Design and Simulation of Activated Carbon Tanks for Hydrogen Storage

While hydrogen production from renewable energy sources does not have real limiting drawbacks, storage instead poses serious questions on whether an adequate solution will ever be achieved. The Department of Energy (USA) set targets for non-stationary storage systems which prove difficult to meet: gravimetric capacity is targeted at 9% (3 kWh/kg) for year 2015. Such targets are though not binding for stationary applications, but still are considered the goal for H2 storage. Classic storage technology (compression, liquefaction) seems not to be the answer.To find alternative storage solutions, a complete hybrid system with hydrogen storage based on physical adsorption of hydrogen on activated carbons was modeled and simulated.