The Deltah Lab, a New Multidisciplinary European Facility to Support the H2 Distribution & Storage Economy

The target for European decarburization encourages the use of renewable energy sources and H2 is considered the link in the global energy system transformation. So, research studies are numerous, but only few facilities can test materials and components for H2 storage. This work offers a brief review of H2 storage methods and presents the preliminary results obtained in a new facility. Slow strain rate and fatigue life tests were performed in H2 at 80 MPa on specimens and a tank of AISI 4145, respectively. Besides, the storage capacity at 30 MPa of a solid-state system, they were evaluated on kg scale by adsorption test. The results have shown the H2 influence on mechanical properties of the steel. The adsorption test showed a gain of 26% at 12 MPa in H2 storage with respect to the empty condition. All samples have been characterized by complementary techniques in order to connect the H2 effect with material properties.

H2 effect in Cr/PNP-catalyzed ethylene tetramerization: a DFT study

It is well noticed that hydrogen promotes catalyst activity in Cr/PNP-catalyzed ethylene tetramerization, but the mechanism of this boost is unclear. A density functional theory (DFT) study devoted to exploring this effect was conducted, and conformation changes were carefully taken into consideration to build a clear reaction pathway. Three components in the catalytic cycle was examined in detail: the production of 1-hexene from the metallacycloheptane, the production of 1-octene from metallacyclononane, and the formation of active center on the catalyst. The result indicates that the formation of active center on the catalyst becomes more favorable upon imposition of hydrogen, where hydrogen function as a second ligand. This easing effect could be the key factor leading to the outperformed catalyst activity.