Safety in Hydrogen Transportation and Storage

project to analyze hydrogen leakage

The German government's new import strategy is intended to provide Germany and its economy with a sufficient supply of hydrogen and H₂ derivatives. Hydrogen is an increasingly relevant topic and a growing number of components, including pipelines, must be capable of withstanding its use. Hahn-Schickard,  Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany and the SKZ Plastics Center, Würzburg, Germany have joined forces to address this topic.

Hahn-Schickard manufactures solutions using microsystems technology, so-called microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). These systems are smaller than a fingernail and are also used in the field of hydrogen-guided parts. As Europe's largest institute in the field of plastics, the SKZ would like to integrate such systems into pipes and plastic components, for example, in order to establish a warning system for H₂ leaks. In the scope of the H₂Sens project, the two institutes are working together to develop and validate a cost-effective hydrogen (H₂)-selective sensor concept for H₂-bearing components and semi-finished products. The prototypes created as part of the project will be tested for their sensitivity in a specially developed measuring chamber. The H₂-selective sensors will then be attached to weak points of hydrogen-bearing components (such as sleeves or weld seams) to enable rapid intervention in the event of a hydrogen breakthrough. 

“In the field of flow sensors, customer-specific silicon sensors and sensor modules have been developed for various applications in the past. The MEMS clean room is ISO-certified (ISO 9001:2015) and offers individual process steps through to complex production runs,” says the project manager at Hahn-Schickard.