

    Uniting knowledge

    Together with seven expert partners from research and industry, the Fraunhofer IWM will spend the next four years focusing on high-performance and reliable materials in contact with hydrogen for sustainable and safe offshore hydrogen production.

    The H2Mare flagship project aims to establish a whole new type of turbine at sea in the future – a solution which optimally integrates an electrolyzer into an offshore wind turbine for direct conversion of the electricity. In addition, the project will also investigate further offshore power-to-X processes. A total of 35 partners and 2 associated partners are involved in H2Mare. The BMBF is funding the project from 01.04.2021 to 31.03.2025 with over 100 million euros.

    H2Mare is one of three flagship projects being conducted by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, which is supporting Germany’s entry into the hydrogen economy with its largest initiative regarding the energy transition to date. The three hydrogen flagship projects H2Giga, H2Mare, and TransHyDE are the result of an ideas competition and represent a central contribution on the part of the BMBF to the implementation of the National Hydrogen Strategy.

    They are intended to remove existing hurdles impeding Germany’s entry into a hydrogen economy over the next four years. The goals of the projects are the serial production of large-scale water electrolyzers (H2Giga), the production of hydrogen and downstream products at sea (H2Mare), and the development of technologies for the transport of hydrogen (TransHyDE).

    About the Hydrogen flagship projects

    More than 240 partners from science and industry are working together on the three hydrogen flagship projects, which were launched on the basis of non-binding funding promises in the spring. In total, the funding will amount up to €740 million.


    Contact for scientific information:

    Prof. Dr. Christian Elsässer
    Phone +49 761 5142-286
    christian.elsaesser@iwm.fraunhofer.de


    More information:

    https://www.iwm.fraunhofer.de/en/why-fraunhofer-iwm/product-life-cycle-solutions... Hydrogen research at the Fraunhofer IWM


    Images

    Wind turbines at sea generate significantly more regular electricity than their onshore counterparts: H2Mare wants to exploit this potential to produce hydrogen and hydrogen derivatives using this technology.
    Wind turbines at sea generate significantly more regular electricity than their onshore counterparts ...

    Projektträger Jülich


    Criteria of this press release:
    Journalists
    Energy, Materials sciences, Mechanical engineering
    transregional, national
    Research projects
    English


     

    Wind turbines at sea generate significantly more regular electricity than their onshore counterparts: H2Mare wants to exploit this potential to produce hydrogen and hydrogen derivatives using this technology.


    For download

    x

    Help

    Search / advanced search of the idw archives
    Combination of search terms

    You can combine search terms with and, or and/or not, e.g. Philo not logy.

    Brackets

    You can use brackets to separate combinations from each other, e.g. (Philo not logy) or (Psycho and logy).

    Phrases

    Coherent groups of words will be located as complete phrases if you put them into quotation marks, e.g. “Federal Republic of Germany”.

    Selection criteria

    You can also use the advanced search without entering search terms. It will then follow the criteria you have selected (e.g. country or subject area).

    If you have not selected any criteria in a given category, the entire category will be searched (e.g. all subject areas or all countries).