Thermal Management Techniques in Metal Hydrides for Hydrogen Storage Applications: A Review

Abstract

Metal hydrides are a class of materials that can absorb and release large amounts of hydrogen. They have a wide range of potential applications, including their use as a hydrogen storage medium for fuel cells or as a hydrogen release agent for chemical processing. While being a technology that can supersede existing energy storage systems in manifold ways, the use of metal hydrides also faces some challenges that currently hinder their widespread applicability. As the effectiveness of heat transfer across metal hydride systems can have a major impact on their overall efficiency, an affluent description of more efficient heat transfer systems is needed. The literature on the subject has proposed various methods that have been used to improve heat transfer in metal hydride systems over the years, such as optimization of the shape of the reactor vessel, the use of heat exchangers, phase change materials (PCM), nano oxide additives, adding cooling tubes and water jackets, and adding high thermal conductivity additives. This review article provides a comprehensive overview of the latest, state-of-the-art techniques in metal hydride reactor design and heat transfer enhancement methodologies and identifies key areas for future researchers to target. A comprehensive analysis of thermal management techniques is documented, including performance comparisons among various approaches and guidance on selecting appropriate thermal management techniques. For the comparisons, the hydrogen adsorption time relative to the reactor size and to the amount of hydrogen absorbed is studied. This review wishes to examine the various methods that have been used to improve heat transfer in metal hydride systems and thus aims to provide researchers and engineers working in the field of hydrogen storage with valuable insights and a roadmap to guide them to further explore the development of effective thermal management techniques for metal hydrides.

Hydrogen production, storage, and transportation: recent advances

“…Different performance-enhancing approaches are being developed to address these issues; for example, new synthesis techniques for metal hydrides and the utilization of innovative materials and nanostructures to increase their hydrogen storage capacity. 66…”

State of the Art in Development of Heat Exchanger Geometry Optimization and Different Storage Bed Designs of a Metal Hydride Reactor

“…Many scientific papers present mathematical calculations, as well as the results of simulation and design optimization of metal hydride reactors, performed in order to optimize the number of heat exchange elements and determine the best configuration of a metal hydride bed. A large number of review works have also been carried out, in which some thermal management solutions and configurations of metal hydride reactor with heat exchangers were considered [ 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 ].…”

Thermal Energy Storage technologies for the optimal management of metal hydride hydrogen storage systems

“…Metal hydrides (MH) are attracting more and more interest for bulky stationary of Hydrogen, particularly for stationary application [3]but also for maritime ones [4]. Although a large MH R&D activities have been performed so far [5], no consensus has been reached on the optimum MH material to be used for hydrogen storage in stationary applications as well as how to optimally manage them from a thermal point of view [6]. This is because of the wide range of possible stationary applications resulting in diverse requirements in terms of hydrogen release/absorption rates, pressure and temperature operation of the metal hydride tank.…”