Modellization of Metal Hydride Canister for Hydrogen Storage

Abstract

Hydrogen shows very interesting features for its use on-board applications as fuel cell vehicles. This paper presents the modelling of a tank with a metal hydride alloy for on-board applications, which provides good performance under ambient conditions. The metal hydride contained in the tank is Ti0.98Zr0.02V0.43Fe0.09Cr0.05Mn1.5. A two-dimensional model has been performed for the refuelling process (absorption) and the discharge process (desorption). For that, individual models of mass balance, energy balance, reaction kinetics and behaviour of hydrogen gas has been modelled. The model has been developed under Matlab / Simulink© environment. Finally, individual models have been integrated into a global model, and simulated under ambient conditions. With the aim to analyse the temperature influence on the state of charge and filling and emptying time, other simulations were performed at different temperatures. The obtained results allow to conclude that this alloy offers a good behaviour with the discharge process under normal ambient conditions.

 

Keywords: Hydrogen storage; metal hydrides; fuel cell; simulation; board applications