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DOE Program on Hydrogen Energy Systems BEVERLY J. BERGER and JAMES H. SWISHER Division of Energy Storage Systems, U.S. Department of Energy,
Washington, D.C. 20585
The U.S. Department of Energy has a broad-based effort on hydrogen energy systems. While it is not a main thrust of the DOE energy program at present, the level of effort on hydrogen technology put forth by DOE is expected to increase as work is completed on programs with more potential for near-term oil savings. The scope of our activities is depicted in Figure 1, where the activities are subdivided into production, storage, transport, and conversion technologies. It is generally recog-
nized that the production of hydrogen requires more effort than the other areas of hydrogen technology at present for two reasons. First, storage, transport, and conversion technologies will not be used if economic processes for hydrogen production are not developed. Second, some of the most difficult technological problems are associated with hydrogen production.
Note that energy sources and energy carriers available for hydrogen production include coal, electricity, nuclear process
heat, and solar energy. Storage options include hydrides, liquid hydrogen, gasous hydrogen in pressurized tanks, and storage in underground caverns. Hydrogen may be converted to electricity in fuel cells and turbines or used directly as a chemical feedstock and multipurpose fuel. Use of existing gas pipelines will be important for hydrogen use. A strong program is developing to establish pipeline compatibility with hydrogen. Another key technological advance is the development of lightweight, low-cost hydrogen storage for vehicles. Such storage is required before hydrogen can have wide spread use as a non-polluting vehicle fuel. DOE Hydrogen Budget
In fiscal 1979, DOE allocated approximately $43 million for hydrogen R&D (Table I). In the coal conversion area the planned budget was $22.8 million, which is almost half of the $43 million; the largest part of that $22.8 million was for building a pilot plant for producing hydrogen from coal. However, the plant was not built because of difficulties in contract negotiations and
This chapter not subject to U.S. copyright.
Published 1980 American Chemical Society
Smith and Santangelo; Hydrogen: Production and Marketing ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1980.
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28
HYDROGEN: PRODUCTION AND MARKETING
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Smith and Santangelo; Hydrogen: Production and Marketing ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1980.
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2. berger and swisher
Hydrogen Energy Systems
29
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Table I. Budget Data for DOE Hydrogen Program FY 78
(Planned) $M
FY 79
Presidential
(Actual) $M
FY 78
$M
Budget Request $M
2.2
0
0
same
8.9
9.6
CC
22.8
BES
8.4
MA
2.3
"
2.5
2.7
STOR
6.3
"
6.3
2.5
LF
1.0
"
1.0
1.0
MFE
0.6
"
0.9
1.2
Solar
1.2
"
1.1
1.1
TEC
0.2
"
0.2
0.2
EV
0.3
"
0.3
0.3
RA
0
"
0.5
0
21.7
18.6
TOTAL
43.1
22.5
Key: CC = Coal Conversion
BES = Basic Energy Sciences MA = Military Applications STOR = Energy Storage Systems LF = Laser Fusion
MFE = Magnetic Fusion Energy Solar = Solar Technologies TP = Transportation Program EV = Environmental Sciences
RA = Resource Applications
Smith and Santangelo; Hydrogen: Production and Marketing ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1980.
30
hydrogen: production and marketing
funding priorities.
There is no funding available or planned for
hydrogen from coal in FY 1979 of FY 1980.
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Basic Research on Hydrogen
The Division of Basic Energy Sciences has supported a hydrogen program for several years. The budget for this year is $8.9 million. Emphasis is placed on basic research that parallels the development and demonstration projects being carried out by other DOE divisions. The goal is to understand phenomena rather than invent devices.
A substantial amount of research is sponsored on
producing hydrogen thermochemically and by other solar-assisted processes. Research to improve catalysts and to improve electrocatalyst life and performance are supported, not only because of the effect such improvements could have on hydrogen production, but also because of their importance for battery and fuel cell development. The Division of Basic Energy Sciences has also funded work on hydrogen embrittlement phenomena. Applied Research on Hydrogen
The broadest hydrogen program lies in the Division of Energy Storage Systems and includes production of hydrogen from water, storage of hydrogen, transmission and distribution, and some
aspects of end use.
This program was funded at $6.3 million in
FY 1978 with an increase to $7.4 million planned for FY 1979.
However, $6.3 million was provided in FY 1979 and the Presidential budget request to Congress for FY 1980 is $2.5 million. Within the FY 1980 budget request, only those projects which are covered by the existing International Energy Agency Hydrogen Agreement
will continue to be funded. These include production of hydrogen from water by electrolysis and thermochemical cycles and a market study.
There is a small hydrogen effort within the Laser Fusion and Magnetic Fusion programs focused on the integration of hydrogen production within fusion systems. Solar divisions now fund advanced research projects for the direct production of hydrogen from sunlight and solar-assisted thermochemical hydrogen production. DOE currently has no major projects to produce hydrogen from solar energy.* A few projects on the use of photovoltaic devices and biomass for hydrogen production are being managed by the Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI) for DOE. The possibility of using ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) for hydrogen production is also under study.
The transportation program supports research on hydrogenfueled vehicles and has complemented the efforts of the Division of Energy Storage Systems in developing hydrogen storage systems for vehicles. Under the Assistant Secretary for Environment
about $300,000 is expended each year to evaluate health, environment, and safety issues related to hydrogen production and use.
Smith and Santangelo; Hydrogen: Production and Marketing ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1980.
2. berger and swisher
Hydrogen Energy Systems
31
In FY 1979, $0.5 million was expended for a low-head hydro facility to produce hydrogen electrolytically by the Office of Resource Applications under joint sponsorship with the Division
of Energy Storage Systems. Internal coordination of the DOE hydrogen program is accomp-
lished through the DOE Hydrogen Energy Coordinating Committee. Downloaded by UNIV ILLINOIS URBANA-CHAMPAIGN on November 10, 2016 | http://pubs.acs.org Publication Date: March 26, 1980 | doi: 10.1021/bk-1980-0116.ch002
The members of the committee are key individuals from each
division which has programs involving hydrogen technology, either directly as in the Division of Energy Storage Systems or indirectly as in Fusion Energy Systems. The committee meets once every six weeks to exchange ideas, R&D results and future plans. DOE officials are kept informed of interests and developments in
the hydrogen community. It is understood that hydrogen may play a key role in the U.S. energy future; the time frame when hydrogen is likely to make a significant impact is not at all clear. This will be determined largely by the continuing results of the research and development which is going on today. The DOE hydrogen program has an opportunity to affect the nation's future by supplying a clean burning fuel for use in homes, industries and vehicles. In the near to mid term the likely impact will be in the chemical market place, reducing the amount of natural gas
required to make hydrogen for use as a chemical. as a fuel will come later. development is successful.
Use of hydrogen
Let us hope that our research and
Received July 12, 1979.
Smith and Santangelo; Hydrogen: Production and Marketing ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1980.
