Webinar BKTF - Hidrogen

Summary

Purpose and Context

The webinar examines hydrogen’s potential role in the transition to low-carbon energy, focusing on production, storage, distribution, safety, and the contributions engineers can make. The presenter argues that transport remains heavily dependent on petroleum, so cleaner alternatives are needed alongside wider electrification.

Why Hydrogen?

• It can carry energy from different sources. Hydrogen can be produced from fossil fuels or renewable electricity, so it is generally an energy carrier rather than a primary energy source. Naturally occurring “white hydrogen” is mentioned as a possible exception.
• It has high energy per unit of mass, and vehicles can be refueled quickly. However, hydrogen has low energy density by volume, so it takes substantial space unless compressed or liquefied.
• It has uses beyond transport. Hydrogen can fuel power generation and fuel cells, and it can be converted to ammonia for transport, industrial uses, or fertilizer production.
• Its climate benefits depend on how it is made. Steam methane reforming (SMR) produces carbon emissions. Adding carbon capture can yield what is described as blue hydrogen, while electrolysis powered by renewable electricity can produce green hydrogen.

Examples and Opportunities

In Sarawak, the presenter described plans and projects involving hydrogen buses, a proposed hydrogen-powered autonomous rapid transit system, and a gas-turbine plant expected to test hydrogen blending. He said Sarawak’s substantial hydropower capacity could support hydrogen production, including for export to Japan.

The presenter said Indonesia has a national hydrogen strategy, a roadmap, technical committees, standards and regulations, and initiatives involving state-owned and private companies. He sees the country’s renewable resources and industrial capacity as an opportunity to develop a hydrogen economy.

Ammonia was discussed as a potential hydrogen carrier because it can be easier to transport than hydrogen in some circumstances. Hydrogen can be recovered from ammonia at its destination, though ammonia can also be used directly in some fuel-cell applications.

Key Barriers to Wider Adoption

• A shortage of trained workers with hydrogen-specific expertise.
• The high cost and limited availability of refueling and distribution infrastructure.
• Gaps in supply chains, manufacturing capacity, regulations, and safety standards.
• Difficult decisions about transport and storage, such as pipelines versus tanker trucks and compressed gas versus liquefied hydrogen or metal hydrides.
• The need to integrate hydrogen facilities with existing energy infrastructure while addressing safety concerns.

Engineering Contributions and Research Areas

The presenter emphasized that engineers can contribute throughout the hydrogen value chain:

• Production: Improve electrolyzer design and its thermal and energy-system performance.
• Storage: Evaluate tank strength, temperature behavior, and thermal management.
• Distribution: Analyze pipelines, pressure, pumping requirements, and fluid flow.
• End use: Improve fuel-cell water and thermal management, and study performance under changing loads, such as in vehicles.
• Safety: Model leaks, ventilation, fire and explosion risks, and ways to reduce those risks.
• Broader implementation: Study public acceptance, environmental and social impacts, governance, and regulatory readiness.

The presenter’s research group focuses particularly on fuel-cell water and heat management, fuel-cell response to dynamic vehicle loads, and thermal control during metal-hydride charging. Possible thermal-management approaches mentioned include phase-change materials, nanofluids, and graphene-based mixtures.

Safety Moment and Q&A

The safety presentation stressed that hydrogen requires specialized precautions. The speaker cited a wide flammability range—approximately 4% to 75% hydrogen in air—and noted that hydrogen is colorless and odorless, can ignite with little energy, and may burn with a flame that is difficult to see. High-pressure storage and the possibility of leaks make suitable detection, ventilation, facility design, and emergency procedures especially important.

Discussion points included:

• Metal-hydride storage: The presenter said it can store hydrogen at relatively low pressure. Without heating, the hydrogen remains bound in the material. He contrasted this with liquefied hydrogen used for export.
• Hydrogen safety systems: Industrial handling guidance exists, but the speakers said public-scale uses—such as cars, refueling stations, and shared gasoline–hydrogen facilities—raise additional regulatory and safety questions.
• Ammonia: The presenter described ammonia as a possible way to transport hydrogen, with hydrogen recovered later. He noted that chemical engineers could provide more detail on the conversion processes.
• SMR: The presenter described it as a conventional industrial method that emits carbon unless emissions are captured. He characterized grey hydrogen as potentially cheaper than green hydrogen and discussed carbon capture as a route to blue hydrogen.
• Sarawak’s bus trial: The presenter said the hydrogen-bus pilot had ended after about six years, apparently because the trial phase was complete, and that the bus was moved to a museum. He did not report a safety incident as the reason.
• Combined filling stations: Participants noted that combining hydrogen, conventional fuels, and electric charging might improve economics, but would require careful attention to safety and regulations.

Speakers and Organizations

• Judika Candra Kurnia — Main presenter; Associate Professor at Curtin University Malaysia and deputy director of a sustainable-energy research center.
• Suyanto — BKTF chair and webinar moderator.
• Ayudya — BKTF secretary and webinar co-host; briefly introduced the session.
• Edi (also rendered as Eldi or Heldi in the subtitles) — Delivered the hydrogen safety moment and contributed to the Q&A on hazards and storage.
• Nabila — Asked about safety systems and mitigation.
• Guntoro — Asked about ammonia and hydrogen production.
• Denisha/Denish — Asked about steam methane reforming; the name is inconsistent in the subtitles.
• BKTF PII and BKSTF — Organizations identified as collaborating on the webinar.