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DOE Centers of Excellence for Hydrogen Storage

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) launched three "centers of excellence" in 2004 to improve the materials used for hydrogen storage. These virtual centers, which focus on adsorbents, metal hydrides, and chemical hydrogen storage materials, leverage the expertise of the DOE national laboratories in partnership with academia and industry.

NREL coordinates one of these centers: the Hydrogen Sorption Center of Excellence. Sandia National Laboratory coordinates the Metal Hydride Center of Excellence, and Los Alamos National Laboratory and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory jointly coordinate the Center of Excellence in Chemical Hydrogen Storage.

In 2009, DOE formed another center of excellence to focus on engineering issues. Coordinated by Savannah River National Laboratory, the Hydrogen Storage Engineering Center of Excellence is dedicated to improving storage system components optimized for specific hydrogen storage materials. As a participant in this center, NREL conducts "wells-to-tank" and other analyses and provides sorption material properties for the design and development of on-vehicle fuel storage systems.

Why is storage important?

Developing fuel-cell-powered vehicles with safe, efficient technologies for storing hydrogen is a key component of our nation's clean energy future. The potential rewards—reducing our nation's dependence on imported petroleum and slashing vehicle emissions—are huge. The centers of excellence address the major technical barrier to on-board hydrogen storage—storing enough hydrogen to enable a greater than 300-mile driving range without impacting cargo or passenger space.

Hydrogen Sorption Center of Excellence

NREL helps DOE coordinate the activities of the Hydrogen Sorption Center of Excellence, with input from a steering committee of representatives from NREL, the California Institute of Technology, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the University of Michigan, and Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. Other center members include staffers from Duke University, Texas A&M, Pennsylvania State University, Rice University, the University of Chicago, the University of North Carolina, Argonne National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the University of Missouri.

Organizational chart of the universities, government labs, and industrial partner that comprise the DOE Hydrogen Sorption Center of Excellence, including their respective areas of expertise: CalTech, Metal-Organic Frameworks, Measurements; NREL, Materials, Theory, Measurement, Systems, Center Leadership; NIST, Neutrons, University of Michigan, Spillover and Metal-Organic Frameworks; Air Products, Materials, Measurement, Theory, Engineering; University of Chicago, Polymer Design; Penn State, B-C-N Materials; University of Missouri, Nanoporous Carbons; University of North Carolina, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance; Duke, Nanoporous Materials; Rice, Nanoengineered Space, Theory; Argonne, Polymers; Oak Ridge, Carbon Nanohorns; Livermore, Aerogels; Texas A&M, Metal-Organic Frameworks.

The DOE Hydrogen Sorption Center of Excellence draws on the expertise of members from federal laboratories, academia, and industry.

Each member brings specific expertise to the table, which fosters the center's goals to accelerate and integrate technology-driven research and development of sorbent-based hydrogen storage materials.

Work at the center focuses on finding solutions that have the potential to meet DOE's 2015 targets for on-board hydrogen storage. To learn more about these technical targets, refer to the hydrogen storage section (PDF 640 KB) of the Multi-Year Research, Development, and Demonstration Plan. Download Adobe Reader.

Accomplishments

Since its inception, the Hydrogen Sorption Center of Excellence has applied a variety of experimental and theoretical techniques to explore the relationship between the structure of nanoscale materials and the energetics of hydrogen binding. Among the center's most important findings are the performance limits of specific material systems as well as general mechanistic information that can be used for further design and optimization.

The center's extensive production and testing of storage materials have led to the following significant improvements in these materials:

  • Increased volumetric capacities by more than 200%
  • Increased gravimetric capacities at ambient temperatures by more than 300%
  • The ability to reduce storage system costs by perhaps 200%.

To learn more about the center's accomplishments, refer to the "Overview of the DOE Hydrogen Sorption Center of Excellence" presentation (PDF 2 MB). To learn more about NREL's role, refer to the "NREL Research as Part of the Hydrogen Sorption Center of Excellence" presentation (PDF 4.7 MB). Download Adobe Reader.

Future Plans

While the Hydrogen Sorption Center of Excellence will be wrapping up in 2010, NREL will continue to work with DOE to establish programs designed to discover and improve new hydrogen sorption materials.

NREL will also continue its work with the Hydrogen Storage Engineering Center of Excellence to design hydrogen storage systems that meet DOE targets for a number of applications, including early markets, portable power, delivery, and vehicles.