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

The County has also leased laboratory space in ARC to universities and corporations interested in partnering with SRNL on hydrogen related research and development.  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 and various small technology companies operate in the facility.

ARC’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 (HTRL) 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.

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.

SRNL personnel conducting research at HTRL include:

Hydrogen Technology Section (HTS) - Hydrogen Processing Group

• 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, 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.

Clean Energy Directorate

• ES focuses on development of advanced hydrogen storage materials, including alanates and borohydrides, and the production of hydrogen via high temperature electrolysis.
• Primary customers: DOE-Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, DOE-Nuclear Energy, DOE Basic Energy Sciences, and industry involved in fuel cell vehicles.

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.

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

National & Homeland Security

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

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