Hydrogen Compression and Storage for Fuel Cell Vehicle Refueling

Abstract

The primary focus of this research is on the study of the feasibility of hydrogen storage in the form of high-pressure ammonia and a comparison with pure hydrogen gas compression in storage tanks with reference mainly to automobile application. This thesis illustrates an examination of this topic that develops along four main directions. A first direction presents an introduction on the appeal of having hydrogen stored in ammonia and shows that hydrogen conversion into ammonia can be a reasonable option that makes sense energetically. The second line of research investigates the Haber-Bosch process for ammonia synthesis and the effectiveness of hydrogen storage in ammonia. The third direction explores the energy flow and requirements for hydrogen compression for the ammonia storage. The last area of investigation studies the performance of ammonia in fuel cells compared to high-pressure hydrogen. A simulation of the system has been configured using Aspen Plus for parametric studies and performance optimization. This research concludes that storing hydrogen in ammonia is an energy saving storing method that can be preferable to high-pressure storage tanks. It requires lower amounts of energy than compression, yet it produces similar performance when utilized in a fuel cell system.

Date of Award	19 Dec 2023
Original language	American English
Supervisor	Kyritsis (Supervisor)