An installation for transport and storage of hydrogen and its mixtures as a response to mobility and urban energy independence.
The subject of the research in this paper is the analysis of transport and storage systems, especially for hydrogen and hydrogen mixtures in their compressed or liquid state, mainly from the producers (e.g. photovoltaic farms) to the final users, which are usually gas/hydrogen retail or wholesale distribution stations, power plants e.g. The end users are usually retail or wholesale gas/hydrogen distribution stations, power plants e.g. hydrogen cells switched on during the peak of power consumption, plants using gas-hydrogen permanently as an alternative, cheap and ecological source of energy for obtaining electricity and heat, stations reducing gas-hydrogen pressure and further distribution. What is particularly important, it is possible to use the described dedicated solution in individual residential houses, or stations for the production of liquid hydrogen
The authors of the study, which is the main content of this article, propose the development of a simple design for the transport and storage of, in particular, hydrogen and its mixtures, which are primarily energy produced by RES and surplus energy networks, as well as other green energy sources such as nuclear power plants or other green sources of low-carbon (green) hydrogen production. In turn, the possibility of vertical direct connection of aboveground consumers to this system will result in significant savings in the design and construction of hydrogen or hydrogen mixture stations, which will also benefit the widespread availability of hydrogen as a fuel, while significantly reducing the cost of its production and distribution in commercial vehicle propulsion applications.
The following is a proposal for an installation dedicated to business customers interested in achieving energy independence.
A further goal of the problem-solving proposal is to develop such a transport and storage facility, especially for hydrogen and its mixtures, which will allow for the future creation of local universal networks for the production, distribution, and consumption of hydrogen as an alternative means of obtaining energy for various purposes. These networks will naturally be able to interconnect into larger and larger areas, providing a low-cost form of “hydrogenation” of the society of the future, without any barriers or restrictions, which will be provided by horizontal drilling carried out in different directions, at different angles, and at any depth, without the need for groundwork and the associated difficulties and inconvenience.
A system for the transport and storage of hydrogen and hydrogen mixtures from a supplier to a customer partially located below ground is characterized in that it consists of at least two vertically positioned tubular elements connected to each other by a further tubular element forming together a tubular “U-profile”, the upper end of the vertical tubular elements is connected via a non-return valve to a tubular element, into which hydrogen and/or hydrogen mixtures from a further tubular element connected to at least one supplier of hydrogen and hydrogen mixtures are pumped, while the upper end of the second vertical tubular element is connected via a one-way valve to a further tubular element connected to at least one consumer of hydrogen and/or hydrogen mixtures. A heating and cooling device is attached to the outer surfaces of the tubular elements forming the “U-profile” and to the last tubular element, with the tubular “U-profile” located below the ground surface, below the permafrost boundary, and the weight of the upper ground layer above the tubular “U-profile” balances at least the planned gas pressure in the “U-profile”.
It is preferable when the tubular element connecting the vertical tubular elements is located horizontally below the ground surface and when the tubular element connecting the vertical tubular elements is located obliquely below the ground surface so that an acute angle is formed between one of the vertical tubular elements and this tubular element. In the course of the research carried out by the article’s co-author, it was established that all vertically positioned tubular elements must remain parallel to each other. It is important that the last pipe element fitted with a pump is installed between the one-way valve and the consumer.
It is also preferable if a pressure device for equalizing the pressure of hydrogen and/or its mixtures are placed between the first pump and the one-way valve. It is also preferable when the device for equalizing the pressure of hydrogen and/or its mixtures consists of two low-pressure equalizing tanks, connected by means of a pipe element equipped with one-way valves to the pump, and by means of further pipe elements with further one-way valves to the equalizing tank located below the ground surface. medium pressure, which in turn is connected through a one-way valve to the vertical tubular element of the “U-shaped” tubular profile. The proposed diameter of the riser and connecting tubular element should be between 5-100 cm in order for the first pump to inject hydrogen and/or mixtures of hydrogen into the “U-profile” at a pressure of at least 100 bar.
In addition, a system for the transport and storage of hydrogen and mixtures thereof from the supplier to the consumer, partly placed underground, is characterized by the fact that it comprises a tubular “U-profile” element curved at its lower part, one upper end of this tubular element being connected to a tubular element via a non-return valve, into which hydrogen and/or hydrogen mixtures are pumped from a first tubular element connected to a supplier of hydrogen and/or hydrogen mixtures, while the other upper end of this tubular “U-profile” element is connected via another one-way valve to a tubular element connected to a consumer of hydrogen and/or hydrogen mixtures, and a heating and cooling device is adjacent to the outer surfaces of the U-tube element and the last tubular element.
The first pump injects hydrogen and/or mixtures of hydrogen into the tubular “U-profile” element at a pressure of at least 100 bar, and the last tube element is fitted with an additional pump, mounted between the next one-way valve and the consumer. The tubular “U-profile” element has a diameter of at least 20 mm. What is the optimal solution?
The use of an installation for the transport and storage, especially of hydrogen and its mixtures, obtained by electrolysis from low-cost, local renewable energy sources or unused energy surpluses of the national system, as well as blue hydrogen produced from fossil fuels in combination with CO2 capture or other methods of green hydrogen production, according to the invention which has received a patent co-authored by one of the article’s authors, will make it possible to:
- the safe, automatic, immediate, and contact-free transport of hydrogen/gases from the producer to the consumer and the safe and environmentally friendly storage, also in the long term without loss, of significant quantities of gas/hydrogen in a highly concentrated state
- simultaneous supply of gas/hydrogen to installations from different sources (suppliers) located in different places and its supply to independent customers (thus eliminating the dominance of energy and fuel monopolies – free energy)
- a significant reduction in the end-user price of hydrogen/gas, also due to the elimination of expensive road transport the use and revitalization of existing wells that are no longer in operation, which will also contribute to lowering the level of methane, a dangerous greenhouse gas, escaping into the atmosphere a significant reduction in the construction and operating costs of gas/hydrogen distribution stations, their physical size and location, as well as the accompanying infrastructure, by not having to build expensive tanks at distributors and large safety zones at critical points along transport routes, which will also have a positive impact on the speed and widespread use of hydrogen as an energy source.
The patented solution of the invention will make it possible to switch to so-called “Distributed Energy”, which will be one of the possible further forms of reducing energy costs and saving energy, by not having to build expensive and energy-intensive extended transmission lines. The possibility, assumed in the solution according to the invention, of producing and storing hydrogen primarily for own needs, by individual users, will allow individual consumers (consumers) to become completely independent from the Central National Power Grid, which will also have a significant impact on reducing energy costs, and will be in line with the assumptions of the so-called “Society 5.0” concept.
The subject of the invention in five exemplary variants of its execution is visualized in the illustrated drawings and shows a schematic diagram of a variant of the execution of a system for the transport and storage of hydrogen in an assembled state of its functionally interconnected components. A diagram of the second variant of the implementation of the hydrogen transport and storage system with natural gas in an assembled state of its functionally interconnected components in front view.
Prof. Piotr Zawada, PhD. – Head of the Department of Managerial Economics at the Faculty of Socio-Economic of UKSW.
Jerzy Jurasz – author of inventions and innovative and technological solutions, the creator of 3 patent applications in the field of health water production, high-pressure fluid processing, and hydrogen transport and storage.
