Making hydrogen easy to deliver

Project Information

HYDROSIL

Grant agreement ID: 101009244

DOI

10.3030/101009244

Project closed

EC signature date 22 September 2020

Start date 1 October 2020

End date 30 September 2022

Funded under

• PRIORITY 'Societal challenges

Total cost

€ 1 692 875,71

EU contribution

€ 1 185 013,00

Coordinated by

HYSILABS
France

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - HYDROSIL (Making hydrogen easy to deliver )

Reporting period: 2021-10-01 to 2022-09-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Renewable hydrogen production from solar and wind resources is expected to play a prominent role in decarbonising energy-intensive industries as well as heavy-duty or long-distance transport modes.
One of the main challenges that hinders the deployment of hydrogen as a zero-emission mobility is how to transport and storage big quantities in a safe and economic way.
HySiLabs has developed and patented an innovative hydrogen carrier called “HydroSil”, a liquid silicon hydride derivative, which is stable, non-toxic, non-explosive and non-dangerous. HydroSil can be charged with hydrogen, transported, then release hydrogen at the consumption site easily, on-demand and without any external energy input. Furthermore, it can be reused as many times as desired.
This solution allows to use the existing logistic infrastructure for fossil fuel, thus revolutionising the hydrogen delivery sector. Its high hydrogen content enables to transport 7 times more H2 per truck than with high-pressure H2 gas, drastically reducing the operational costs and the related emissions.
Our innovation will have a disruptive impact in the mobility sector as it has the potential to remove the barriers that currently prevent a wide deployment of hydrogen-based applications by tackling safety, regulatory and supply chain issues. Moreover, HydroSil is a unique carbon-free solution, suitable for onboard applications in heavy mobility (trucks, trains, maritime, etc.).
The overall objective is to design and prepare a transfer package of the charging process (i.e loading the HydroSil molecule with hydrogen), including all the technical process data, economics and regulatory aspects, to be delivered to our future clients. In this frame we are mainly focus on these activities.
In the frame of the grant agreement, the project will focus on enhancing and demonstrating the feasibility of the charging process at industrial level, along with designing the sub-systems that will be part of it.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

At the beginning of the project, Hysilabs identified the 3 sub-systems involved in the charging process. Sub-system #2 was already achieved at large industrial scale. However, sub-system #1 and sub-system #3 were at early stages of development, respectively TRL (technical Readiness Level) of 3 and 4.
During the 12 first months of the HYDROSIL project, HySiLabs dedicated all its energy and resources to perform the connexion between the three “sub-systems” (or chemical process steps) of the production process (or “charging process”) of its hydrogen carrier (HydroSil).

More precisely, the work focused on demonstrating the compatibility of the outputs of each sub-system as an input for the next. This was achieved by studying existing literature and by achieving targeted experiments. Both quality and quantity factors were assessed.
Since difficulties arose to obtain satisfactory sub-system #1 results, an alternative in-house design was launched.
In parallel, the early stages of design for a kg-scale demonstrator for sub-system #3 were achieved.
During the last 12 months of the project, Hysilabs has demonstrated that connecting all 3 sub-systems is indeed feasible at industrial scale.
Current sub-system #1 needs improvement in order to be adopted at industrial scale, but promising leads have already been identified.
Sub-system #3 demonstrator has been manufactured, installed, and production of HydroSil has actually started, using the same process that would be used at wider industrial scale. The samples produced thanks to this demonstrator have been used to complete the substantiations for the feasibility of the overall charging process.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

At the end of the Project, Hysilabs had achieved to
• Demonstrate the feasibility of the charging process by validating the connexion between all sub-systems
• Design, manufacture and operate a HydroSil synthesis plant and pre industrial scale (1 kd/day)
• Qualify the compliance of HydroSil against several KPIs : hydrogen %wt density, melting point, boiling point, hydrogen purity, energy content kWh/kg

All these cumulated results will lead HySiLabs to produce a design of the charging process for its solution HydroSil. This solution will enable its customer to reach and develop new markets as transport and mobility markets as it would reduce the hydrogen transport cost by 10 and also reduce the costs related to security. Indeed, HydroSil is a non-explosive and non-toxic liquid.
By increasing the safety of hydrogen logistics, the solution will foster hydrogen acceptance. Its safety would also lead to the creation of a large network of hydrogen stations enabling people to travel across Europe with hydrogen-fuelled vehicles (zero emissions) and the creation of a new value-chain promoting employment in hydrogen sector.
Finally, using HydroSil instead of fossil fuel will reduce the reliance on them and political conflicts related to oil reserves.

Sample of Hydrosil

Hysilabs 2 founders attempting to a lab scale Hydrosil synthesis