Webinars

Federica Tamburini
PhD-student at NTNU

Risk assessment in the framework of Blue Hydrogen

In recent years, the global concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased drastically due to the continuous consumption of fossil fuels. With the aim of curbing climate change and meeting the increasingly stringent net-zero emission targets, blue hydrogen technology may be seen as the short-term decarbonization strategy in the prolonged period of the energy transition. In this context, the climate mitigation potential of blue hydrogen technologies derives from its peculiarity of coupling steam methane reforming (SMR) in existing plants with carbon dioxide capture and sequestration (CCS) technique. The potential introduction of this new technology in civil and industrial applications implies the presence of unexplored safety aspects that are fundamental for its effective implementation. For this reason, the present research project aims at developing a consistent quantitative risk assessment (QRA) methodology and a thorough evaluation of the safety associated with systems for blue hydrogen production.

PowerPoint Presentation

Abhishek Banerjee
PhD-student at UiS

Structure and dynamics in hydrogen-rich alloys for hydrogen storage

Renewable energy solutions that could potentially replace fossil fuels in near future is at global interest. Hydrogen as the storage media for renewable energy have increasingly come into industrial focus due to its abundance, high energy efficiency and potential fossil free production. But due to its extremely light weight and low density at normal conditions, storage and transportation is a challenge. Henceforth, search for new storage technologies is of an immense importance to reduce the overall expense of H2 usage.

This PhD project will focus on the study of new combinations of metal alloys to capture and retrieve H2, which could generate optimal solutions for the above stated problems. The starting phase of the work will involve the use of different synthesis techniques of metal alloys (e.g., mechanochemical, arc melting) followed by in-depth study of fundamental material properties such as chemical bonding, crystallographic and electronic configurations, elemental coordination environments and oxidation states together with characterization of hydrogen dynamics using a selection of advanced characterization techniques.

PowerPoint Presentation

Raymond Mushabe
PhD-student at UiB, Centre for Sustainable Subsurface Resources (CSSR) 

In-situ visualization of microbial hydrogen consumption using high-resolution PET-MRI

The efficiency of short- and long-term underground hydrogen storage UHS in subsurface porous media is one of the limiting technical challenges facing the renewable energy industry. The stored H2 is one of the most important electron donors for many subsurface microbial processes, e.g., microbialinduced sulphate reduction and methanogenesis, which can convert H2 to H2S and CH4, causing permanent gas loss and H2 contamination. Therefore, understanding the microbial H2 metabolisms is essential for estimating the storage and withdrawal efficiency in UHS and improving the selection criteria for future storage sites. A halophilic sulfate-reducing stain was used as the model bacterium to quantitatively assess the consumption of H2 in in 6 cm x 1.5 cm sand and glass bead packs. The bacterium can utilize H2 as electron donor and sulfate as electron acceptor producing H2S, for growth. Besides, the high accumulation of bacteria can form biofilms and cause pore-clogging. In this study, state-of-the art visualization techniques were utilized to study hydrogen consumption and bacteria growth in 6 cm x 1.5 cm sand and glass bead packs. A multi-modal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)- positron emission tomography (PET) scanner was used to study both static and dynamic phenomena, respectively. Sand and glass bead packs were saturated with bacteria solution (a sulphate-reducer oleidesulfovibrio alaskensis), both without and in the presence of hydrogen. The whole experiment was conducted under anaerobic conditions for the bacteria to survive and grow. In-situ visualization provided insight into the dynamics of bacterial growth and hydrogen consumption rates: MRI provided information on the spatial fluid saturation at micrometer scale. PET provided fluid displacement dynamics during injection. of brine, nutrients and bacteria at high temporal resolutions. We, hence, observed bacterial growth and fluid flow redistribution at resolutions not previously used to study these phenomena at the core scale.

PowerPoint Presentation

Alessandro Campari
PhD-student at NTNU

A Machine Learning Approach to Predict the Susceptibility of Materials to Hydrogen Embrittlement

Hydrogen is widely considered a promising energy carrier capable of mitigating the human impact on the environment while making the countries energetically independent in the long term. Nevertheless, safety aspects represent the major bottleneck for the widespread utilization of hydrogen technologies. Industrial equipment operating in a pure hydrogen environment is prone to a variety of material degradations. Hydrogen embrittlement (HE) is the best-known hydrogen-induced damage and manifests itself as a reduction in tensile ductility, fracture toughness, and fatigue performance of the affected materials. It may cause component failures at stress levels significantly below the nominal tensile strength of the material, often resulting in undesired releases of hazardous substances in the environment. The occurrence of HE relies on the synergy of several factors, such as the hydrogen concentration, the operating conditions (i.e., temperature and pressure), the level of internal and applied stress, and the microstructure and chemical composition of the material. However, the mutual influence of these factors is still difficult to evaluate, and this results in serious difficulties in planning inspection and maintenance activities of hydrogen technologies. In this study, the experimental data of tensile ductility tests carried out on several materials exposed to hydrogen under different operating conditions were analyzed through an advanced machine learning approach. This study aims to provide critical insights into the susceptibility to hydrogen embrittlement for various materials at different operating conditions. In particular, the embrittlement index was estimated to predict the likelihood of component failures. The model demonstrated accurate and reliable predicting capabilities. The outcome of this study can increase the understanding of hydrogen-induced material damages and facilitate the decision-making process in planning inspection and maintenance of hydrogen technologies.

PowerPoint Presentation

Alice Schiaroli
PhD-student at NTNU

Safety assessment of hydrogen storage tanks for hydrogen-powered buses

The deployment of hydrogen-powered buses is a crucial feature of decarbonization strategies developed to meet the carbon neutrality target in the next decades. However, the spread of hydrogen mobility is hampered by safety concerns due to the hazardous properties of the fuel. Severe consequences, such as fires and explosions, can arise from the loss of integrity of the storage tank installed on board of hydrogen-powered vehicles.

The present study is aimed at evaluating the impact of the consequences of accidental hydrogen releases from tanks specifically designed for hydrogen-powered buses. The different storage conditions in which hydrogen can be stored on board are considered and compared with storage solutions currently used for conventional fuels, such as diesel, CNG, and LNG. The dangerous phenomena that result from the unexpected releases of the fuels are identified through an event tree analysis, and their impact is assessed in terms of damage distances. The results of the study demonstrate that liquid and compressed hydrogen are less hazardous than cryo-compression, which is the most critical solution from a safety standpoint.

PowerPoint Presentation 

Claudia Cheng
PhD-student at UiT

Does time matter? A multi-level assessment of delay energy transitions and hydrogen pathways in Norway

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has undeniably disrupted the EU’s energy system and created a window of opportunity for an acceleration of the low-carbon energy transition in Europe. As the trading bloc’s biggest gas supplier, Norway faces the imminent threat of fast-depleting gas reserves and declining value for its exports. To beat the clock, Norway is aggressively exploring more petroleum, thereby delaying its energy transition.

In anticipation of the future drop in gas prices, Norway is counting on blue hydrogen to valorise its gas resources, before gradually shifting to green hydrogen export. Given the intricate relationship between hydrogen and gas, one might ask, what might be the implications of delaying the phase-out of the petroleum sector? More specifically, how would the different petroleum exploration outcomes affect the development of the low-carbon hydrogen export market in Norway?

 PowerPoint Presentation

Isabelle Viole
PhD-student at UiO

How to power an off-grid telescope? Comparative lifecycle analysis of renewable-based energy systems with batteries and hydrogen

Supplying off-grid facilities such as telescopes with renewable energy systems (RES) instead of fossil fuels can considerably reduce their environmental impact. However, RES require oversized capacities to comply with reliability requirements. This shifts the environmental impact from the operation to the construction.

We assess to what extent adding a hydrogen storage system and/or keeping a part of a fossil fuel based system can lead to a lower environmental impact than a 100% off-grid RES. This is especially interesting in comparing the greenhouse gas and resource use impact of hydrogen systems compared to lithium-ion batteries.

PowerPoint Presentation 
 

Megan Heath
PhD-student at NTNU

Ruthenium-based pyrochlores as anodic electrocatalysts for PEM water electrolysis

The increasing demand for green hydrogen production arises from the escalating prices of oil and gas, coupled with the uncertain future availability of these fossil fuels. Among various electrolysis technologies, PEM water electrolysis stands out as a favorable option. It offers portability, modularity, and the ability to integrate with intermittent, renewable energy sources. However, the upscaling of this technology is hindered by its reliance on rare and expensive Ir as an anode electrocatalyst. To address this limitation, this study aims to investigate an alternative anodic electrocatalyst that can partially replace Ir.

In this research, ruthenium-based pyrochlore electrocatalysts have been synthesized using a citrate sol-gelmethod. Physical characterization of the electrocatalysts has been conducted using x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning (transmission) electron spectroscopy (S(T)EM) and x-ray adsorption spectroscopy (XAS). Additionally, ex-situ electrochemical characterization has been performed in a three-electrode setup. Linear-sweep voltammetry results of the electrocatalyst indicate an overpotential of300 mV at a current density of 10 mA. This result agrees well with what has previously been reported for thiselectrocatalyst2 and indicates that this material shows promise as an OER electrocatalyst. However, earlier studies have indicated inadequate conductivity in these electrocatalysts. Hence, various dopants have been introduced in the pyrochlore A-site to generate oxygen vacancies and modify the electronic structure, thereby enhancing conductivity. Promising compositions will be subjected to single cell tests. It is expected that doping will successfully increase the conductivity of the electrocatalysts and lead to promising alternatives for Ir in PEM water electrolysers.

PowerPoint Presentation

Torbjørn Egeland-Eriksen
Industrial PhD student at UiO and NORCE

Simulating hydrogen production from offshore wind power

Green hydrogen, which is hydrogen produced through electrolysis with renewable energy as input power, could become an important part of the energy transition away from fossil fuels. One possible method of producing green hydrogen is to utilize electricity from offshore wind power as input power to electrolyzers. However, green hydrogen still has challenges related to energy losses and costs, as well as intermittency issues when the electricity comes from wind power.

In this study we performed computer simulations of an energy system where the electricity from a floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT) is used to produce hydrogen in a proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer. The inputs to the computer model are real-world data from a 2.3 MW FOWT from five different 31-day periods and Nord Pool electricity price data from the same five periods. The model then simulates hydrogen production and calculates various important outputs, including the production cost and energy efficiency of the process. A comparison of the five periods showed that the large variations in wind power and electricity prices caused the total hydrogen production and cost to vary by a factor of three between periods.

PowerPoint Presentation

Wendpanga Jean Donald Minougou
PhD-student at UiS

Geochemical Challenges Associated with Hydrogen Underground Storage.

Hydrogen is expected to play a key role in the future as a clean energy source that can help mitigate global warming. It can also contribute significantly to reducing the imbalance between energy supply and demand posed by deploying renewable energy. Since surface facilities such as pipelines and tanks have limited capacity, large-scale storage options will be needed if we want to integrate hydrogen into the energy scheme in society.

Geological formations, particularly salt caverns, seem to be a practical option for this large-scale storage as there is already good experience storing hydrocarbons in caverns worldwide. Salt is known to be ductile, impermeable, and inert to natural gas. However, major salt structures are always associated with impurities during the time of their deposition. These impurities bring challenges to the storage integrity of hydrogen in salt caverns. One of the major challenges is related to the geochemical interaction between hydrogen and some of the minerals. It is known that salt formations often contain some impurities such as anhydrite, clays, carbonates, and quartz that could react with hydrogen leading to the formation of undesired components such as hydrogen sulfide through microbial catalysis and under certain conditions of pressure and temperature. Hydrogen sulfide poses a risk to the safety of the storage operation.

We are using a geochemical model to assess the potential of hydrogen sulfide release in salt caverns in the context of hydrogen storage. From then on, we investigate the influence of thermodynamic parameters such as temperature, pressure, kinetic rate, and pH on H₂S production in a high salinity environment. The goal of the research is to develop a database that could serve as a tool for site selection for geological hydrogen storage.

PowerPoint Presentation

Leonardo Giannini
PhD student at NTNU

Natural Events and Hydrogen Subsea Pipelines: Implications on Planning Inspections Based on Risk

The idea behind planning inspections in accordance with assessed risk (RBI) derives from the intrinsic heterogenous distribution of the latter in industrial equipment. Central to this concept is the existence of critical components, that has two main implications. On one hand, items prone to hazardous failures should be meticulously evaluated by means of inspection protocols and preventive maintenance operations, with the purpose of minimizing the associated risk. On the other hand, risk-irrelevant equipment might be inspected with less effort, relying on the fact that such tools are either associated with an extremely low probability to fail or that the consequences of such failures have generally negligible repercussions on the broader industrial framework. This premise encapsulates the concept of RBI planning, which is often implemented for pressurized equipment. Within the context of subsea hydrogen steel pipelines, it is well-known that material integrity may be affected by hydrogen-assisted damages – thus potentially increasing failure probability – and RBI could be useful to assess material degradation and the following safety implications.

However, hazards posed by rare events do exist and they could be characterized by extremely severe consequences. Notably, these encompass underwater landslides and subsea earthquakes, rare phenomena that may induce a loss of containment in subsea transport systems, as already pointed out in previous studies. In this light, the assessment of whether Natech (natural-hazards-triggered technological accidents) events should be considered in the evaluation of risk in RBI planning and their potential in posing realistic and serious hazards to subsea hydrogen pipelines is intricate, and this work aims at investigating this aspect. In fact, consequences may be severe, so a valuable inspection strategy may include Natech-related scenarios to promote safety for hydrogen technologies. Hence, a preliminary approach for Natech-risk informed inspection planning and the expected outputs of the model are presented as an overall result.

PowerPoint Presentation

Petar Bosnic
PhD-student at USN

Detonations in Risk Assessment of Hydrogen Systems

The rising importance of hydrogen in energy and its role in decarbonizing maritime and industrial sectors bring significant safety challenges due to its unfavourable physical properties, like molecular size and flammability limits. Accidental explosions pose substantial risks, with the potential for severe financial losses, injuries, or fatalities. Most incidental releases of flammable gases don't encounter ignition sources, but when ignition happens, it typically leads to deflagrations, generating moderate overpressure levels. Under certain conditions, a slow deflagration can accelerate into a faster one due to factors like turbulence-induced flame surface expansion, possibly triggering deflagration to detonation transition (DDT). This transition could lead to a propagating detonation, rapidly consuming the remaining combustible cloud, resulting in the most extreme catastrophic scenario.

The main objective of the research project is to understand the physics of gas explosions and numerical modeling of reactive, turbulent, and supersonic flows. The aim is to develop a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solver for predicting DDT in gas mixtures containing hydrogen using under-resolved methods. This presentation will cover topics of hydrogen safety, gas explosions and CFD in OpenFOAM.

PowerPoint Presentation 

Liina Sangolt
PhD candidate at HVL/UiB

Harnessing the Power: A Case study on Small-Scale Hydropower for Hydrogen production

Norway, blessed with an abundance of hydropower potential, holds great promise for meeting the growing demand for clean energy. Of interest for this study are small-scale-run-off-river power plants, often situated in remote locations or areas where the grid capacity had reached its limit. These untapped resources offer a unique and unparalleled opportunity to explore the hydrogen production through the utilization of run-of-river power plants.

This study delves into potential of harnessing the energy from the Bordal River in Norway as a case study.  A MATLAB model has been developed to optimize hydrogen production, production costs, and energy efficiency in run-off-river power plant. The model integrates an alkaline electrolyzer with inflow data from the specific run-off-river power plant, enabling system dimensioning and control for hydrogen production. To ensure the models accuracy and reliability, its results are validated by comparing them to real-life electrolyzer data.

PowerPoint Presentation 
 

Ingrid Furuberg (Amogy)
Director, Project Management at Amogy

Amogy's technology and the significance of ammonia in the future

In the maritime industry, ammonia is increasingly recognized as an essential fuel for the future, marking significant progress towards sustainable energy solutions. Amogy has proven in practical demonstrations that their patented ammonia splitting technology is mature, scalable, and a highly effective method for splitting ammonia, generating electric power in combination with hydrogen fuel cells. In this talk, director Ingrid Furuberg from Amogy will present the company's technology and the opportunities that ammonia offers as a zero-emission fuel in the future.

PowerPoint Presentation

Abhishek Banerjee
PhD candidate at UiS

Additives in TiFe-Metal Alloy Systems: Effect on Crystal Structure and Hydrogen Storage Properties

Hydrogen storage remains a challenge in the hydrogen economy due to its light weight and density. Metal alloys, particularly titanium-iron (TiFe), have emerged as a viable option for hydrogen storage at ambient conditions. TiFe is known for its ability to reversibly store hydrogen at room temperatures, with comparable volumetric capacities as that of liquid H₂ (~100 kg_H2 m^-3). However, its relatively low gravimetric capacity and oxide formation present drawbacks for TiFe as a standalone storage material. To overcome these challenges, researchers have proposed elemental doping and post mechanical processing. Theoretical studies have suggested that incorporating transition elements (for ex: Cr, V, Nb, Mn) as dopants in TiFe can enhance its hydrogen storage properties. By replacing Fe and Ti in the lattice, these dopants induce changes in lattice size and strain, creating favorable diffusion pathways for H₂. To our best knowledge, there is limited research on TiFe doped with transition elements Ta, Nb, and a clear correlation between its crystallographic structure and hydrogen storage properties is still lacking.

In this study, TiFe samples with transition element Nb with varying stoichiometries were synthesized using vacuum arc melting (VAM). Characterization techniques including powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Extended X-Ray Absorption Fine Structures (EXAFS) analysis were employed. The results demonstrated high correlation between structural refinement achieved through PXRD and EXAFS analysis. H₂ absorption and pressure-composition-temperature (PCT) measurements were conducted, which showed that precise doping of TiFe with transition element dopants significantly improved activation and kinetics. These findings contribute to a better understanding of dopants occupancy in the crystallographic structure of TiFe and its impact on hydrogen storage properties.

PowerPoint Presentation

Alessandro Campari
Postdoctoral Fellow at NTNU

Risk-based Inspection and Maintenance of a Liquid Hydrogen Bunkering Facility

The shipping sector is responsible for approximately 4.5% of global emissions, and hydrogen was indicated as a clean and sustainable energy carrier capable of mitigating its environmental impact. The relatively high energy density of liquid hydrogen makes cryogenic storage an attractive option for maritime transport. Large-scale hydrogen bunkering facilities will be crucial to establishing an effective supply chain. Nevertheless, the chemical properties of hydrogen and its cryogenic storage conditions are reasons for concern regarding the safety of these storage plants. Preventive maintenance can reduce the likelihood of undesired events, but inspection planning is inherently challenging in the case of innovative facilities where massive amounts of hazardous substances are stored. The lack of technical data and operational experience with similar plants represents a significant bottleneck. The risk-based inspection (RBI) methodology prioritizes inspections of safety-critical components to minimize the overall plant’s risk. This highly beneficial strategy can only be adopted for hydrogen technologies with highly unrealistic assumptions. Therefore, a novel RBI approach was developed, which considers the hydrogen-specific hazards. The methodology was applied to an LH₂ bunkering facility to highlight the advantages of this approach against the conventional RBI methodology.

PowerPoint Presentation

Lucas Claussner
PhD candidate at NTNU

Design and Operation of Liquid Hydrogen Storage Tanks

Liquid hydrogen (LH2) is a versatile and efficient energy carrier with numerous applications in space exploration, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, industrial processes, and the maritime sector. However, its extremely low boiling point and low density present unique challenges in handling, storage, and transportation, particularly in the prevention of loss of containment scenarios. At present, there is still limited knowledge available on the thermodynamics of liquid hydrogen contained in cryogenic storage tanks.

The presented work delves into an examination of insulation techniques and the operation of liquid hydrogen tanks. Also, self-pressurization is explained and set into context. Furthermore, modelling of specific parameters such as temperature distribution, pressure increase and liquid level play an important role in understanding the thermodynamics inside of LH2 tanks and enable to draw conclusions for the efficient operation when avoiding the loss of hydrogen by releasing boil off gas.

The ramifications of this study hold critical importance for industries reliant on hydrogen. The insights gained could be used to facilitate the development of prediction models to enhance operational directives, and the development of effective storage systems.

PowerPoint Presentation

Alice Schiaroli
PhD candidate at NTNU

Numerical modelling of liquid hydrogen tanks performance during fire engulfment

The incumbent need to tackle global warming draws attention to potential zero-emission energy solutions, particularly for the hard-to-abate sectors. Given the environmental impact of the transportation sector, several decarbonization strategies that rely on liquid hydrogen (LH2) as a fuel were proposed. However, safety-related issues have not yet been deeply investigated, leaving many questions still unanswered.

In the context of safety, the worst-case scenario is the fire engulfment of the LH2 storage cryogenic storage tank. Mathematical models able to simulate such a scenario contribute to investigate the tank performance and the fluid behaviour during the fire attack, providing valuable information for optimising of the components and developing adequate safety barriers.

In this study, a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model is developed to analyse the phenomena occurring during the full fire engulfment of a liquid hydrogen tank. The experimental data available in the literature are used for the model validation. The results of the present analysis provide a valuable tool to enhance the knowledge about hydrogen safety and support the definition of safety codes and standards for the safe use and handling of the fuel.

PowerPoint Presentation

John Senith Ravishan Fernando
PhD candidate at UiS

Decarbonizing H2 production in the green transition

Globally hydrogen is produced mainly from natural gas without carbon capture, resulting substantial CO₂ emissions that contribute to global warming. Therefore, it is essential to capture and store the CO₂ to produce blue hydrogen as an interim solution until the green transition takes over. Additionally, the H₂ gas product mixture needs to be decarbonized to produce high-purity H₂ to be utilized as a fuel with high energy density. Therefore, the separation and purification unit should deliver H₂ at the highest recovery and highest purity while minimizing energy consumption.

This presentation includes modifications aimed at enhancing the affinity of adsorbent materials for CO₂ and improving the material stability towards water and impurities. These functional materials are promising to decarbonize H₂ in pre-combustion CO₂ capture.

Geirmund Vislie
SVP Global Consulting at Gexcon

• About Gexcon
• Hydrogen Safety Fundamentals
• Hydrogen Safety in Buildings
• Safety design practises
• Verification by safety studies
• Public approval and stakeholder interaction

PowerPoint Presentation

Na Liu
Researcher at UiB

Risks of sulfate-reducing bacteria in underground hydrogen storage: microbial consumption, bioclogging, and wettability changes.

Underground hydrogen storage (UHS) in subsurface reservoirs, such as saline aquifers and depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs, presents a promising and cost-effective solution for large-scale energy storage. However, hydrogen also serves as an electron donor for subsurface microorganisms, particularly sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB), which can trigger several risks. These include hydrogen loss, gas composition changes, H₂S formation affecting safety and quality, biocorrosion of technical equipment, and reservoir property alterations due to biofilm formation and mineral precipitation. This talk will explore these microbial-induced challenges and their implications for UHS operations.

As part of the EU-funded project HyDRA - Diagnostic Tools and Risk Protocols to Accelerate Underground Hydrogen Storage, this research will supplement the SSO field data through the inclusion of bio-geochemical sampling of natural hydrogen seeps and accumulations. This talk will explore how microbial communities that naturally thrive in hydrogen-rich environments interact with geological formations over time, highlighting the microbial-induced challenges of UHS and their implications for storage integrity, operational efficiency, and risk mitigation strategies.

PowerPoint Presentation

Farhana Yasmine Tuhi
PhD candidate at NTNU

Technical failures in green hydrogen production and reliability engineering responses: Insights from database analysis and a literature review

Green hydrogen represents a promising solution for renewable energy application and carbon footprint reduction. However, its production through renewable energy powered water electrolysis is hindered by significant cost, arising from repair, maintenance, and economic losses due to unexpected downtimes. Although reliability engineering is highly effective in addressing such issues, there is limited research on its application in the hydrogen field.

To present the state-of-the-art research, this study aims to explore the potential of reducing these events through reliability engineering, a widely adopted approach in various industries. For this purpose, it examines past accidents occurred in water electrolysis plants from the hydrogen incident and accident database (HIAD 2.1). Besides, a literature review is performed to analyze the state-of-the-art application of reliability engineering techniques, such as failure analysis, reliability assessment, and reliability-centered maintenance, in the hydrogen sector and similar industries. The study highlights the contributions and potentials of reliability engineering for efficient and stable green hydrogen production, while also discussing the gaps in applying this approach. The unique challenges posed by hydrogen’s physical properties and innovative technologies in water electrolysis plants necessitate advancement and specialized approaches for reliability engineering.

PowerPoint Presentation

Alicia San Martin Rueda
PhD candidate at NTNU

NH₃ as a hydrogen alternative for solid oxide fuel cells

Ammonia is a promising hydrogen carrier that can overcome the limitations of storing and transporting hydrogen. It can be used directly as a fuel in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), providing a carbon-free method of producing electricity. The performance of SOFCs depends heavily on the materials used for their components. LaSrCoFeO3-based perovskites (LSCF) have been proposed as promising anode and cathode catalysts due to their wide range of tunable electrical, thermal, and catalytic properties. In addition, perovskites enhance ammonia oxidation to NO, enabling SOFCs to co-produce power and valuable chemicals. However, their performance and structural transformations during ammonia oxidation remain unexplored. In-situ characterization would greatly improve our understanding of the behaviour of these catalysts.

Lucas Cammann
PhD candidate at NTNU

Gas-purity control in alkaline water electrolyzers under storage and pressure constraints – a systematic case study

The flexibility of alkaline water electrolyzers is limited by requirements on the gas purity (hydrogen in oxygen) to avoid the creation of explosive gas mixtures. To increase operational flexibility, recent works have proposed to control the gas purity by adjusting the lye recirculation rate and the system pressure. These approaches assume that the pressure can be freely set in a given range, which may not be a valid assumption. If the produced gas is stored on-site, the pressure in the electrolyzer is coupled to the pressure in the storage tank. Depending on the size of the gas storage and constraints on the compression equipment, it may then not be possible to set the pressure freely. In this presentation, we present a model predictive control (MPC) implementation for alkaline water electrolyzers with such constraints. We test the system controlled by MPC against historic wind power data with different demand profiles and storage sizes. Our results show that MPC is effective at simultaneously handling gas purity and storage constraints. However, small storage sizes can reduce the range in which the pressure can be used to control the hydrogen-to-oxygen ratio, leading to flexibility bottlenecks that were previously unaccounted for.

Mohamed Safy
PhD candidate at University of Oslo

From CO₂ to Methanol: How Amines Switch Catalysts On

Converting carbon dioxide into methanol provides a path to store clean energy and transform a greenhouse gas into a fuel and useful chemicals. Ru-MACHO-Ph is among the most effective and well-studied homogeneous catalysts for amine-assisted CO₂ hydrogenation to methanol. Yet, key mechanistic details remain unclear, impeding the development of earth-abundant alternatives. Here, we employ a computational workflow that involves conformational searches using GFN2-xTB, followed by geometry optimizations and energy calculations with DFT (M06/M06L) and DLPNO-CCSD(T) to identify the most likely pathways for amine-assisted CO₂ hydrogenation. Microkinetic modeling (MKM) predicts methanol turnover numbers (TONs) that match experimental results, allowing us to analyze the operative mechanisms and catalyst resting states. The analysis highlights that the thermodynamics of amidation are a crucial factor controlling the activity of amines in the methanol formation process. This thermodynamic driving force shifts the equilibrium away from formate resting states toward the active catalyst, thereby accelerating methanol formation. The correlation established between amidation free energies (ΔGamidation) and methanol productivity provides a rational design principle for tailoring amine promoters across Ru- and Mn-based MACHO catalysts. These insights advance the development of sustainable, base-metal-catalyzed CO₂ conversion strategies, opening opportunities for integrated carbon capture and utilization.

Duc Duy Nguyen
PhD Candidate at NTNU

Ammonia lean burn combustion concept using hydrogen pre-chamber jet ignition: Optical investigation and combustion analysis

Ammonia is a promising alternative option for maritime applications. As a carbon-free energy carrier, when produced from renewable energy, creating a fully carbon-neutral pathway. Its high auto-ignition temperature, low flame speed, and narrow flammability limits make conventional spark ignition strategies inefficient or unstable. Pre-chamber jet ignition technology represents a promising alternative approach for enhancing ammonia combustion. The main objective of the work will be to determine a suitable injection strategy that achieves stable lean operation of an optical chamber equipped with hydrogen pre-chamber jet ignition system will be also determined. The experiment was conducted in an optically accessible compression ignition chamber (OACIC), which a custom-designed optical chamber placed to allow visual access to the combustion process. For all the tests, ammonia is the main fuel and was directly injected into the main chamber with hydrogen injected into the pre-chamber to serve as a combustion promoter. Hydrogen energy share was varied to evaluate the combustion characteristics under different operating parameters. Combustion visualization was performed using natural luminosity and chemiluminescence imaging to detect radical species such as OH*, NH*. The preliminary results demonstrate that stable lean combustion at an equivalent ratio of 0.6 can be achieved with pre-chamber hydrogen injection as low as 6% of the total fuel energy supplied. The data shows that there is more work to do to optimise the injection and spark timings, the testing campaign in the optical prechamber will be continued-examining the emissions from the exhaust gas and analysis of the mixture fraction in the pre-chamber.

Gaute Myrhen Kornberg
Project Manager H2CoVE, Vestland County Council 

Yulia Arinicheva Skåtun 
Associate Professor, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (HVL); Regional Coordinator, H2CoVE

Jonathan Økland Torstensen 
Associate Professor, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (HVL); Lead for H2CoVE Train-the-Trainer Development

H2CoVE – European Centre of Vocational Excellence in Hydrogen

H2CoVE is an Erasmus+ flagship initiative designed to strengthen vocational education and training (VET) for the rapidly growing hydrogen economy in Europe. The project brings together 19 partners from five regions: Vestland (Norway), Tyrol (Austria), the Northern Netherlands, Estonia, and Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast (Ukraine).

In Norway, Vestland serves as a model region for developing a comprehensive hydrogen skills ecosystem. H2CoVE explores how educational institutions, industry, research actors, and public authorities can collaborate across local, regional, and national levels to ensure relevant and future-oriented competence development.

The Norwegian partnership includes:

• Western Norway University of Applied Sciences
• Fagskulen Vestland
• Vestland County Council
• Sustainable Energy Catapult Centre Stord
• Saga Fjordbase
• Norwegian Hydrogen Forum

A key component of H2CoVE is capacity building for educators. In Norway, PhD candidates typically dedicate 25% of their doctoral period to teaching, making pedagogical training highly relevant for academic career development. H2CoVE develops and offers Train-the-Trainer programmes free of charge for educators and professionals teaching — or planning to teach — hydrogen-related subjects at EQF levels 4–9. The courses are delivered online and in person in Bergen.

The first Train-the-Trainer programme has just started, and registration is open until 28 February. The programme includes:

• Hydrogen and Energy Transition – 12 March 2026 (online)
• Hydrogen Safety in Education – 18 March 2026 (online)
• Organising the Learning Community – 25 March 2026 (online)

Join the webinar to learn how H2CoVE contributes to building Europe’s hydrogen competence ecosystem and how you can participate in the upcoming training activities.

More information is available on the H2CoVE website (ekstern lenke). 
Registration is available here: Registration link (ekstern lenke).

Petar Bosnic
PhD Candidate from University of South-Eastern Norway

Predicting Deflagration-to-Detonation Transition in Hydrogen–Air Mixtures for Explosion Safety

This webinar highlights key outcomes from a doctoral research project addressing hydrogen safety and the numerical prediction of deflagration-to-detonation transition (DDT) in hydrogen–air mixtures. The primary objective of the PhD was the development of a dedicated OpenFOAM-based solver capable of modelling flame acceleration and DDT in under-resolved simulations, where direct resolution of all relevant physical scales is not feasible. The session will introduce the concept of DDT, discuss why it represents one of the most dangerous modes of explosion escalation, what physical processes govern it, and how it can be modelled in practical engineering simulations.