4. ENGINEERING ISSUES OF METAL HYDRIDE STORAGE VESSELS
Fines confinement Metal hydrides break up to fine powders with sizes in the micron range (Figure 2). The fine particles if not confined can migrate and interfere with the operation of moving parts such as valves. Filters with proper pore size and area must be used to prevent the migration of the fines but minimize resistance to gas flow.Expansion and contraction Metal hydride expands when absorbing hydrogen and contracts after releasing the hydrogen. This expansion and contraction must not be overly restricted. If the bulk of the metal hydride powder is unable to expand due to restriction or lack of space, stress will build up on the container wall and could eventually deform or damage the container. Tests conducted with La-Ni-Al hydride in a 3-inch diameter, horizontal container showed that the wall stress increased dramatically when free space is less than 15%6. See Figure 3. It is utmost important that the metal hydride powder can expand and contract in the container without causing damage.
Hydrogen density How to increase the stored hydrogen density is the most critical issue. Density must be considered both in weight and volume. A high weight fraction of hydrogen will do no good if the weight per volume is small. One most obvious example is hydrogen gas. It is 100% hydrogen but its weight per volume is uselessly small at ambient conditions. To put metal hydrides in perspective with other hydrogen containing materials, the hydrogen content in several common metal hydrides are shown in Figure 4, together with that of methane, propane, methanol, gasoline, gas and liquid hydrogen. Note that bulk density, which is about half of theoretical density for a solid is used to calculate the volumetric density of hydrogen. The reason is obvious. One can in practice fill a tank to the bulk density of the material not to the theoretical density of the material. This figure brings out two very significant points. First, the present practical metal hydrides contain about 0.06 g/cc of hydrogen compared with 0.07 for liquid hydrogen and about 0.1 for the liquid hydrogen carbon fuels that include gasoline, methanol and ethanol. Second, the light solids such as magnesium hydride and the sodium aluminum hydride increase the hydrogen weight ratio significantly but not the volumetric density. The volumetric density of sodium aluminum hydride is actually decreased. This information implies an important point: the bulk volumetric density of hydrogen storage is not likely to be more than 0.07 g/cc, certainly not 0.1 g/cc.
4. ENGINEERING ISSUES OF METAL HYDRIDE STORAGE VESSELSFines confinement Metal hydrides break up to fine powders with sizes in the micron range (Figure 2). The fine particles if not confined can migrate and interfere with the operation of moving parts such as valves. Filters with proper pore size and area must be used to prevent the migration of the fines but minimize resistance to gas flow.Expansion and contraction Metal hydride expands when absorbing hydrogen and contracts after releasing the hydrogen. This expansion and contraction must not be overly restricted. If the bulk of the metal hydride powder is unable to expand due to restriction or lack of space, stress will build up on the container wall and could eventually deform or damage the container. Tests conducted with La-Ni-Al hydride in a 3-inch diameter, horizontal container showed that the wall stress increased dramatically when free space is less than 15%6. See Figure 3. It is utmost important that the metal hydride powder can expand and contract in the container without causing damage.Hydrogen density How to increase the stored hydrogen density is the most critical issue. Density must be considered both in weight and volume. A high weight fraction of hydrogen will do no good if the weight per volume is small. One most obvious example is hydrogen gas. It is 100% hydrogen but its weight per volume is uselessly small at ambient conditions. To put metal hydrides in perspective with other hydrogen containing materials, the hydrogen content in several common metal hydrides are shown in Figure 4, together with that of methane, propane, methanol, gasoline, gas and liquid hydrogen. Note that bulk density, which is about half of theoretical density for a solid is used to calculate the volumetric density of hydrogen. The reason is obvious. One can in practice fill a tank to the bulk density of the material not to the theoretical density of the material. This figure brings out two very significant points. First, the present practical metal hydrides contain about 0.06 g/cc of hydrogen compared with 0.07 for liquid hydrogen and about 0.1 for the liquid hydrogen carbon fuels that include gasoline, methanol and ethanol. Second, the light solids such as magnesium hydride and the sodium aluminum hydride increase the hydrogen weight ratio significantly but not the volumetric density. The volumetric density of sodium aluminum hydride is actually decreased. This information implies an important point: the bulk volumetric density of hydrogen storage is not likely to be more than 0.07 g/cc, certainly not 0.1 g/cc.
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