Hydrogen Storage Technologies for the Fuel Cell Vehicles

Hydrogen is considered as a potential fuel for the future. Hydrogen storage is the key technology towards the hydrogen society. Onboard storage is the critical issue with regard to hydrogen’s utility as an energy carrier for any mode of transportation on land, sea or air. Nowadays we need for the on-board fuel system storage since hydrogen exhibits a rather low volumetric energy density (regardless whether it is stored as a liquid at cryogenic temperatures or as a compressed gas). In most conventional analysis for design of hydrogen storage systems the gravimetric and volumetric storage densities are used. The studies were performed on processes aimed at reaching the volumetric capacities and gravimetric storage densities recommended by the US DOE, i.e., 45 kg/m³ and 6 weight percent, for the year 2010. Compressed hydrogen fuel tank operates under high (5000-10000psi) pressure, so these tanks should have special structure to be suitable for fuel cell vehicles. This paper explains the current status and challenges of conventional technologies for the hydrogen storage by tanks and also discusses about the hydrogen tanks structure.

کلیدواژه ها:

Fuel cell vehicles ، On-board storage ، Cryogenic and compressed hydrogen