1 William H. Sutton Yuebin Guo Gary Moynihan U.S. DOT Earmark The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, Alabama 06/17/2004 Safety-Oriented Characterization, Monitoring, and Best Practices for Hydrogen Storage Tanks

2 Task Overview and Objectives Task Overview –Task 1: Mechanical Characterization of Tank Integrity –Task 2: Monitoring of Damage and Leakage –Task 3: Best Practices Objectives: –Compare hydrogen in terms of performance, safety, and cost –Provide unbiased test data for policy making

3 Task 1: Tank Integrity Characterization Acquire Three Tanks –SCI ALT 898 (5000 psi), General Dynamics Plastics (Lincoln), and Quantum (Irvine) Structural Integrity –FEA analysis of tank strength in compression (high pressure), impact (armor-piercing bullet and dropping onto a hard surface), and thermal cycles (from cold to hot environment) –Embrittlement test: fracture toughness vs. liner material aging

4 Task 2: Monitoring of Damage and Leakage Damage (crack) Monitoring –Use Acoustic Emission sensor to real-time monitor tank inner crack initiation and propagation Leakage Monitoring (optional) –Build a prototype of nanoscale sensor for detecting leakage (Not to scale) Computer AE signal sampling and analysis AE sensor Carbon fiber wound tank

5 Task 3: Best Practices Literature Search –No current vehicle standard for hydrogen tanks. –Conduct review of regulations and related work: Consider both existing and proposed. Look at related areas (e.g. natural gas). Identify best practices as basis of recommendations. Risk and Cost –Utilize output of literature search. –Integrate and derive approach for trade-off analysis on cost vs. risk (safety) vs. duration of use. Apply conceptual approach utilizing both simulated and actual data for this proof of the concept.