Metal hydride storage of hydrogen for remote energy systems

Abstract

As the world transitions towards more efficient and environmentally responsible energy systems there is a growing need for improved energy storage methods. For hydrogen based energy systems one method being examined involves the storage of hydrogen in a reversible metal hydride. These systems provide high storage density and low parasitic loss making them a good candidate for use in remote energy systems. In order to evaluate metal hydrides for possible use in conjuction with integrated fuel cell reformer systems a test bench was constructed and a steady state energy balance performed. This energy balance was designed to determine the heating and cooling loads associated with loading and unloading the hydride bed and give a verification of theoretical estimates. Using the test system values of 28.6 and 28.4 kJ / mol were found for the test alloys. The theoretical results were 28.6 and 28.0 kJ / mol respectively.