Sandia, SRI International sign pact to advance hydrogen and natural gas research for transportation

Sandia Labs News Releases

May 30, 2013

Sandia, SRI International sign pact to advance hydrogen and natural gas research for transportation

LIVERMORE, Calif.— Sandia National Laboratories and SRI International, an independent research and innovation center, will join forces to explore, test and evaluate a broad range of hydrogen and natural gas fuel systems and components for transportation applications under a new agreement.

The five-year memorandum of understanding (MOU) is the first agreement in Sandia’s new Center for Infrastructure Research and Innovation (CIRI), an alternative fuel research and innovation facility whose goal is to accelerate hydrogen and natural gas infrastructure technologies into the marketplace. The collaboration also will capitalize on research at Sandia’s renowned Combustion Research Facility(CRF).

Sandia National Laboratories' new Center for Infrastructure Research and Innovation (CIRI) is an alternative fuel research and innovation facility whose goal is to accelerate hydrogen and natural gas infrastructure technologies into the marketplace. An MOU with SRI International represents the first agreement to be part of CIRI, which is located at Sandia's Livermore Valley Open Campus (LVOC). (Image courtesy of CIRI.) Click on the thumbnail for a high-resolution image.

CIRI will be located at Sandia’s Livermore Valley Open Campus (LVOC), adjacent to the CRF. The LVOC was established in 2011 as a space for open, collaborative work in such fields as bioscience, energy, cybersecurity and detection technologies.

Through the MOU, Sandia and SRI International together focus on such research areas as:

• High-pressure system/component durability testing
• Destructive testing of components and systems
• Fire engulfment/impingement testing
• Life-cycle testing
• Risk assessments of hydrogen infrastructure
• Advanced storage technology
• Hydrogen and natural gas release experiments
• Evaluation of material/component/system failure modes

“Together, Sandia and SRI will address the most challenging barriers associated with alternative fuel infrastructure, including cost, performance and availability of the fueling systems,” said Daniel Dedrick, hydrogen program manager at Sandia. “We’re excited to kick off this collaboration with SRI and see it as a critical step toward a comprehensive gaseous-fuel research capability for the nation.”

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Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin company, for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration. With main facilities in Albuquerque, N.M., and Livermore, Calif., Sandia has major R&D responsibilities in national security, energy and environmental technologies and economic competitiveness.

Innovations from SRI International have created new industries, billions of dollars of marketplace value, and lasting benefits to society—touching our lives every day. SRI, a nonprofit research and development institute based in Silicon Valley, brings its innovations to the marketplace through technology licensing, new products, and spin-off ventures. Government and business clients come to SRI for pioneering R&D and solutions in computing and communications, chemistry and materials, education, energy, health and pharmaceuticals, national defense, robotics, sensing, and more.