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What I often don't see mentioned in the discussion about using hydrogen power is solving the volumetric capacity problem of storing hydrogen. One potential sol
by Confiks 7y ago
What I often don't see mentioned in the discussion about using hydrogen power is solving the volumetric capacity problem of storing hydrogen.
One potential solution is to instead use formic acid as stable energy storage. There have been recent advances in catalysts that make it feasible to convert hydrogen to formic acid and back again. Formic acid is stable, not very toxic, and has an energy capacity of 1.77 kWh/L.
The only party I know of that is trying to bring this to market is Dens [1], formed out of a student group at the University of Eindhoven [2]. Their website is a bit high on the rhetoric (including trying to coin "hydrozine"), and their mockups looks like, well, mockups, but there are real technology advances behind this, for example their trial with a city bus [3] (Dutch).
[1] https://dens.one/our-products/ https://dens.one/our-products/
[2] https://teamfast.nl/technology/ https://teamfast.nl/technology/
[3] https://www.volkskrant.nl/nieuws-achtergrond/deze-stadsbus-in-eindhoven-rijdt-nu-op-mierenzuur-en-dat-is-behoorlijk-revolutionair~bb027b8b/ https://www.volkskrant.nl/nieuws-achtergrond/deze-stadsbus-i...
- 08-15 7y agoFormic acid, being more oxidized, has lower energy density than methanol. In what way is it better than methanol?
- Confiks 7y agoIt isn't purely about the (energy density of the) chemicals themselves, but also about the available reformation / hydrogenation processes. As far as my limited knowledge goes, the processes for methanol have seen more development, but formic acid has a potential for simpler and smaller systems in less demanding circumstances (pressure, heat). [1] was the first comparison I stumbled upon. [1] https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110536423-002 https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110536423-002
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]