About

World-wide efforts aim at the decarbonization of the energy sector with an increasing fraction of renewable energies in the energy mix. Energy storage technologies are required to store excess energy generated from fluctuating sources such as wind and sun to making it accessible on demand. In this context, hydrogen is gaining increasing interest due to its versatile features along all relevant stages of generation, transportation, distribution and end use of energy.

In its liquid state, the energy density of hydrogen increases by a factor of approx. 800. Consequently, the large-scale storage and transportation of liquefied (cryogenic) hydrogen (LH2) is expected to play a vital role in a potential future hydrogen economy. Hydrogen liquefies at temperatures below -253 °C (20 K) and needs to be maintained in well-insulated cryogenic tanks in order to minimize heat transfer and to avoid excessive boil-off. In addition to the technical challenges, safety-related issues must also be resolved towards the broad implementation of LH2 technologies in order to support economic benefit and public acceptance.

Understanding the risks related to LH2 and developing strategies to mitigate these risks is a topic of current pre-normative research activities worldwide. Under the auspices of EIG CONCERT-Japan – an international joint initiative to support and enhance science, technology, and innovation cooperation between European countries and Japan – the STACY project gathers experts from the fields of combustion research, risk mitigation, and safety assessment. STACY contributes to international efforts to bridge knowledge gaps and to develop advanced safety tools.