Ambartec AG and a plant manufacturer created an iron oxide energy storage technology and opened a Freiberg demonstration facility.
Two firms in Freiberg, Saxony, are exhibiting a new hydrogen storage facility. Hydrogen Compact Storage (HyCS) uses iron oxide (rust) as a storage media, like Form Energy. From mid-2023, Dresden-based Ambartec AG and Umwelt- und Ingenieurtechnik GmbH plan to sell 250-kilowatt-hour storage systems and 3,000-kilowatt-hour systems.
Pressure bottles, cryogenic containers, and LOHC have contained hydrogen. These conversion processes are energy-intensive. For years, Ambartec and Umwelt- und Ingenieurtechnik have investigated hydrogen storage using iron oxide. Iron rusts and vice versa.
The businesses have built a compact, efficient, and sustainable hydrogen storage demonstration plant. Hydrogen production is advantageous due to its low water consumption, rapid storage and withdrawal, and straightforward permitting process.
When the storage tank is loaded, hydrogen’s oxygen reduces iron oxide (rust) to pure iron. A high-temperature electrolyser receives water vapor. Advantage: iron can be delivered or stored on site without elaborate protection.
Water vapor from fuel cell exhaust is fed in when the storage tank is discharged. Iron rusts, releasing hydrogen. HyCS from Ambartec and environmental and engineering technologies can store 2.5 to 5 times more energy than a pressure vessel (700/350 bar). One liter can store three kilowatt hours. The Sachsen is a tiny energy storage system.
HyCS can store renewable energy and facilitate hydrogen delivery. To use water vapor sensibly, renewable generation systems must be combined with high-temperature electrolysers and fuel cells.
