OPTIMIZATION OF SPACING BETWEEN STAGGERED METAL HYDRIDE TANKS INTEGRATED FUEL CELL SYSTEM

Abstract

The sufficient hydrogen flow for requirements depends not only on the quantity contained in the metal hydride tanks, but also on other dynamic factors such as the ambient conditions, metal hydride kinetics and heat transfer mechanisms. In this study, the effects of dynamic factors on optimum spacing between metal hydride (MH) Hydrogen storage tanks are researched theoretically. A new approaching is presented for defining the optimum spacing between tanks according to different operating conditions. As MH alloys, AB5 type alloy (LaNi5) is selected. The analysis takes into account the effect of dynamic factors. The spacing is calculated by maximizing the heat transfer by means of accurate correlations. The results show that there exists an optimum spacing between the MH tanks for which the heat transfer is maximum and it should be considered to size the MH-Fuel cell system without extra cost

Keywords

• Hydrogen Storage,Metal Hydrides,Forced Convection

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