Learn about hydrogen cooling at the hydrogen refueling station in this Hyfindr Tech Talk. Steven and Florian with expertise in hydrogen cooling, explained the necessity and process of cooling hydrogen at filling stations. Florian discussed how heat exchangers are used for cooling, either directly or indirectly, and described the detailed refrigeration process. This Hyfindr Tech Talk touched also on the temperature and pressure requirements for this process and shared future prospects, suggesting that the industry may shift to natural refrigerants like CO2.
#hydrogencooling #hydrogenprecooling #hydrogendirectcooling #h2cooling #h2precooling #h2directcooling
Jump right into the discussion topics:
0:00 Hyfindr Tech Talk
0:27 Welcome, Florian Lechner
0:34 What is hydrogen cooling?
1:29 How does hydrogen cooling work?
3:07 Why is hydrogen cooling needed and what are different hydrogen cooling types?
4:46 Direct cooling method for hydrogen
7:10 Indirect cooling method for hydrogen
11:19 Thermal energy required for hydrogen cooling
13:10 What makes hydrogen cooling expensive?
14:47 Future trends in hydrogen cooling
16:37 Like, subscribe, and comment
Executive Summary of Tech Talk Script:
During this Hyfindr Tech Talks, Steven welcomes Florian Lechner, an energy engineer from KUSTEC, specializing in hydrogen cooling. They explored the need and process of cooling hydrogen, particularly at hydrogen filling stations (HRS).
Florian explained hydrogen cooling for HRS as the process of reducing the temperature of hot gaseous hydrogen to a lower level. This process becomes crucial at hydrogen filling stations, where cooling units are installed. He detailed how a heat exchanger situated beside or inside the dispenser assists in the cooling process. When refueling, hydrogen flows from high pressure storage tanks with up to 1000 bar through a pressure regulator and a heat exchanger, which brings the temperature of the gaseous hydrogen down to -40° C. This precooling compensates for the temperature increase occurring inside the vehicle's tank due to hydrogen compression.
Explaining further, Florian differentiated between active and passive cooling methods. Active cooling is divided into direct and indirect types. In direct cooling, the hydrogen is cooled directly via a diffusion-bonded heat exchanger. With indirect cooling, an additional cooling circuit is added with a large storage tank and a liquid coolant as an intermediate. Lastly, passive cooling employs an aluminum block heat exchanger.
In the case of direct cooling for car applications, typically a cooling capacity of 45 kW of thermal energy is installed, while bus applications require up to 145 kW cooling power. He noted that direct cooling consumes much less energy in total, only during the refueling process (e.g.: 45 kW x 3 min = 2.25 kWh), while indirect cooling consumes a lot more energy in total because it needs to precool the big coolant storage continuously.
On the cost aspect, cooling of hydrogen for HRS is currently still expensive due to the many highly specialized components. However, as the technology scales up, he anticipates costs will decrease.
Looking towards the future, Florian predicted a focus on natural refrigerants, as synthetic ones have significant global warming potential. CO2 is their choice for this application because of its eco-friendliness and suitability for cooling down to -40° C. Other natural refrigerants include flammable ones like Propane or Ethane, which he believes are better suited to other applications and temperature values.
Interview partner and company: Florian Lechner (KUSTEC - [ Ссылка ])
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In this Hyfindr Tech Talk following topics are discussed: Hydrogen cooling, hydrogen refueling, direct cooling, indirect cooling, active cooling, passive cooling, thermal energy required for hydrogen cooling, future trends in hydrogen cooling, hydrogen refueling in cars, hydrogen refueling in trucks, hydrogen technology explained, fuel cell technology, refrigerants, t20 protocol, t40 protocol, hydrogen refueling stations, h2 technology, and why hydrogen cooling is important before hydrogen refueling.
