Wind-powered Hydrogen Generation and Storage at Atmospheric Temperature and Pressure　

Producing organic hydride from hydrogen gas
Copyright Wakkanai Alternative and Renewable Energy Study Group

Wakkanai Alternative and Renewable Energy Study Group and Hrein Energy Inc., a company devoted to hydrogen storage and supply systems, demonstrated a joint experiment to produce organic hydride from hydrogen generated by a wind power generation facility in Wakkanai, Hokkaido, the northernmost prefecture of Japan, on July 16, 2008.

The experiment aimed at establishing a new regional business partnership through technological coordination.

The Wakkanai Study group set up a water electrolysis power cell―as a research project subject to "Model Projects for Town Promotion through the Virtuous Cycle between Economy and the Environment" conducted by Japan's Ministry of the Environment between fiscal 2005 and 2007― to generate hydrogen from the electric power generated by the city's wind turbine located in the Wakkanai park.

Hrein Energy Inc., demonstrated a technology to store hydrogen in the form of organic hydride, under the scheme of "Promotion for developing industrial technology aiming at achievement of Kyoto Protocol Goals" by the International Center for Environmental Technology Transfer (ICETT) in fiscal 2006 and 2007. In this joint experiment, they demonstrated the same technology using excess hydrogen obtained through the above-mentioned system in Wakkanai.

Organic hydride is a method for storing hydrogen in the form of liquid at the atmospheric temperature and pressure. When compared with compressed hydrogen, this method can store 1.2 to 3 times more hydrogen gravimetrically and 25 to 30 times more hydrogen volumetrically. Organic hydride can also be transported safely by tanker trucks, as its chemical properties are comparable to gasoline or kerosene. In addition, if this method is utilized in a wind power generation, building such facilities at locations with good wind conditions but without being dependent on power grids would be possible. A sharp increase of wind power capacity is thus expected.

The hydrogen energy stored during this open experiment was transported from Wakkanai city to Sapporo city and used as a fuel for a demonstration of a hydrogen vehicle at the "Eco, Energy and community Development Summit" held in Sapporo on July 28, 2008.　

- Hrein Energy Inc. official website
http://www.hrein.jp/english/event/index.htm
- Environment/Economy Harmonization Projects in 2nd Year (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/026297.html

Posted: 2008/11/30 06:17:10 AM