Center for Hydrogen Research

The Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) has teamed with Aiken County to establish a new laboratory at the Savannah River Research Campus, a County-owned research park adjacent to the Savannah River Site, near Aiken, South Carolina. Aiken County designed, constructed and maintains the 60,000-square-foot Center for Hydrogen Research (CHR) with the intent of leasing portions of that facility to SRNL to house SRNL’s Hydrogen Technology Research Laboratory (HTRL).

The County has leased some of the lab space in the CHR to universities and corporations interested in partnering with SRNL on hydrogen related research and development (R&D). CHR also contains a 250-person conference center and a display area for use by educational institutions. Currently, the University of South Carolina at Aiken, Toyota and Greenway Energy, LLC reside in the county-operated facility.

CHR’s structure is intended to facilitate technology transfer between researchers and
industry - a unique combination that will contribute to accelerated technology development
and enhancement of the region’s ability to attract hydrogen-related industry.

SRNL’s Hydrogen Technology Research Laboratory

The collaborative Regenerative Fuel Cell System at CHR is also used for education, outreach and training.

SRNL’s Hydrogen Technology Research Laboratory (HTRL), located at Aiken County’s Center for Hydrogen Research, houses SRNL’s unclassified, nonradioactive R&D on hydrogen storage, processing, production, and detection, in support of both the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and hydrogen energy programs. HTRL consists of 16,000 square feet divided into 22 lab modules and a high bay area, plus 8,600 square feet of office space.

CHR's solar panel demonstration and test center, which is fully automated and integrated with the electrical grid

HTRL’s lab modules are outfitted with a centralized gas delivery system providing hydrogen, nitrogen, helium, and argon supplies; a variety of hood configurations (including walk-in); room and hood hydrogen monitors; ample power, and computer network access. There are numerous gloveboxes and a clean room.

Development of advanced materials for hydrogen storage

SRNL personnel conducting research at HTRL include:

1) Hydrogen Technology Section (HTS) - Hydrogen Processing
Group (which is part of the National and Homeland Security Directorate).

• HTS focuses on hydrogen processing applications: separation of hydrogen isotopes, purification of hydrogen, stripping of hydrogen, storage of hydrogen in metal hydrides, characterization of metal hydrides, and analysis of gas samples using mass spectrometry.
• Primary customers: NNSA-Defense Programs (DP), Savannah River Site (SRS) Tritium Facilities, other national labs involved in the tritium business: Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, DOE- Office of Science and the U.S. ITER Project Office.

(2) Energy Security (ES) Directorate.

• ES focuses on development of advanced hydrogen storage materials,
  including alanates and borohydrides, and the production of hydrogen via high
  temperature electrolysis.

  Applications of hydrogen storage for transportation

• Primary customers: DOE-Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, DOE-Nuclear Energy, DOE Basic Energy Sciences, , and industry involved in fuel cell vehicles.
  

(3) A portion of Analytical Development.

• Focus on development of analytical techniques for detecting hydrogen in process streams.
• Primary customers: NNSA-DP, SRS Tritium Facilities DOE , Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, other national labs involved in the tritium business.

(4) A portion of Materials Science & Technology.

• Focus on the use of coherent optical (laser) spectroscopy in characterizing changes in mechanical properties of vessels used for hydrogen containment.
• Primary customer: SRS Tritium Facilities/DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

(5) A portion of National & Homeland Security.

• Focus on basic sciences associated with materials development and characterization
• Advanced atomic force microscopy
• Primary Customer: Various SRNL customers