Thermoacoustic-catalytic system for cooling and transforming cryogenic hydrogen

Unmet Need: Efficient hydrogen cooling and spin conversion

Hydrogen is one of the most promising fuels for the future clean economy, as it does not produce harmful emissions and as a liquid, hydrogen is one of the most energy-dense carriers. However, conventional liquefaction and cooling systems for cryogenic hydrogen involve a number of moving parts and require passing through a catalytic bed to ensure spin conversion of hydrogen to bring it to the lowest energy state.

The Technology: Thermoacoustic hydrogen cooling over spin conversion catalyst bed for maximum efficiency

The inventors have developed an efficient hydrogen cooling system that combines the cooling and spin-conversion processes. This is done by employing thermoacoustic heat pumping in a porous matrix which serves as a catalytic bed to transform hydrogen from the ortho- to para- state. This technology improves the efficiency of hydrogen cooling, and reduces boil off significantly.

Applications: