German University Launches First-Ever H2 Masters Program, Headed by Cryo Expert

DRESDEN, GERMANY - What is described as the world’s first two-year Master’s degree program in hydrogen energy technology will be launched here this spring at Dresden Technical University.

Except for three weeks per semester the students spend on the Dresden campus, the course is designed as a home study program for working professionals with university or college degrees. It will be headed by Prof. Hans Quack, an expert in refrigeration and cryo-technology who has developed a hydrogen liquefaction concept that is twice as energy-efficient as current industrial liquefaction plants.

TU Dresden, as it is known, has some 35,000 students. It partners with Boston University which describes the German institution as “one of the oldest and most prestigious technical universities in Germany” on its international program website.

The new course, which will be administered by a university extension division, Dresden International University, will get underway in March, initially in German only, but launching of an English-language version will be considered if there is enough interest, Quack told H&FCL.

The program will cover the field in nine modules: physics, chemistry and thermodynamics of hydrogen; production; energy economics and business; storage and transport; automotive propulsion; fuel cells; safety; aerospace and marine applications; national and international activities at the interface of science and politics.

Led by Prof. Quack, the 28 lecturers include both academics as well as practicing industry officials from companies such as Hydrogenics Europe, Linde AG, BMW, Ludwig-Boelkow-Systemtechnik, and Arno A. Evers Fair-PR.

Recently, Quack and other researchers designed a new level gauge for liquid hydrogen tanks based on superconductor technology, something that was impossible before because there were no superconductors that would operate at these temperature ranges.

Earlier, Quack developed a new hydrogen liquefaction process concept with energy efficiency double, or more, of that of industrial liquefiers used today. No such plant has been built, but Quack said in a paper presented at the July 2001 Cryogenic Engineering Conference in Madison, WI that a thermodynamic efficiency on the order of 60% for the total plant is feasible. Plants operating today achieve between 30 and 35%.

Energy consumption for such a plant would be between 5 and 7 kW hours per kg of liquid hydrogen. Today’s liquefiers require 12-13 kW hours, Quack said.

One key element for the design of such a plant would be the use of a helium-neon mixture as refrigerant which, he said in his abstract, “allows the use of the best available compression system.”

Such a plant would be big - roughly twice the size of the biggest currently operating Air Products liquefiers near New Orleans, LA that make fuel for NASA and the Space Shuttle and which produce 35-40 tons of liquid hydrogen per day.

The study, “Conceptual Design of a High Efficiency Large Capacity Hydrogen Liquefier” (Advances in Cryogenic Engineering, Vol. 47, p. 255-263), was one of about a dozen studies in Quack’s department supported by the Alternative Propulsion Center operated by General Motors’ German subsidiary, Adam Opel AG. Quack, who holds degrees from Technical University Munich, the University of Minnesota and Technical University Zurich (ETH), says a similar number of studies were conducted for BMW.

Contacts: Prof. Quack, +49/351 463-32548, quack@memkn1.mw.tu-dresden.de; project manager for the two-year course, Dr. Mathias Boehm, +49 351 463-35672, mathias.boehm@di-uni.de,
www.dresden-international-university.com