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 represents a 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, and be coupled to H2 production from renewables.

The main use of liquid hydrogen is expected to be in the heavy-duty transport sector.

Topic

Industry and Transport Decarbonisation

Period

01/01/2023 - 31/12/2027

EPG Project Manager

Alexandru Ciocan

Senior Researcher

Project objectives

The magnetocaloric hydrogen liquefaction (MCHL) technology developed in HyLICAL offers the following perspectives:
• Increased energy efficiency of >20% for small liquefaction volumes of <5 tonnes per day (TPD) and up to 50% for >5 TPD
• Reduced capital expenditures (CAPEX) and operating expenses (OPEX) by at least 20% in addition to the targeted energy savings
• Decentralized (local) production of liquid hydrogen (LH2), thus reducing the need for distribution and transport across long distances
• Coupling of the MCHL technology to hydrogen production from renewables (green hydrogen) for off-grid configurations
• Integration into conventional liquefaction plants to increase their overall energy efficiency
• Application of the process for the liquefaction of hydrogen and for boil-off management of LH2 tanks.
The main contribution of EPG in the project is to:
• 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 traditional 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, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Romania, The Netherlands

Funding

Horizon Europe through Clean Hydrogen Partnership