World's first fully integrated demonstration of green hydrogen production, transport, and utilization at room temperature and atmospheric pressure

The Kono Laboratory of the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology (RCAST) at the University of Tokyo, together with ARM Technologies (Sagamihara City, Kanagawa Prefecture) and AISIN CORPORATION (Kariya City, Aichi Prefecture), announced on June 2 that they have successfully conducted a joint demonstration test of a new energy system. The system is built around the idea of "storing green hydrogen in a uniquely developed liquid, then transporting and utilizing it safely at room temperature and atmospheric pressure."

The three parties verified a series of processes, from filling a liquid hydrogen carrier developed by ARM with green hydrogen generated via solar power, transporting it between cities, and ultimately utilizing it as electricity. Based on ARM's hydrogen production/storage and power generation systems, Aisin was responsible for planning and promoting the overall demonstration, while the University of Tokyo conducted the field testing for the demonstration. This demonstration introduced a new concept of handling hydrogen as a "liquid fuel (energy medium)."

Historically, hydrogen required handling as a high-pressure gas or a cryogenic liquid. However, the hydrogen carrier used this time can be handled as a safe liquid hydrogen carrier with characteristics such as remaining in a liquid state at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, being water-based and non-flammable, and not falling under high-pressure gases, hazardous materials, or deleterious substances (possessing no toxicity or flammability). In the demonstration test, it was stored in a simple polypropylene container and transported manually in a tote bag. Conventional methods that convert hydrogen into stable chemical substances for transport, such as ammonia or MCH (methylcyclohexane), require energy for both carrier conversion and dehydrogenation. Consequently, the energy efficiency from hydrogen production to power generation drops to a low level of around 20% to 30%. In contrast, the liquid hydrogen carrier used in this study can store as-is green hydrogen electrolytically produced using electricity from solar power.

Extracting electricity from the liquid hydrogen carrier also enables revolutionary direct power generation at room temperature simply by injecting it into a uniquely developed power generation system, making high efficiency (an energy efficiency of 64%) possible.

Using this technology, the complete, end-to-end integration from green hydrogen production and storage to transport and power generation was demonstrated this time. Specifically, in a real-world operating environment stretching from ARM to the University of Tokyo, green hydrogen production via solar power was performed simultaneously with the filling of the liquid hydrogen carrier. This was then placed into a simple polypropylene container, transported, and utilized for electrical power generation at RCAST, the University of Tokyo.

The three parties anticipate that the establishment of this demonstrated technology will enable the long-term storage and transport of green hydrogen at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, serving as a major breakthrough toward achieving carbon neutrality.

According to the parties, it will bolster the further introduction of green power such as solar and wind, significantly contribute to improving the utilization rates of renewable energy facilities that are easily affected by weather. Also, it can be expected as an innovative technology that opens the path toward independent energy supplies during disasters, strengthened energy security, and future hydrogen energy supply chains.

Moving forward, the three parties will establish a mechanism to convert renewable energy generated by solar and wind into green hydrogen, safely storing and transporting the hydrogen as a liquid at room temperature and atmospheric pressure.

One of their future objectives is to construct a next-generation, large-scale infrastructure for renewable energy storage, transport, and utilization that supports regional energy sharing and efficient clean energy distribution. Another is to expand next-generation energy supply models for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and apply the technology to everyday mobile batteries.