BMW Develops New Generation of Hydrogen Storage Tanks

BMW LH2 lightweight formtank

Lighter and more compact

By Brian Potter
June 6, 2008 10:00 PM
Filed Under: BMW, German, Green, Technology

BMW's research and technology arm, BMW Group Forschung und Technik, along with numerous partners (see list below) from other car manufacturers and European aerospace industry, have developed a new type of tank made of composite material for storing liquid hydrogen. Using such materials allows the tank to be reduced in size by a third compared to conventional cylindrical steel tanks currently in use. Additionally, the electronic auxiliary systems have been integrated into the tank's outer casing. The result is a tank that occupies less space in the car, is easier to produce and easier to maintain.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Raymond Freymann, Director of BMW Group Forschung und Technik: “The demonstration model of the new free-form tank being presented marks an important step forward into the hydrogen future. Filled with ten kilograms of hydrogen, it could allow a range well in excess of 500 kilometres in a future vehicle.”

Over the past four and a half years, the cost of the project to advancing current hydrogen storage technologies (high-pressure, liquid and solid storage) was 18.7 million euros, with EU funding to the sum of 10.7 million euros. Presentation of the LH2 lightweight formtank is currently under way at the final event of the “StorHy” EU project in Poissy near Paris.

Source: BMW

Press Release (Click to expand)

The new generation of hydrogen storage tanks: lighter and more compact

Innovative design of liquid hydrogen tanks enables better integration into vehicles

Munich. BMW Group Forschung und Technik, the company’s research and technology arm, has been working with other car manufacturers to achieve an important step forward in hydrogen storage. Teaming up with partners, including some from the European aerospace industry, the engineers have developed a novel type of tank made of composite material for storing liquid hydrogen.

Thanks to its innovative concept, the weight of the entire tank system can be reduced to a third compared with conventional cylindrical steel tanks. Its adaptable form lends it a high degree of flexibility, allowing for significant energy savings. The subsidiary systems, moreover, are integrated inside the tank’s casing, which means the tank takes up less room in the car and maintenance is also made much easier. The inner tank is designed on a modular basis, simplifying the production process in comparison with existing hydrogen tanks.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Raymond Freymann, Director of BMW Group Forschung und Technik: “The demonstration model of the new free-form tank being presented marks an important step forward into the hydrogen future. Filled with ten kilograms of hydrogen, it could allow a range well in excess of 500 kilometres in a future vehicle.”

BMW Group Forschung und Technik is presenting the prototype of this innovative liquid hydrogen storage tank at the final event of the “StorHy” EU project in Poissy near Paris on 3 and 4 June 2008. In the past four and a half years BMW Group Forschung und Technik, along with 34 partners from the European aerospace industry, the automotive and supply industry, and leading universities and research institutes, has been investigating ways of advancing current hydrogen storage technologies (high-pressure, liquid and solid storage). The cost of the project was 18.7 million euros, with EU funding to the sum of 10.7 million euros.

BMW Forschung und Technik GmbH is a 100% subsidiary of BMW AG and has been responsible for research within the BMW Group since 2003. Its subject areas cover VehicleTechnology, CleanEnergy (hydrogen technology), EfficientDynamics (intelligent energy management/alternative drive systems), ConnectedDrive (driver assistance/active safety) and ITDrive (IT and communications technology). Its legal independence as a limited company guarantees creative freedom and maximum flexibility. Global access to new trends and technologies is ensured by an internationally established network with
branches in the USA (Palo Alto, CA and Clemson, SC), Japan (Tokyo) as well as liaison offices in France with Eurécom (Sophia Antipolis) and in Germany (Saarbrücken) with the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI GmbH).

The StorHy consortium:
ADETE - Advanced Engineering & Technologies GmbH
AIR LIQUIDE Deutschland GmbH
Air Liquide S. A.
Austrian Aerospace GmbH
BMW Forschung und Technik GmbH
Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung
CENTRE NATIONAL DE RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE
COMAT COMPOSITE MATERIALS GmbH
Commissariat à l’énergie atomique
Daimler AG
Dynetek Europe GmbH
ET- Energie Technologie Gesellschaft für innovative Energie und Wasserstofftechnologie mbH
European Commission - Directorate General Joint Research Centre
Faber Industrie Spa
FORD FORSCHUNGSZENTRUM AACHEN GMBH
Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe GmbH
Fundación para la Investigación y el Desarrollo en Automoción CIDAUT
GKSS Forschungszentrum Geesthacht GmbH
Institut für Verbundwerkstoffe GmbH
Institute for Energy Technology
Institute for Protection Systems - Prochain e.V. at the University of Applied Sciences Ingolstadt
INSTITUTO NACIONAL DE TÉCNICA AEROESPACIAL INTA
Linde Aktiengesellschaft
MAGNA STEYR Fahrzeugtechik AG & Co KG
MATERIAL S.A.
MT Aerospace AG, Augsburg
National Center for Scientific Research Demokritos
Oeko-Institut e.V.
Oerlikon Space AG
Peugeot Citroën Automobiles
The University of Nottingham
Volvo Technology Corporation
WEH GmbH
Wroclaw University of Technology

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BMW Hydrogen Engine Project Improves Efficiency - On par with diesel engines (6 comments

Comments

thamzn

June 6, 2008 10:44 PM

Hydrogen power is the futre, if only we can safely contain it and produce it in an environmentally friendlier manner. I think both are possible.

fshizl

June 6, 2008 11:22 PM

how is it not friendly? what are the wastes for hydrogen? Waste of hydrogen is water vapors.

carcrazy1234

June 7, 2008 1:07 AM

omg... fshizl. when's the last time you went to science class?? seriously now... hydrogen doesn't just come out naturally. You have to actually produce the hydrogen aka make big factories to do so AKA polluting the environment to MAKE the hydrogen which we will use in our cars. When its used in our cars they do not emit any emmissions as you said yourself, but to MAKE it, the process emits pollution.

stillthewhizz

June 7, 2008 12:41 AM

It's useless. It evaporates if not used within a specific period.

carcrazy1234

June 7, 2008 1:08 AM

isn't that why their spending research money on CONTAINING the hydrogen?? aka what this article is all about... "new generation of hydrogen storage tanks".. lol

carcrazy1234

June 7, 2008 1:10 AM

and if its so useless, why don't you come up with something better lol... like seriously it emits water. unless you make something that emits "air" please don't diss these USEFULL ideas lol

Joe_Limon

June 8, 2008 1:47 AM

uhm. Regular gasoline engines emit water and air... If run under perfect combustion they can even burn off all those nasty greenhouse gases. Unfortunately, that extra cleaning results in a decrease of efficiency so your gonna get worse mileage. Something better... how bout hydraulic launch assist... it emits nothing, requires no harmful batteries or any other chemicals, is cheap, easy to fix and build.

carcrazy1234

June 8, 2008 5:16 PM

i didn't know gasoline engines emit water and air.... lol i thought they emit CO2?? :P

Joe_Limon

June 8, 2008 10:27 PM

of course they release water and air, but for air, there are many different components to it. It's about 78% nitrogen, 20% oxygen and 2% misc gases. The nitrogen can react with oxygen to produce NO one of the green house gases. But this usually happens when the combustion isn't fully executed. The water comes from the chemical brake down of the fuel. After all, for the most part fuel is a big mixture of hydrogen oxygen and carbon molecules. All of the hydrogen molecules bond to the oxygen to create water. When it leaves the cylinder its super heated vapor water. But often times by the time it reaches your exhaust tip it has cooled enough to drip out of your exhaust pipe. Especially when it is cold out side. As to CO2, you have to remember that everything emit's CO2, you me. Even plants at night time emit CO2. The part that environmentalists are worried about is the CO and NO. These are nasty gases that are hard to get rid of. And they mostly occur when an engine is not operating under ideal conditions. That being said, reducing carbon content is not really an accurate measurement in the eco battle. If you really wanted to reduce carbon output, you would shoot yourself in the head. No more waste/CO2/or other side products from living.

greenacre

June 7, 2008 4:06 AM

it looks like an R8. only a little bit more stylish

GranTurismo

June 7, 2008 6:25 AM

Here we go again !!!!! :|

mps

June 7, 2008 11:39 AM

Not really, but it has the exact same side intakes, I'll give you that.

Joe_Limon

June 7, 2008 7:28 AM

It really is useless. The only way you can store it in a compressed state is by super cooling it to a liquid. And the only way you can efficiently burn it is super heating it to 1000 celcius. Most if not all hydrogen powered vehicles operate there engines at room temperature. Doing this you can only get 60% of the energy you put into it back. If you super heat it you can get around 90% back, but then you would also need a nuclear reactor (aka lots of power) to kick start your engine in the morning. I haven't even went on about how inefficient and just how much energy is needed to make hydrogen/store it. All in all, if you use a barrel of oil to produce the hydrogen you probably are only going to get a 1/5 of the energy to the wheels... which is worse then conventional gasoline which runs in around 1/3 of the energy is functional.

GranTurismo

June 7, 2008 9:57 AM

Yes, but hydrogen does'nt run out like petroleum!!! And we also don't have to beg in front of the Sheikhs of Abu Dhabi to get hydrogen.

Joe_Limon

June 8, 2008 1:39 AM

hahaha... it is an inefficient energy storage system (comparable to battery powered cars... but only more dangerous). If we were to convert all of our cars to it we would still be burning just as much petroleum. Also, we have lots of oil in north America. Just look at the Alberta oil sands. The reason why we aren't focusing much on it is because people find it more ethical to kill off the "Sheikhs of Abu Dhabi" then it is to actually pay for your oil.

alessandro

June 7, 2008 8:01 PM

Does somebody experiments to store hydrogen in match with his natural oxydant, then separate them in a kind of device and burn them back together in engine. Only problem with it will be a free energy for separation...

Joe_Limon

June 8, 2008 1:43 AM

Unfortunately due to the laws of thermodynamics, you can only ever get out the energy you put into hydrogen... and then you have to fight the problem of not being in a real world and all of the inefficiencies found in all of the chemical-mechanical-electrical-chemical energy transfers. A middle chemical step would only result in toxic wastes and or the consumption of some other resource (probably a petroleum byproduct).

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