[ aviation ] onboard Daimler Trucks . This technology is now being piloted at a commercial scale : Linde and Daimler Truck opened the first sLH 2 refuelling station at Wörth am Rhein in Germany in February of 2024 .
Scaling up liquid hydrogen infrastructure
90 % of global hydrogen liquefaction capacity exists in North America . NASA programs catalysed the demand , and liquid hydrogen capacity additions in North America continue to outpace the growth of hydrogen liquefaction in Europe and Asia .
In Canada , Air Products has operated a 30-tonne per day hydrogen liquefier for many years . Air Liquide at Bécancour has a liquefier with a capacity of 10 tonnes per day . Through the course of 2023 and 2024 , Plug Power has started up 15-tonne per day hydrogen liquefiers in Georgia and Louisiana .
Just north of Las Vegas in Nevada , Air Liquide inaugurated their 30-tonne per day liquefier in 2022 . The site , which also produces and stores hydrogen , represented an investment of $ 250 million for the company .
The compact nature of Europe ’ s industrial base in the northwest of Germany , the Netherlands , Belgium , and northern France has favoured the economics of compressed gaseous hydrogen distribution by road . This , combined with two comprehensive hydrogen pipeline networks in this industrialised region , has historically subdued the need for liquid hydrogen infrastructure .
In Europe , the 10-tonne per day liquefier operated by Air Liquide at Waziers in France is Europe ’ s largest hydrogen liquefier . Air Products operates a 5-tonne per day liquefier in the Rozenburg part of the Port of Rotterdam , the Netherlands , and Linde operates two similar capacity units in Germany .
Reaction Engines Testing . Image © Reaction Engines Ltd
In 2022 , Air Products announced the construction of a new hydrogen liquefier at Botlek , which will double Europe ’ s hydrogen liquefaction capacity when it opens in 2025 . Aviation and other emerging mobility applications of liquid hydrogen are likely to see similar hydrogen liquefier capacity expansions and drive Europe in a similar direction to North America .
Simplified supply chain
In addition to hydrogen liquefiers being scarce , the absence of liquid refuelling infrastructure at airports would be a bottleneck to the adoption of cryogenic liquid hydrogen in aviation .
The construction of multiple fuelling locations at a single airport , with the installation of cryogenically insulated liquid hydrogen pipelines running underground , would be an enormous engineering challenge to undertake at great cost .
To kick-start access to liquid hydrogen for aviation , the startup Universal Hydrogen has conceived a removable , refillable liquid hydrogen storage tank and supply chain concept . The company is based both in Toulouse , where Airbus has one of its main manufacturing locations , and in Hawthorne , California .
During their period as an active startup and pioneer of hydrogen aviation , Universal Hydrogen proposed to use cryogenically insulated , metal containers with more than 1,000 litres of capacity
Hydrogen Tech World | Issue 17 | August 2024 39