HyLICAL

IN PROGRESS

Project Description

Gaseous H2 takes up a lot of space, meaning there is less energy per unit volume, which complicates storage and transportation. It is also riskier to store and transport gaseous H2 relative to liquid H2. Hydrogen liquefaction is a promising route to encouraging large-scale deployment. It faces several challenges, including high energy consumption and costs. The EU-funded HyLICAL project will implement hydrogen liquefaction harnessing the magnetocaloric effect. It will increase energy efficiency by 20-50 %, reduce capital and operating expenses by at least 20 %, enable decentralised H2 production, removing the need for transportation, and be coupled to H2 production from renewables.

Topic

Industry and Transport Decarbonisation

Period

Jan 2023 – Dec 2027

EPG Project Manager

Alexandru Ciocan

Senior Researcher

Project objectives

HyLICAL will contribute to reaching an energy demand of 8 kWh/kg and a liquefaction cost of <1.5 €/kg as targeted in the call by validating an innovative and energy-efficient liquefier prototype for the cryogenic region (< 120 K) based on magnetic refrigeration. The implementation of the magnetocaloric hydrogen liquefaction (MCHL) technology developed in HyLICAL offers the following perspectives: i) Increased energy efficiency of >20% for small liquefaction volumes of <5 tonnes per day (TPD) and up to 50% for >5 TPD; ii) Reduced capital expenditures (CAPEX) and operating expenses (OPEX) by at least 20% in addition to the targeted energy savings; iii) Decentralized (local) production of liquid hydrogen (LH2), thus reducing the need for distribution and transport across long distances; iv) Coupling of the MCHL technology to hydrogen production from renewables (green hydrogen) for off-grid configurations; v) Integration into conventional liquefaction plants to increase their overall energy efficiency; vi) Application of the process for the liquefaction of hydrogen and for boil-off management of LH2 tanks.
The MCHL technology will enable the decentralized production of green LH2, in competition with LH2 from fossil sources, and will furthermore reduce the need to transport LH2 over large distances if there is a local green energy source available (e.g. bio-based or electricity from renewables). We will drive the Technology Relevance Level for MCHL technology from initially TRL 3 to TRL 5 at project end. This will be achieved by significantly increasing the liquefaction capacity of the demonstrator from the current SoA (<1 kg/day) to close to 100 kg/day. We will demonstrate that there are no intrinsic limitations that prevent the MCHL technology from being scaled up to suit flowrates above 100 TPD, as highlighted in the call, thus satisfying the need for large-scale production capacities needed in the heavy-duty mobility sector and elsewhere.
The main contribution of EPG in the project:
• Define a suitable roadmap to prepare the deployment of low carbon LH2 solutions
• Assess the various advantages of using renewable LH2 in heavy-duty mobility in terms of emission reduction compared to tradition fuels including the boil-off management for the overall supply chain
• Assess advantages of using LH2 to valorise renewable energy in an off-grid configuration
• Assess limits and advantages of the proposed technology

Project’s webpage

https://www.hylical.eu/

Partners

Institutt for Energiteknikk (coordinator)

Technische Universitat Darmstadt
Engie
Shell Global Solutions International bv

Danmarks Tekniske Universitet

Universidad de Sevilla
Subra a/s
Fives Cryo

University of Ulster

Universita di Pisa
Asociatia Energy Policy Group

Helmholtz-zentrum Dresden-rossendorf EV

Magnotherm Solutions GMBH
Iberdrola

Countries

Norway, Spain, Italy, Germany, Denmark, UK, Germany, France, Romania, The Netherlands

Funding

Horizon Europe