Hydrogen Transport: Technologies & Trends

Currently, different transport technologies for hydrogen are available. Yet, regarding costs, convenience, and technological readiness, it is essential to understand that the right choice depends on several factors.

The article below briefly overviews the most discussed technologies involving:

• Compressed hydrogen
• Liquefied hydrogen
• Ammonia
• LOHC

Approaches for Hydrogen Transportation

Compressed Hydrogen

From a practical perspective, powering heavy-duty vehicles (e.g., buses, trains, and trucks) favors compressed hydrogen, whether at 350 Bar or even up to 700 Bar. The 700 Bar solutions primarily depend on the available gas station infrastructure, which differs from country to country.

A minimum transport distance of 200-300 km is crucial since batteries are often a more economical solution for shorter distances.

Compressed hydrogen is also the preferred approach for storing and transporting hydrogen for up to 1000-2000 km.

Liquefied Hydrogen (LH2)

By contrast, the use of liquefied hydrogen has not solved the issue of boil-off gas so far. This causes a significant loss of hydrogen over time, making it a rather poor choice for powering vehicles. Hence, the (heavy-duty) mobility sector will also use compressed hydrogen in the near future.

However, looking at the transport of larger quantities of hydrogen (several tons) and longer distances (> 2000 km),…