LOHC Technologie - A Overview

LOHC is the storage and transportation solution of the future – we explain how it works.

The so-called Marlotherm is used as a Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carrier (LOHC), i.e. a liquid carrier medium for hydrogen. This oil-like liquid has been used as a heat transfer oil in a wide variety of applications and industries for years. Its ability to chemically bind hydrogen was discovered some time ago. By chemically binding the hydrogen, it can also be stored under normal conditions, contrary to current practice.

This makes hydrogen handling not only safer, but also cheaper. With LOHC, the volatile hydrogen gas no longer needs to be cooled or compressed in a costly and energy-intensive manner in order to enable economical transport.

One m³ LOHC enables the safe storage of 57 kg H2.

What can LOHC do?

With LOHC we have the possibility to compensate for temporal fluctuations and also local discrepancies between the generation and the demand of energy. This makes hydrogen easy to transport. For example, from northern Germany, where hydrogen can be produced using wind energy, to the south, where hydrogen can help reduce CO2 emissions in refineries.

Use at petrol stations or in ship drives is just as conceivable as use in the glass and cement industries. All areas in which hydrogen can be used can and will also benefit from LOHC as hydrogen storage.

How does LOHC work?

With pressures between 30 – 50 bar and catalysts specially developed for this application, the LOHC can be hydrogenated, i.e. hydrogen can be chemically bound. The resulting hydrogenated LOHC + can then be handled using the known infrastructure for fuels such as gasoline and diesel. The hydrogenation process is exothermic. The waste heat developed in this way can be used in other processes and thus increases the overall system efficiency.

If the hydrogen is needed again, for example in chemical process plants, the steel industry or to supply fuel cells in order to use electrical energy, it can be extracted again from the LOHC +.

In order to dehydrate the LOHC +, i.e. to release the hydrogen from the liquid again, the LOHC + passes through a dehydrogenation reactor, which contains the catalyst required for this process. In contrast to hydrogenation, dehydrogenation is an endothermic reaction. The necessary energy must therefore be added and can, for example, be made available within the system by using the hydrogen itself or provided by other, external heat sources.

The dehydrogenated LOHC- can now be returned to the location of the hydrogenation and reloaded with hydrogen. The cycle is closed. The LOHC itself is not consumed, but reused many times over. The service life is also increased by the possibility of purification as soon as this becomes necessary after various (de) hydrogenation cycles.

What is LOHC?

LOHC is a heat-resistant oil with a capacity of 57 kg hydrogen per 1 m3. Hydrogen is chemically bound to and released from the LOHC in a chemical reaction on a catalyst.

Safe heat transfer oil, in commercial use for decades

Globally produced in refineries

Safe storage/release, transport and handling under ambient ressure/temp. vs. liquid Hydrogen at -252°C (-487 ℉) or toxic Ammonia

50x more cost effective than Lithium-Ion batteries

compatible with existing infrastructure

infinite storage life

LOHC cleaning cycles up to 7 years

LOHC öl h2 Industries

Storage and transportation of hydrogen

Storing and transporting hydrogen is one of the key challenges in the new global hydrogen economy. This is because hydrogen in its natural, gaseous form has the lowest density of all gases and is also highly flammable when mixed with the smallest amount of air. Storage of hydrogen as a liquid needs a lot of energy as it requires cryogenic temperatures because the boiling point of hydrogen at one atmosphere pressure is −252.8°C. Another storing and transportation option is the conversion of hydrogen into ammonia. To transport it ammonia gas is chilled and compressed to convert it from a gaseous to a liquid state. When released into the environment, liquid ammonia rapidly boils and returns to its gaseous state. Liquid ammonia expands to a gas at a ratio of 850:1. This means that a relatively small release of liquid ammonia can easily turn into a massive cloud of ammonia gas, evolving into catastrophic incidents. In addition, ammonia is flammable and is considered immediately dangerous to life and health. All of the above storage and transportation means require not only very careful handling, but also special design storage and transportation infrastructure.
LOHC as a carrier oil for hydrogen in contrary has many physicochemical similarities to diesel. Thus, LOHC can be handled in the existing infrastructure for liquid fuels, like oil tankers, trains or trucks, even existing oil-pipelines and storage facilities can be used. Due to their good energy storage densities, low cost, as well as unproblematic toxicology and handling, LOHC is one of the safest and most economical ways of storing and transporting hydrogen.

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H2-Pipeline
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LOHC technology turns hydrogen into a secure power storage technology

H2-Enterprises solutions render the use of hydrogen gas in power storage technology simple, safe and effective making it possible to store, transport and release large quantities of electricity in an environmentally friendly, harmless way.

Energy storage in comparison

graphic storage

Hydrogen is an ideal energy source. It is easy to produce using renewable energy sources and is available in large quantities. No pollutants result from H2-Enterprises’s processes. Nothing is burned. Nothing is polluted. Nothing is damaged.

 

H2-Enterprises technology is revolutionary and portends a huge advance in the electricity market.it Hydrogen has become a safe energy source from creation, storage, and transport to release.

The LOHC technology is based on liquid carriers, that bind hydrogen chemically.  Within H2’s process, stored hydrogen is not volatile and cannot self-discharge. The LOHC can be charged and discharged only in combination with a catalyst, infusing and releasing hydrogen, as often as needed making it remarkably cost effective

LOHC im Vergleich

LOHC value chain

lohc value chain

Hydrogenation of the LOHC

H2-Enterprises storage solutions work by charging (hydrogenation) and discharging (dehydrogenation) the LOHC. The charging and discharging are independent processes using proprietary catalyst technology

The chemical process for storing hydrogen in the LOHC is performed under pressure. This allows an electrolyser to deliver the hydrogen directly, rendering additional energy-intensive compression unnecessary. The chemical reaction in which the hydrogen is bound in the LOHC takes place in a hydrogenation unit with a bed of porous noble metal catalysts and metered LOHC. This exothermic reaction heat releases heat, which is further utilised in downstream processes. Finally, the hydrogen-charged LOHC+ (perhydro-dibenzyltoluene) is pumped into the storage tank.

hydrogenation

LOHC release / dehydrogenation

he recovery of the hydrogen from the loaded LOHC+ takes place at a temperature of 250 to 300 degrees Celsius. This endothermic reaction requires heat, which is provided within the reaction process. The release process takes place in a dehydrogenation unit with a catalyst. Here, the chemical bond between the energy source and hydrogen is broken again. The hydrogen is taken from the reactor in gaseous form and may be converted directly into electricity in a fuel cell. The discharged LOHC (Dibenzyltoluene) is stored in a tank until needed again. The LOHC cycle is closed.
One liter of LOHC stores one kilowatt hour of electrical energy and one kilowatt hour of thermal energy in the form of hydrogen. When converted back into electricity by a fuel cell, the electrical energy is made available again. The advantages of H2-Enterprises’ LOHC technology are impressive: it is safe and environmentally friendly, has unlimited storage capacity, is also rechargeable and stable over long periods of time. It is compatible with the existing infrastructure and unrivalled, the electricity-to-electricity storage price will be 3.5 cents.
In connection with wind or solar energy systems, the LOHC technology from H2-Enterprises makes the energy transition safe, because renewable energies are now base load capable.

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