Development of Hydrogen Storage Tank Systems Based on Complex Metal Hydrides

Abstract

This review describes recent research in the development of tank systems based on complex metal hydrides for thermolysis and hydrolysis. Commercial applications using complex metal hydrides are limited, especially for thermolysis-based systems where so far only demonstration projects have been performed. Hydrolysis-based systems find their way in space, naval, military and defense applications due to their compatibility with proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells. Tank design, modeling, and development for thermolysis and hydrolysis systems as well as commercial applications of hydrolysis systems are described in more detail in this review. For thermolysis, mostly sodium aluminum hydride containing tanks were developed, and only a few examples with nitrides, ammonia borane and alane. For hydrolysis, sodium borohydride was the preferred material whereas ammonia borane found less popularity. Recycling of the sodium borohydride spent fuel remains an important part for their commercial viability.

Comparison of Alternative Molten Electrolytes for Water Splitting to Generate Hydrogen Fuel

“…Challenges of hydrogen storage are being addressed and hydrogen powered vehicles have been introduced to the commercial marketplace. [1][2][3][4] Unfortunately, the predominant fraction of hydrogen generated today is produced by steam reformation of fossil fuel by reacting the fossil fuel with steam to release H 2 and CO 2 . Steam reformation is a substantial source of CO 2 emissions, negating the climate mitigation effect of using H 2 as a fuel.…”

The synthesis of control algorithm over a technical condition of the hydrogen generators based on hydro­reactive compositions

“…The results of control were used to study hydrogen generation processes only and are not meant to address diagnosing tasks. Paper [5] gives information about hydrogen storage systems based on metal hydrides and intermetallic compounds. Such systems are employed in space engineering, transportation vehicles, military naval applications, due to their compatibility with the fuel elements of the proton exchange membrane (PEM).…”

The kinetics of lightweight solid-state hydrogen storage materials: A review

“…A solid-state metal hydride hydrogen storage canister with interesting features of low-pressure operation, safety and scalability and is potentially useful for transportable applications, such as compact portable or mobile systems [1]. In a light metal hydride tank system, the hydrogen uptake and release are governed by kinetic reactions that can be characterized by poor absorption/desorption kinetics [2].…”

“…A resistance analysis was performed by comparing the transport phenomena and intrinsic kinetics using a kinetic model from Lozano et al [17,18]. Ley et al [1] predicted that the driving force for hydrogen transportation, intrinsic kinetics and heat transfer can be the drawbacks during hydrogen sorption. The results indicated that hydrogen transportation has an insignificant effect (independent of the size of the reactor), that the intrinsic kinetics play a critical role in a small cell of 2 mm and that heat transfer is the main problem during absorption in a scale-up tank.…”