Why hydrogen?

Hydrogen is an alternative to fossil fuels like diesel and gas for providing energy. It is not an alternative to batteries. It works in combination with batteries. Batteries are highly efficient for providing power over durations of a few hours. Hydrogen, however is more cost effective at providing long duration energy . When burned it leaves behind pure water instead of carbon dioxide. The problem with hydrogen is that it is very hard to store.

What’s the problem we’re solving?

Hydrogen is hard to store because it is a very light gas, which makes it difficult to pack into a useful density.

What do we do?

We are commercialising the Hydrilyte TM storage system, which provides a convenient and intrinsically safe way to store hydrogen at normal atmospheric temperatures and pressures. We enable easy delivery of hydrogen to a range of end-use markets using existing liquid fuels infrastructure.

 

Comercial Benefits

  • Hydrilyte™

    • is safe for people and the environment

    • is made from cheap and abundant materials

    • requires less energy to store hydrogen than competing technologies

    • can be stored and transported using the existing liquid fuels fleet

  • Hydrilyte™ Hydrogen Storage Systems

  • Are cheaper per kg of H2 stored

  • Are simpler in to build and maintain

HydrilyteTM is safe for people and safe for the environment

Unlike ammonia, which is also being considered as a hydrogen carrier, Hydrilyte TM is non-toxic and non-hazardous, you could take a swim in it and you'd be fine. It meets the classification "non-hazardous for transport" in the USA.

Hydrilyte TM is a liquid, which means that it can be pumped. This gives it many advantages from an engineering design perspective, but very importantly, in terms of our transition to a hydrogen economy:

HydrilyteTM can be transported using the existing liquid fuels fleet

Transporting hydrogen in bulk is going to be critical to the development of the hydrogen supply chain. Whether it is moving hydrogen from microgrids that have the renewable resources to produce hydrogen, to those that don't; or from countries like Australia that do, to countries like Japan that don't, Hydrilyte TM can be transported using existing infrastructure. And, as hydrogen displaces oil, those same ships and road tankers that today carry oil could, in the future, carry HydrilyteTM

HydrilyteTM is made from cheap and plentiful materials

While Magnesium is currently produced in relatively small quanities, there are opportunites to massively increase supply. Magnesium is the 8th most abundant element in the earth's crust and the 3rd most common element in seawater, after sodium and chlorine. According to the Royal Society for Chemistry, "seawater contains trillions of tonnes of magnesium".

As well as being the main component in baby oil, light mineral oil, is used in food, in kitchens and as the oil in heating systems. In the same way that the heating oil in a household bar heater doesn't require replacing, because it isn't burned or consumed, the mineral oil in the Hydrilyte is a passive carrier of the magnesium. The mineral oil is not consumed in the Carbon280 Hydrilyte TM process. This is because, like a rechargeable battery, the Hydrilyte TM process is reversible. When the Hydrilyte TM is heated, the hydrogen is released, the magnesium hyrdride returns to magnesium, and the Hydrilyte TM reverts back to its discharged state.

Unlike batteries HydrilyteTM gets better with age

Carbon280 testing confirms that there is no degredation of the Hydrilyte over repeated cycles. In fact recent studies on the reversibility of magnesium hydride, by Brunel University in the UK, show that its hydriding/dehydriding properties improve with age. This is something we're continuing to investigate.

HydrilyteTM is a safe and cost effective hydrogen carrier

The low cost of input materials and the simple reversibility of the chemistry make Hydrilyte TM a cost effective hydrogen carrier.