3D Modeling of Hydrogen Absorption in Metal Hydride Hydrogen Storage Bottles

R. Busqué [1], R. Torres [1], A. Husar [2], J. Grau [1]
[1] Escola Universitària d'Enginyeria Tècnica Industrial de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
[2] Institut de Robòtica i Informàtica Industrial CSIC-UPC, Barcelona, Spain
Published in 2015

The storage of hydrogen as an absorbed element in metal hydride bottles is a promising technique for energy storage. In this work, a three-dimensional model of a charging process in a metal hydride container has been developed to simulate the absorption reaction and resultant heat and mass transport phenomena in metal hydride vessels. The model has been experimentally validated showing a good agreement between all the data. This numerical study has been used to analyze how the different charging variables and the cooling level affect the hydrogen absorption process for different scenarios as well as serving as a base to develop a metal hydride state of charge estimator in the future.