March 4, 2025
A significant milestone was reached this week by the UWA research group leading many of the FEnEx CRC’s liquid hydrogen projects. After several years building up the required infrastructure for safe, cryogenic operations the team produced their first droplets of liquid hydrogen. This new capability will enable research into a range of important topics for energy storage and industrial operations, such as boil-off reduction and materials compatibility testing.
The new facility allows Hydrogen to be liquefied (at a pressure between 1 and 3 bar) and stored inside a 50 L customized Dewar (Cryofab, USA).
The Dewar is attached to a dual-stage closed-cycle cryocooler system (CS210SE, Advanced Research Systems, USA) consisting of helium compressor, expander units and a radiation shield.
An ortho-to-para (OP) conversion reactor is thermally attached to the cold tip of the second stage, ensuring liquid hydrogen is rich in para-hydrogen. The entire setup is located inside an enclosure which is connected to two dedicated extraction units.
The equipment is located inside UWA’s recently refurbished hydrogen laboratory, allowing the team to safely conduct multiple research projects on liquid hydrogen including OP conversion, liquefaction technologies, magnetic refrigeration for hydrogen liquefaction, and endothermic hydrogen para-to-ortho conversion.
FEnEx CRC Foundation Fellow, Dr Saif Al Ghafri, who has played a major and leading role procuring, assembling and commissioning the new equipment expressed his satisfaction upon reaching the milestone. “This facility is the result of many hours of work over several years and I am excited by the opportunities for new research into liquid hydrogen that it will enable.”
If you’re interested in hearing more, please get in touch with FEnEx CRC CEO, Eric May (eric.may@fenex.org.au) or Dr Saif Al Ghafri (saif.alghafri@uwa.edu.au).