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ENERGIX-Stort program energi

Hydrogen Liquefaction With Caloric Materials

Alternative title: Magnetokalorisk flytendegjøring av hydrogen

Awarded: NOK 8.0 mill.

Project Number:

336403

Project Period:

2023 - 2027

Funding received from:

Location:

Partner countries:

Te magnetocaloric effect describes the change of temperature that a magnetic material experiences when subjected to a change in magnetic field. When coupled to heat transfer processes, it can in fact be used to cool a load, even down to very low temperatures approaching absolute zero. There are high hopes that such a technology could make the liquefaction of gases such as LNG, Propane, Hydrogen and Helium much more efficient and less energy demanding than the current vapour compression process employed by industry. However, one of the major drawbacks of magnetic cooling is the dependence on critical raw materials, such as heavy rare earth elements and elements of conflict (Cobalt), since they show among the largest magnetocaloric effects at cryogenic conditions. The main goal of the LIQUID-H project has therefore been so far to search for novel materials that are less critical, more abundant and cost-effective alternatives to the ones currently employed. Indeed, we have been able to predict several new materials by using Materials Informatics (a combination of machine-learning, experimental results and density functional theory). Several of those materials are currently being synthesised and their structural and magnetic properties being evaluated.

HYLICAL will develop novel compounds with less than 50 % content of critical raw materials (rare-earth) for the cryogenic region (20-100 K) of a magnetocaloric hydrogen liquefaction (MCHL) process. We will provide design concepts for the active magnetic regenerator (AMR) and superconducting magnet subsystem. The project addresses several important scientific challenges: (i) High content of CRM in the materials (mostly binary compounds) employed today. This will be tackled by exploring the vast phase-space of multicomponent alloys with drastically reduced CRM content, and improved mechanical/chemical stability. (ii) Inefficient heat exchange between magnetocaloric materials and heat-transfer medium (HTM). This will be addressed by numerical simulations that search for new geometries with improved contact between the magnetocaloric material and the HTM. (iii) Superconducting field source must be developed. This will be dealt with by developing the concept for an innovative AMR-magnet subsystem based on superconducting tapes. This competence-building project will be an important first step towards establishing MCHL as an energy-efficient technology (target: 6-7 kWh/kgH2) for hydrogen liquefaction and for enabling zero boil-off during transport and storage. The project is led by Institute for Energy Technology, in collaboration with international partners from the Technical University of Denmark and Universidad de Sevilla (Spain). The project is financially supported in part by A/S Norske Shell, Greenstat ASA, IC Technology AS, Teco 2030 ASA, and NEL ASA as industry partners.

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Funding scheme:

ENERGIX-Stort program energi