Adelaide students work on new hydrogen storage method for hybrid fuel cell vehicle

A group of students from the University of Adelaide has developed a one-tenth working model of a hydrogen-powered hybrid vehicle using a novel method of hydrogen storage.

The students, from the Department of Chemical Engineering, were exhibiting their work this week as part of a presentation sponsored by Santos and the Australian Institute of Energy. The team’s fuel-cell hybrid vehicle is a remote-controlled car that uses energy stored in a bank of rechargeable batteries and draws additional power through a hydrogen fuel cell. Rather than use a traditional method of storing gaseous compressed hydrogen in a tank, the students have opted for a safer solid-state metal hydride vessel that eliminates the dangers associated with high-pressure vessels.

Fuel cell hybrid vehicles are already in development and testing by a number of car manufacturers worldwide, such as Toyota and Ford, however most of them use traditional compressed hydrogen storage, which requires an expensive carbon fibre tank.

The exhibition also demonstrated other alternative fuel technologies, such as research into biodiesel from “microalgae” and its associated emissions.

(Source: University of Adelaide via The Advertiser)