Experimental study on a metal hydride based hydrogen compressor

Abstract

A three-stage metal hydride based hydrogen compressor prototype was built. It has been initially constructed for a hydrogen production facility using a low-pressure alkaline electrolyser. The compression system has been designed to transfer heat recovered from the electrolyser in the hydride beds to allow hydrogen desorption flow. The three-stage compressor achieves a compression ratio of 20:1 atm. It performs a thermal cycling of three AB 5 hydrides between 20 and 80°C. Its flow rate, for 25 g of each hydride bed, reaches about 20 L (NTP) of hydrogen per hour. The prototype is now operational. Some improvements in the heat transfer management system are also carried out before proceeding to the interconnection with the electrolyser and to the extent that the hydrogen produced satisfies the high purity requirement of the hydrides used in the compressor.

An optimization study on the finned tube heat exchanger used in hydride hydrogen storage system – analytical method and numerical simulation

“…8.314 e i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 3 7 ( 2 0 1 2 ) 1 6 0 7 8 e1 6 0 9 2…”

Laves phase hydrogen storage alloys for super-high-pressure metal hydride hydrogen compressors

“…Metal hydride materials for high-pressure hydrogen compressors have been investigated by researchers. AB 5 [1][2][3][4][5] and AB 2 [5][6][7][8] hydrogen storage alloys have been developed to be hydrogen compression materials. The maximum product hydrogen pressure that has been reported is about 45 MPa [5].…”

Performance of containers with hydrogen storage alloys for hydrogen compression in heat treatment facilities

“…hydrogen storage or hydrogen compression [1][2][3][4][5][6]. Hydride compressors presented in the literature are able to compress hydrogen in a wide pressure range where the maximum pressure of several dozen MPa could be achieved.…”

“…Hydride compressors presented in the literature are able to compress hydrogen in a wide pressure range where the maximum pressure of several dozen MPa could be achieved. Recent publications present compressors using AB 5 type alloys able to work in different pressure ranges such as: 0.062-3.5 MPa (293-353 K) [3], 0.575-2.1 MPa (298-363 K) [4] and 4-70 MPa (heating to 423 K) [5]. One of the main features of metal hydrides is heat release during absorption of hydrogen and absorbing heat during desorption.…”