Hydrogenious and Royal Vopak establish "LOHC Logistix

Source: Energy & Management Powernews , 06 January 2023

With the help of the "LOHC-Technolgie" the companies Hydrogenius and Vopak want to simplify the storage and transport of hydrogen.

"Handle hydrogen like oil" is the claim on the website of the Erlangen-based hydrogen logic company Hydrogenious. The company - a spin-off of the Friedrich Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg - uses the so-called "LOHC (Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carrier) technology" benzyltoluene as a carrier for hydrogen transport. In an equal joint venture with the Dutch tank storage company Royal Vopak, the Erlangen-based company now wants to expand the possibilities of storing, transporting and supplying hydrogen under the name "LOHC Logistix."

The headquarters of LOHC Logistix is to be in Germany. The company will support both partners in facilitating hydrogen supply by ship, train or tanker using LOHC technology, according to a joint statement. Both partners are also committed to accelerating the construction of the LOHC storage facility planned at Chempark Dormagen (NRW) and the release facility planned in Rotterdam, which will have a capacity of 1.5 metric tons of hydrogen per day.

In LOHC technology, a liquid organic substance - such as benzyltoluene - is used as a carrier for hydrogen. The gas can then be stored and transported at ambient pressure and normal temperature, similar to fossil liquid fuels such as oil. After the hydrogen is released (dehydrogenated), the carrier LOHC can be reused to recombine hydrogen.

Hydrogenius LOHC, in which Royal Vopak has a 10 percent stake, says it has already sold pilot plants to Finland, Germany and the U.S. and will establish the first full LOHC supply chain in 2022. Also by its own account, Hydrogenius is the first company in the world to supply an Erlangen hydrogen filling station using LOHC technology.

Author: Katia Meyer-Tien