Abstract
The physical properties of hydrogen make it an important potential candidate to substitute fossil fuels in the next energy economy. Hydrogen can be produced via traditional and novel technologies applied in chemical and electrochemical processes. However, being the smallest molecule of all, hydrogen poses serious challenges to the components of its storage and transport systems. For this reason the materials of the pipes and the valves must be carefully selected, while the joints and the connections need to be sealed properly to avoid problems of degradation and leakage.
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Notes
- 1.
Particulate matter (PM) is a complex mixture of tiny subdivisions of solid matter suspended in a gas or liquid. These particulates are categorised according to their diameters, and those with a diameter smaller then 10μm (PM10) are defined as particles in the thoracic fraction capable of entering pulmonary alveoli and causing cancer and permanent lung deficiencies.
- 2.
Flammability limits are defined by the range of volumetric proportions with in which a combustible gas mixture is flammable with the presence of an ignition source.
- 3.
From the Graham’s law of effusion, the gas effusion rate is inversely proportional to the square root of its molecular weight. For instance, hydrogen vents four times faster than oxygen.
- 4.
An alloyant is added into the steel to improve its mechanical properties (such as hardness and toughness) and strengthen its resistance to corrosion. The nature and the amount of the alloyants can gradually increase the difficulty of welding. Alloy steels can contain alloyants up to 50% of the total composition for them still to be considered as alloy steels. To better categorize alloy steels with so many different alloyant contents, a division has been drown between low alloy steels, in which no alloyant exceeds 4%–5 % of the total composition, and high alloy steels, in which at least one alloyant has a percentage above such limit.
- 5.
Austenitic stainless steel is a metallic non-magnetic allotrope of iron, with alloying element of C, Ni and Cr in different percentages that preserve its austenitic, or face-centered cubic system structure, with lattice points on the corners and the faces of the cube.
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© 2012 Springer-Verlag Italia
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Zini, G., Tartarini, P. (2012). Hydrogen. In: Solar Hydrogen Energy Systems. Springer, Milano. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-88-470-1998-0_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-88-470-1998-0_2
Publisher Name: Springer, Milano
Print ISBN: 978-88-470-1997-3
Online ISBN: 978-88-470-1998-0
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