Column | Insight into Hydrogen: Vol.2
Ensuring the Safety and Reliability of Hydrogen Infrastructure An Inside Look at Materials Testing in Hydrogen Environment
Yoshinori Ono
Unit Leader, Extreme Environment Material Data Unit
- Carbon Neutrality
- Hydrogen Society
- Research Center for Energy and Environmental Materials (GREEN)
- Research Network and Facility Services Division Platforms
In Search of Hydrogen-Resistant Metals
In a unified effort among industry, government, and academia, Japan is striving to establish a large-scale hydrogen supply chain centered on liquefied hydrogen. The vision involves using electricity generated by mega-solar power plants overseas—such as in Australia—to electrolyze water, producing large quantities of hydrogen, which are then liquefied and transported to Japan via specialized shipping vessels.
The initiative, officially titled the Large-Scale Hydrogen Supply Chain Establishment Project*, is overseen by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), with NIMS also participating as one of the partner institutions.
* Large-Scale Hydrogen Supply Chain Establishment Progect
The Large-Scale Hydrogen Supply Chain Establishment Project is one of the initiatives under the Green Innovation Fund promoted by NEDO (New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization).
NIMS’s role in this project is to establish testing facilities for evaluating the performance of structural materials used in liquefied hydrogen infrastructure. At present, only a limited number of materials can withstand the extreme conditions of hydrogen environment. This is because liquefied hydrogen is maintained at the extremely low temperature of 20 K (approximately -253°C). In general, metallic materials tend to become less ductile as the temperature drops. Furthermore, the stronger the metal, the more prone it is to hydrogen-induced degradation, leading to a further reduction in ductility.
To closely investigate how materials behave in cryogenic hydrogen environment and to explore affordable, durable candidates for structural use, NIMS launched the operation of its Hydrogen Environment Materials Testing Laboratory in October 2024.
